The New England Patriots are rumored to have had Ryan Mallet rated as the top QB on their draft board.  Therefore, they couldn’t resist taking him in the 3rd round with the #74 overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Mallet stands at 6’6″, 240 pounds and he sports a rifle for a throwing arm.  Off the field issues caused him to drop, but if anyone can straighten him out, it will be Bill Belichick and the rest of the Patriots.  Mallett played in 13 games (all starts) for Arkanas last year and he completed 266 of 411 passes (64.7%) for 3,869 yards with 32 TD passes and 12 INTs.  Mallet played in 37 games (29 starts) in three years with Michigan & Arkansas in which he completed 552 of 955 passes (57.8%) for 8,385 yards with 69 TD passes and 24 INTs.  Mallet landed in the perfect spot as he won’t be thrown into the fire any time soon.  He will learn from Tom Brady for a few years before eventually replacing him as the starter.  I love this pick for the Patriots.

The New England Patriots took 22-year old RB Stevan Ridley out of LSU with the 73rd overall pick (3rd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Ridley is 5’11″, 230 pounds and he’s a power runner.  He runs a 4.6 40, so he’s not going to breakaway for a lot of long runs but he will run over some guys.  Ridley played in 13 games (7 starts) for LSU last season and he carried the ball 249 times for 1,147 yards (4.6 ypc) with 15 TD runs.  He also caught 11 passes for 61 yards (5.5 avg) last year.  Ridley played in 39 games (9 starts) in his three years with the Tigers and he carried the ball 306 times for 1,419 yards (4.6 ypc) with 19 TD runs.  Ridley also caught 17 passes for 94 yards (5.5 avg) with LSU.  Ridley likely has a ton of tread left on his tires as he was only used heavily by LSU last year.

The New England Patriots selected 22-year old RB Shane Vereen out of California with the 56th overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Vereen is 5″10″, 200 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Vereen played in 12 games (all starts) for California last year and he carried the ball 231 times for 1,167 yards (5.1 ypc) with 13 TD runs.  He also caught 22 passes for 209 yards (9.5 avg) with 3 TD grabs last year.  Vereen played in 38 games (19 starts) in his three years with California and he carried the ball 556 times for 2,834 yards (5.1 ypc) with 29 TD carries.  He also caught 74 passes for 674 yards (9.1 avg) with 6 TD grabs at California.  Vereen looks like a solid fit for the Patriots as he is a good runner and receiver.

The New England Patriots snapped up 22-year old cornerback Ras-I Dowling out of Virginia with the 33rd overall pick (2nd round) of the 2011 NFL Draft.  Dowling is 6’1″, 199 pounds and he runs a 4.5 40.  Dowling missed a lot of last season due to injury but that didn’t stop the Patriots from taking him.  He played in only 5 games (2 starts) last season for Virginia and he had 15 tackles and he broke up 1 pass.  Dowling played in 40 games (25 starts) in his four years with Virginia and he had 160 tackles, broke up 29 passes, had 8 interceptions, forced 4 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble.  The Patriots needed help at corner and they are confident that his injuries from last year won’t hamper him going forward.

The New England Patriots picked 23-year old OT Nate Solder out of Colorado with the 17th overall pick of the NFL Draft.  Solder is a big guy at 6’8″, 314 pounds and he might step right into the starting lineup for the Patriots in 2011.  He is a converted TE, so he’s a very good athlete for a guy his size.  Despite being as big as he is, Solder has good footwork in the passing game and he’s pretty good at hitting moving targets both down the field and on trap plays.  But, the Patriots will need to toughen him up a bit if he’s really going to help out in the running game.  Solder played in 12 games (all starts) for Colorado last year.  He has a lot of experience as he played in 51 games (42 starts) in his four years with the Buffaloes.  This was another solid pick for the Patriots.

The New England Patriots’ draft day dealings of the past have left them with 6 of the first 92 picks in next weekend’s NFL Draft.  They will surely look to deal down to get more picks, which is a Bill Belichick specialty.  I would suggest that the Patriots stay pat in the first three rounds because they will be able to fill a lot of holes where they are picking.  Here’s a look at how I saw the Patriots doing in my mock draft:

1st round (#17 overall) – Ryan Kerrigan, DE, Purdue

1st round (#28 overall) – Justin Houston, OLB, Georgia

2nd round (#33 overall) – Mikel Leshoure, RB, Illinois

2nd round (#60 overall) – James Carpenter, OT, Alabama

3rd round (#74 overall) – Titus Young, WR, Boise State

3rd round (#92 overall) – Lawrence Wilson, OLB, Connecticut

4th round (#125 overall) – Jordan Todman, RB, Connecticut

5th round (#159 overall) – Bryan Browning, OG, Ohio State

6th round (#193 overall) – Jonas Mouton, OLB, Michigan

The Patriots had almost no pass rush last year.  Adding Kerrigan, Houston and Wilson could change that early next year.  The Patriots would also nab a nice RB in Leshoure and a couple linemen to protect Tom Brady.  All in all, this would be a very nice haul for the Patriots.