The Patriots have picked inside linebacker Brandon Spikes with the 62nd overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Spikes is a big guy at 6’3″, 250 pounds and he is the classic middle linebacker as he is a much better run defender than he is against the pass.  Spikes played in 12 games (all starts) for the Gators last season and he finished up with 68 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, he had 3 sacks, broke up 3 passes and he intercepted 2 passes.  He played in 48 games (39 starts) in his four years with Florida and he finished up with 307 tackles, 31.5 tackles for a loss, he had 6.5 sacks, he broke up 14 passes and he had 6 interceptions.  Spikes is a playmaker and I love this pick for the Patriots.

The Patriots have picked DE Jermaine Cunningham from Florida with the 53rd pick (2nd round) in the NFL Draft.  Cunningham is 6’3″, 248 pounds so the Patriots probably are thinking about moving him to OLB.  The problem with that is Cunningham is not a good open field tackler.  That makes him a bit of a tweener.  Cunningham played in 12 games (all starts) for Florida last season and he finished up with 34 tackles, 12 tackles for a loss, 7 sacks, he had forced 2 fumbles and he had 1 fumble recovery.  Cunningham played in 45 games (38 starts) in his career at Florida and he finished up with 152 tackles, 34 tackles for a loss, 19.5 sacks, he batted down 7 passes, forced 5 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  The Patriots coaching staff will likely have to coach Cunningham up as they likely picked him a round or two too early.

The Patriots have picked TE Rob Gronkowski out of Arizona with the 42nd overall pick (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Gronkowski did not play last season because of a back injury.  He is a big guy at 6’5″, 265 pounds and he is a solid blocker in the running game and he has great hands in the passing game.  Gronkowski put up solid numbers in college despite not playing with good QBs at Arizona.  He played in 22 games (18 starts) at Arizona in his career there and he caught 75 passes for 1,197 yards (16.0 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  Gronkowski will likely be a starter as a rookie because the Patriots have a huge need there.

The Patriots have selected CB Devin McCourty out of Rutgers with the 27th pick of the first round of the NFL Draft.  McCourty is super fast as he runs a 4.4 40 but he’s on the small side at 5’10″, 186 pounds.  McCourty won’t likely be much help against the run but he is a elite pass defender because of his speed which gives him the ability to run stride for stride with almost every WR he plays against.  He is also a big time special teams player as he blocked 7 kicks and he returned a kickoff for a TD at Rutgers.  McCourty played in 13 games (all starts) for Rutgers last season and he made 80 tackles, broke up 10 passes, he had 1 interception and he forced 1 fumble.  He played in 52 games (39 starts) in his four years at Rutgers in which he made 245 tackles, broke up 26 passes, he intercepted 4 passes, forced 2 fumbles and he recovered 4 fumbles.  McCourty will probably be a special teams ace for the Patriots right away while working in nickel and dime coverages.  He could be a starter down the road if he gets better against the run.

The Patriots have signed 28-year old DT Amon Gordon.  He last played in the NFL with the Titans during the 2008 season.  Gordon has played in 13 games in his NFL career and he has 29 tackles and he has forced 1 fumble.  Gordon was just signed for depth as he will have a hard time making the team this fall.

UPDATE:  (6/10/2010) – The Patriots have released Gordon.

The signings of WR Torry Holt and TE Alge Crumpler filled a couple of big needs for the Patriots on the offense.  They will likely focus on defense in this weekend’s NFL Draft.  The Patriots will be likely looking to add at outside linebacker, cornerback, safety and at defensive end this weekend.  The Patriots have 4 picks in the top 53 in this draft and they have 12 picks overall giving them the ammo to move up to get the player they really want if needed.  I see the Patriots looking closely at OLB Sergio Kindle, OLB Sean Weatherspoon, CB Perrish Cox, CB Kyle Wilson, S Taylor Mays and DE Corey Wootton in the first round.

PROJECTED FIRST ROUND PICK:  Perrish Cox, CB, Oklahoma State

The Patriots have signed 33-year old WR Torry Holt to a 1-year, $1.7 million dollar deal.  Holt played in 15 games for the Jaguars last season in which he caught 51 passes for 722 yards (14.2 avg) but he didn’t catch any TDs.  Holt has now played in 173 games in his NFL career in which he has caught 920 passes for 13,382 yards (14.5 avg) with 74 TD grabs.  Holt is #11 all-time in receptions, #10 in receiving yards and he is tied for #27 in TD receptions with Nat Moore in NFL History.  The Patriots hope that Holt will give them another weapon in the passing game to offset the late start to the 2010 season of Wes Welker.

The Patriots are taking it easy so far this off-season as they have only been bringing in backup type players so far.  TE Alge Crumpler is the biggest name the Patriots have brought in this off-season and he should be a asset for them in 2010.  WR David Patten had some of his best days with the Patriots but that was a long time ago and I’m not so sure that he has much left in the gas tank.  Linebacker Marques Murrell and DT Damione Lewis are both backup type players who will help out the depth of the D.  The Patriots likely have something up their sleeves either this weekend or next week to bring in some real help for the roster.

The Patriots have signed 32-year old DT Damione Lewis to a 1-year deal.  Lewis played in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he made 41 tackles, had 1.5 sacks and 4 tackles for a loss.  He has now played in 131 games in his NFL career in which he has made 245 tackles, defensed 14 passes, he has 22.5 sacks and he has forced 4 fumbles.  This was a good signing for the Patriots who like to rotate a lot of players on the D-Line.