Quick-hit thoughts and notes around the New England Patriots and NFL:
1. Since Bill Belichick took over as head coach of the Patriots in 2000, I can’t recall a year in which there has been less buzz/excitement in the region for the NFL draft. The circumstances that led to the Patriots losing their first-round draft pick is part of it (part of the Deflategate penalties), with some fans gathering on social media and stating they won't watch the opening round as a form of protest. Reflective of the different public vibe, the team is not hosting its normal draft-day party on the first night of the draft (round 1) for what it believed to be the first time since owner Robert Kraft and his family purchased the team in 1994. While there isn’t as much public-based excitement, the Patriots still have a solid opportunity with four of the draft’s first 96 picks to come away with some important pieces, specifically at running back, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, cornerback and/or receiver.
2. Starting defensive tackle Alan Branch was in Foxborough early last week for the start of the team’s voluntary offseason program -- he had a scheduled check-in as part of a weight clause in his contract -- before he departed for home. Now in his 10th NFL season and with business and personal interests outside of football, Branch has traditionally not taken part in the voluntary offseason program in recent years. Branch isn’t the only player who wasn’t present for the first week of the program, but the Patriots -- as cornerback Logan Ryan told the team’s official website -- still had a good portion of the roster on hand.
3. The signing of a free-agent long snapper in April isn’t going to generate many headlines, but one thing to keep in mind with the Patriots’ addition of four-year veteran Christian Yount on Friday is that the club is protecting itself in the event second-year man Joe Cardona’s Navy obligations pull him away from the team. Cardona was allowed to play in his rookie season after the Patriots selected him in the fifth round, but the team is proceeding as if nothing is set in stone at this time regarding Cardona’s 2016 availability.
4. Belichick had most of the Patriots’ coaching staff together at TD Garden on Friday night for the Celtics’ win over the Hawks in Game 3 of the NBA playoffs. That, along with the presence of several players, was one of those crossover moments between the city’s sports teams that served as a reminder of the special championship run the region has had over the last 15 years. Belichick grinned when he was shown on the videoboard above the court donning a Rutgers shirt, and those in attendance relayed that his reaction reflected how much he seems to enjoy the atmosphere. The night out for team-building among the coaching staff means most of the heavy lifting for the draft is done, although the club is planning to have some coaches on the road this week for final workouts with prospects (e.g. Percy Harvin workout in 2009).
5. The Patriots' thoroughness in the scouting process is well documented and it was relayed to me that their level of attention has been especially high with West Virginia running back Wendell Smallwood, who is a name to file away at a position that the team is likely to target in the draft. The 5-foot-10 1/2, 208-pound Smallwood is one of this year’s best pass-catching running backs, which explains why one person close to him said most of the NFL’s elite passing offenses, with top quarterbacks, had him in for pre-draft visits. In some ways, I view Smallwood as this year’s version of Shane Vereen, a 2011 second-round pick out of California whose value to the Patriots was greater than other teams because of their emphasis on throwing the ball. Smallwood is considered a mid-to-later-round pick.
6. Did You Know: If the Patriots and Colts don’t meet in the playoffs this year, it will mark the first time the clubs haven’t played each other since 2002. Because the teams have annually finished atop their divisions over the last decade-plus, coupled with the NFL’s standard schedule rotation, it's basically been a guarantee that the teams would face each other the following regular season. The Colts’ slippage in 2015 took that off the board this season. Consider this: Since the Colts switched from the AFC East to AFC South in 2002, the teams played in the regular season each year except for ’02 and ’13. The clubs met in the AFC divisional round of the playoffs in 2013.
7. Every NFL team holds a pre-draft news conference, per NFL rules, and one of the parts I like about them is hearing general managers discuss some of the behind-the-scenes scouts and directors who spearhead the year-round scouting process. In New England, director of player personnel Nick Caserio highlighted director of college scouting Monti Ossenfort (11 years with Patriots), college scouting coordinator Brian Smith (16) and national scouts James Liipfert (7) and DuJuan Daniels (10), who have a combined 44 years of experience with the organization. Ossenfort elevated to his position when current Tennessee Titans general manager Jon Robinson left the Patriots in 2013.
8. In researching offensive tackles in the draft that seem to best fit what the Patriots look for from a traits standpoint, Nebraska’s Alex Lewis rose to the forefront with a few others because of his combination of size (6-foot-6, 312 pounds), athleticism and style of play. Lewis has been busy in the pre-draft process, with 11 visits or individual workouts, and falls into the second-to-third-round range where the Patriots have four selections (Nos. 60, 61, 91, 96). There are a few strong Patriots connections with Lewis, who has an interesting story career-wise in college. His father, Bill, played in seven games (5 starts) at center on the 1993 Patriots team coached by Bill Parcells. Current Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was on the Patriots’ staff that year as a special assistant. Also, Nebraska’s head coach up until last season, Bo Pelini, was on the Patriots’ staff with Scarnecchia under Pete Carroll from 1997-99. I have Lewis on the short list of offensive tackles at a position the Patriots would like to address with starting right tackle Sebastian Vollmer and swing man Marcus Cannon in the final year of their deals.
9. One-time Patriots starting defensive tackle Chris Jones was claimed on waivers last week by the Dolphins, and one of the primary reasons Miami made the move (besides the obvious of seeking more depth) was the background that first-year defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had with Jones. When Jones entered the NFL as a sixth-round draft choice of the Texans in 2013, Joseph was working as Houston’s defensive backs coach and thus had a good feel for him as a player based on offseason camps, training camp and preseason. One can never underestimate the power of those connections.
10a. Accounting for the Patriots’ contracts with linebacker Tony Steward and Yount on Friday, the Patriots now have 76 players on their roster. If they make all 11 of their draft picks, that will give them 87 players, meaning they will have three spots to sign undrafted free agents. Of course, the team can always shuffle around some pieces on the roster -- similar to how cornerback Malcolm Butler was brought on after a post-draft tryout in May 2014 -- but this year will still likely mark the smallest undrafted class in Belichick’s Patriots tenure.
10b. The Patriots are known as one of the league’s most unpredictable teams when it comes to the draft, but if there is one certainty, it’s to expect a trade. In Bill Belichick’s 15 drafts, there has been only one year, 2004, when there wasn’t a single draft-day trade. Over that time, he’s made 54 draft-day deals. Thirty of those trades have come in the past eight years, which is an average of 3.75 per year; hence the nickname “Trader Bill” for Belichick.
