As anyone who’s read this blog for a while now knows, I am always down to take a defensive tackle in the first round so I was excited when Malcom Brown was the pick.
In my mock I had them taking Eddie Goldman. Really it was almost a coin flip for me between Brown and Goldman, and the reason I went to Goldman instead was he was a little bigger and (I thought) a little more likely to still be around at 32.
So this is doubly good. Why? Because Brown was a lot better than the 32nd best player in this draft and the Pats added another player who can disrupt things up front.
Since 2010 I’ve almost worn out the interior pass rush drum from beating it so much. In today’s NFL, with so many good quarterbacks, you simply must have defensive tackles who can cause problems immediately off the snap and either get in the QB’s face or push one of his offensive linemen back into his lap.
Now the Pats have Easley, Chris Jones and Brown who can all get off the ball. However, Brown’s greater size makes him an even more useful tool because he should be a good run deterrent on passing downs as well. That was a big role of Wilfork’s and while Siliga should see snaps there as well, Brown’s all around game should help him make some pass rush impact.
He won’t have to instantly play 80 percent of the snaps like Wilfork was doing, but I’d bet his playing time just keeps increasing as the season goes along.
Who’s Next?
As I’ve been saying here, this next pick looks like prime guard territory, and with the Jets adding Leonard Williams the need for a big mauling guard upfront has never been bigger.
AJ Cann and Tre Jackson are two names at the top of my list. Pats might have to trade up for Cann, which I think is reasonable. Otherwise a surprise cornerback could make sense as well.
With three picks today (one of which cannot be traded) they have the ammo to move up if they choose to.