Pats Trade Twice, Select CB McCourty

The 2010 NFL Draft entered into prime time for the first time and our beloved New England Patriots made some drama late in the first round by trading down twice.

This isn't anything new for the Patriots. Belichick loves to trade down to gather picks and considers having more second round picks a higher value than a single late first rounderer. The Patriots had three second round picks this year.

First, they traded their 22nd overall pick to former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' Denver Broncos for the 24th overall pick plus a 4th round pick (#113 overall). The Broncos then took Georgia Tech WR Demaryius Thomas.

Denver then went and traded that 24th pick (alongside the 119th pick) to the Dallas Cowboys for the 27th pick plus the 90th pick so the Cowboys could draft their own stand out wide reciever, Oklahoma State's Dez Bryant. This gives the Patriots a staggering 13 picks alongside the first rounder they have used to take Rutgers cornerback Devin McCourty.

McCourty, despite his 5-11 frame, likes to play physical and can hold his own in man-to-man coverages. In 38 games, he has jammed and re-routed pass catchers away from 148 incomplete attempts, the most of any cornerback in the Division I ranks during that span.

He loves to get inside and help in the run. He made 91 of his 236 tackles in run support. He's only made 6 career interceptions but, like a typical Patriot player, the numbers don't give you a full appreciation of what he means to his team. He has great field vision, and is also a great help defender.

Another thing that Belichick likes to do with starters is to let them play some special teams and this is where McCourty has played his best. He recorded 23 tackles for the punt coverage unit and 27 for the kickoff coverage squad. He has also blocked six punts and one field goal. Six of those blocks set up Rutgers scoring drives.

Overall, this pick is good considering the Achilles' heel of this football team has always been the secondary so trying to improve that unit is a smart move. What was surprising is that Texas outside linebacker Sergio Kindle was still available on the board and one would think that the Belichick would fix the defense from the inside-out and make a devastating duo of Kindle and Jerod Mayo. But judging from what scouts say about McCourty, the Pats did a good job.