When it comes to the National Football League Draft the New England Patriots are notorious for trading down and stockpiling picks. Well the Patriots broke away from that this year as they traded up several times.
The first time the Patriots traded up with the Cincinnati Bengals from 27th to 21st overall to select Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones and then Alabama linebacker Dont’a Hightower. In his press conference after the picks Patriots head coach Bill Belichick stated that they will work with them to see what position is best.
In the second round the Patriots selected Illinois free safety Tavon Wilson to help out the secondary. In addition to playing the free safety spot in nickel and dime packages, which is simply five defensive backs and six defensive backs, played some corner in them.
In the third round the Patriots went defensive line again as they selected Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette. It isn’t surprising to see the Patriots select two defensive ends as their pass rush outside of Rob Ninkovich was nonexistent.
We will see this year if trading up finally pays off after years of trading down.
