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New England Patriots select OL Marcus Cannon

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Wow. The Patriots offensive line just got even bigger. Cannon is the first player the Patriots selected that I had discounted early in the draft research process. But now as I get to know him more I am very excited.

He’s 363 pounds and, in the words of PFW, “bends effortlessly and is seldom on the ground” and “can block out the sun with sheer mass and create a surge in the run game”. He played tackle but scouts seem to think he could kick inside to guard, which is exactly what the Patriots need.

The Pats are taking what the board gives them as they always do, and they are ending up with some special, gifted players. They might not have been able to fill all their needs just yet, but with 3 more picks and all of free agency there’s still time to fill those spots.

And what kind of a Patriot doesn’t love a Cannon?

Saturday morning Patriots draft thoughts…

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With the lockout back on, and who knows where it’s all headed, this could be the last day of real football news in a long, long time. So try to enjoy it, even if your team hasn’t drafted who you think they should’ve.

Some brief thoughts on the Patriots haul yesterday.

  • Teams are going to need a lot of good running backs when the NFL goes to 18 games (and they will). Again, Pats are ahead of the curve.
  • Jets were smart to take two defensive lineman. Good fits for them, and they were definitely needs as well, especially when you look at the ground game that the Pats have been putting together over the past few years.
  • Frenz and I talked about it on last night’s podcast, but this offense in 2011 will be incredibly different than the spread, air-it-out attack of 2007 and 2008.
  • So Fred Taylor and Sammie Morris? Uh, buh bye. Sadly that could include Kevin Faulk too. Which kills me to think his glorious career ended on the field turf of the New Meadowlands. Ew.
  • I am more excited about the Ras-I Dowling pick than any other. Where they start him out in camp will be very interesting. But definitely looks like he’s a Free Safety down the road. Which was set to be a huge need next season.
  • Not surprised at all that the Pats haven’t taken a wide receiver yet.
  • Some OLB guys to keep an eye on today: Cliff Matthews, Greg Romeus, and Craig Marshall. Yes, there are still “pass rushers” available.
  • Doesn’t matter what the end game with Mallett is, the fact is that the Patriots have some cannon-armed competition for Brian Hoyer, and another layer of protection should anything happen to TFB. Who knows, they could end up flipping Mallett and Hoyer for picks.
  • How many shitty teams enter drafts dying for a left tackle and a quarterback and don’t get either? The Patriots aren’t going to have that problem for a while.
  • As predicted, Friday was a surgical strike of four picks, and then the Pats punted, picking up a late round pick and another 2nd for next year. Their board must’ve been pretty sparse for the rest of rounds 3 and 4.
  • There should definitely be some developmental lineman picked up today. The Pats having some low round picks is really going to go unsung, but those are important parts of team building and just look over the years at how many sixth and seventh rounders come in and play. Pretty often actually.

Tune in at 1:30pm EST as we welcome none other than Fitzy to the podcast to discuss the draft.