Middle-to-Late Rounds can be gold
And while understandably most of the talk centers around tonight’s first round and who will move up, move down or trade for the top prospects, sometimes the true gems of the draft are found in the middle rounds.
Super Bowl Showcase: Last night we were invited to attend the Patriots premiere of the “3 Games to Glory” unveiling at the Showcase Cinemas at Patriots place. And one of the things that stuck out during the highlights from the Super Bowl was that the players from both teams that were most featured in the film weren’t the top picks in their respective drafts.
Tom Brady, (6th round), Julian Edelman, (7th round) and Danny Amendola, (UDFA) were three of the most shown players for the Patriots offense in the highlights. But the Patriots offense was clicking against one of the best defenses of this generation.
And who can forget the play of Malcolm Butler, (UDFA), in the closing minutes of the pivotal fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Butler was involved in three huge plays in the final moments of the Super Bowl before sealing the deal with the interception at the end.
Both Edelman and Amendola were in attendance and spoke to the crowd about their experiences along with safety Devin McCourty and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
For the Seahawks, much of the highlight action centered around QB Russell Wilson, (3rd Round), S Kam Chancellor, (5th Round) and CB Richard Sherman, (5th Round).
There were plenty of others involved but those players just happened to be the most visible during the game’s highlights. Impact players all and none were of those 1st and 2nd round players everyone salivates over.
Plenty of Mid-to-Late Round Options: The Patriots will have plenty of talent to pick from in the middle rounds and I expect them to pluck a few good prospects out of the bunch. A few players may include but are not limited to:
RB David Cobb – Minnesota
RB David Johnson – Northern Iowa
RB Jeremy Lanford – Michigan State
WR Sammie Coates – Auburn
WR Tyler Lockett – Kansas State
WR Kenny Bell – Nebraska
OG Josue Matias – FSU
OG Arie Kouandjio – Alabama
OG Jamil Douglas – Arizona State
DE Za’Darius Smith – Kentucky
DE Lynden Trail – Norfolk State
DE Ray Drew – Georgia
DT Marcus Hardison – Arizona State
DT Xavier Williams – Northern Iowa
DT Tyeler Davison – Fresno State
LB Ben Heeney – Kansas
LB Martrell Spaight – Arkansas
LB Davis Tull – Chattanooga
CB Jacorey Shepherd – Kansas
CB Nick Marshall – Auburn
CB Craig Mager – Texas State
FS Gerod Holliman – Louisville
SS Jaquiski Tartt – Samford
SS Clayton Geathers – UCF
This is just a small sample size of some of the players that will undoubtedly be available. Some of those players we’ve profiled in our lead-up to the draft. We’ve taken many of them in Mock Drafts as well.
But none of them are house-hold names in the talks leading up to tonight’s opening of the draft and probably won’t see their name picked tonight. But watching the “3 Games to Glory” video last night, neither were any of those star players.
Tonight we’ll all be glued,…and rightfully so to see the marquee players taken in the first round of the draft. But rosters are built and teams win with the guys who come in on Day 3….stay tuned until Saturday afternoon.
Thanks again to the Patriots media department for the invite to the premiere last night. It was well worth the time to re-watch the games and the behind the scenes look at how the Patriots got to the Super Bowl….Let’s Draft!
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcast on blog talk radio as the writers Russ Goldman, Derek Havens, we'll host a special NFL Draft podcast on Saturday at the conclusion of the 2015 NFL Draft.
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