The quality of this draft class may end up being defined by how wide receiver Aaron Dobson performs.
The quality of this draft class may end up being defined by how wide receiver Aaron Dobson performs. He has the ability to be the quality "X" receiver New England has been seeking since Randy Moss debarted. The hands, athleticism, size, speed – it's all there.
But several other players drafted by the Patriots were also believed to have those traits. It never mattered because they were unable to grasp New England's offense. There's no reason to doubt Dobson's ability to break the trend. Coach Bill Belichick personally watched film and worked Dobson out on the whiteboard and felt comfortable enough to draft him. That means something.
Or should.
"You talk to him about what he did," Belichick said. "He can explain the techniques, his assignments, what other guys are doing at Marshall. We'd look at things that we did, then come back and talk about them. He remembered how we did them, how we call them, things like that. He's a pretty intelligent guy."
But I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Marshall operates out of a very basic offense and that Dobson has probably never come across a system as complex as the Erhardt-Perkins offense that New England uses. Plays aren't plays at all. They're concepts. You need to know everything that everyone else is doing on every single call, because the same call may result in a different route depending on where you line up.
Player after player has failed to grasp those concepts and all it takes for Tom Brady to give you the death stare is a couple mistakes. Get a few of those and you'll end up like Taylor Price.
The freak: Jamie Collins may be the most scintillating player New England selected on Friday, at least as far as the imagination goes.
The man is, for the lack of a better term, an athletic freak. Check out his combine stats. He was top-10 in basically everything, and led all defensive linemen and linebackers in both the vertical and long jumps. Those attributes allowed him to record 10 sacks and 20 tackles for a loss last year at Southern Mississippi.
That's scintillating.
The big question now is figuring out how Collins will fit into the defense. He played with his hand in the dirt during his senior season, but was a linebacker as a junior (and a safety before that). In New England, it seems that his best fit will be in sub packages, where he can drop into coverage and also rush the passer. For the sake of reference, New England was in its sub-defense on more than 50 percent of its snaps.
Here is Belichick's vague explanation when asked how Collins would be used:
"It's similar but I would say different than (Dont'a) Hightower but there's some similarities. Dont'a did that as well – played inside, played outside, played defensive end in their nickel package at Alabama last year. Jamie (Collins) did that more by season than Dont'a did. He was more within the game he would do those different things. Yeah, there's some value to that but there's value to doing one thing well too."
It's also worth noting that Brandon Spikes is in the final year of his contract, so this pick could have been made with an eye on the future. It's also not out of the question for him to put his hand in the dirt now and then opposite Chandler Jones, though at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds he may struggle against NFL tackles.
Rutgers connection: Belichick obviously has an affinity for players from Rutgers and fed his addiction by drafting two more – cornerback Logan Ryan and safety Duron Harmon – Friday night. That connection may have led to a bit of a reach for Harmon (I texted a scout from another team about the pick and was told that Harmon "was kind of on our radar."), but Ryan is a player.
He has good size, is lauded for his physicality and has experience playing both man and zone coverages. He should bring quality depth initially serving behind Aqib Talib, Alfonzo Dennard and Kyle Arrington at corner. If Ryan pans out, and Ras-I Dowling can stay healthy, what was once an area of weakness could suddenly become a really deep and versatile group.
But, like the Collins pick, the Patriots may have been addressing a need a year in advance, as Talib is currently signed to a one-year deal.
The Harmon pick is a little harder to get a read on. It's easy to crack jokes and say that Belichick brought in the Doug Mirabelli to Ryan's Tim Wakefield since the two performed so well together at Rutgers, but Belichick really seems to like what Harmon brings to the table.
The truth is that I need to do some more homework before offering an assessment. And I'm not alone. Harmon wasn't invited to the combine and his name did not appear in any of the draft guides I was able to get my hands on.
To be continued.
Looking forward: There are still some good players out there. Louisana Tech wide receiver Quinton Patton is one name that immediately pops out as a fourth-round option. South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, who is fighting his way back form a knee injury, is also out there. As is Ohio State offensive tackle Reid Fragel.