Pats Should Focus on Front Seven Like 2012 Draft

With yesterday’s allocation of a fourth-round compensatory pick, the Patriots now have their draft capital set:

• 1.31
• 2.43 (via SF)
• 2.63
• 3.95
• 4.136
• 6.208

The Patriots have had their struggles high in the draft lately. Only Malcom Brown (2015), Dont’a Hightower (2012) and Nate Solder (2011) remain as first- or second-round players since 2011 who are still on the team and important pieces. Otherwise there have been extensive misses and even those that they did hit on were traded away. Throw in the missing Deflategate pick and there’s no question, the Patriots need to hit on some talent in this spring’s draft.

The ideal model? When they traded up twice in 2012’s first round to add Dont’a Hightower and Chandler Jones. The impact of those two picks was immediately felt in the 2012 season and set the stage for what would become a Super Bowl-winning defense in 2014. That’s the kind of infusion up front the Pats need once again.

The high-round misses, lost pick and then devastating injuries of 2017 all added up to why the defense regressed last season. Yes, they were still one fourth-down stop away from winning back-to-back titles so it’s important not to get too crazy here. But I believe that the allocation of cap space must be re-balanced toward the front seven and away from a secondary that will lose a starter but is already the 8th-highest paid defensive backfield in the NFL.

I’ve seen plenty of ideas that Malcolm Butler must be replaced with another big name, high-price free agent like Aqib Talib, but I disagree. I think the strategy this offseason needs to take a patient and low-cost approach in rounding out the cornerback group, and really, if they had to roll with Gilmore and Rowe starting on the outside and Jonathan Jones on the inside, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

Don’t forget to throw Cyrus Jones in there as well. The third-year corner deserves a chance after ending his season with a torn ACL last year, despite being a disappointing ball handler early last summer. I’d even re-sign Johnson Bademosi and give him a chance to develop despite having a rough missed tackle in the Super Bowl that was significant.

No, I’d focus my attention and investment on the front seven, both at linebacker and on tough, edge-setting defensive ends and would love nothing more than to see the kind of aggressiveness they showed in 2012 to get the players they wanted.

Who are those players? Well I’ve just started dipping my toe into the draft, but it’s clear they can’t afford to fix these problems in free agency. These are positions that are too expensive to fill that way. Hightower and Jones helped remake the defensive front from 2012-2015 and the defense badly needs that kind of youthful boost once again.

With four picks in the first 100 it should be time to focus on quality, not quantity.