I thought the Patriots were going to add defense in this draft but I was dead wrong.  The Patriots only used 3 of 9 picks on defense and 2 of them came in the 6th and 7th rounds.  Coach Belichick isn’t stupid.  He knows that Tom Brady (despite being awesome) is getting older, so the protection will have to be better as the years go on.  With that in mind, the Patriots picked OT Nate Solder in the first round of the NFL Draft.  He will likely be a starter from day #1 for the Patriots.  In the fifth round, the Patriots took G/T Marcus Cannon out of TCU.  He is a second round talent that slid to the Patriots because of a tumor in his stomach.  He is expected to recover and be 100% healthy in the near future.  This was a steal for the Patriots.  RBs Shane Vereen (2nd round) and Stevan Ridley (3rd round) were picked pretty high by the Patriots despite them not having a huge need there.  Belichick does like to have a committee approach at RB so look for Vereen and Ridley to get some carries behind BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead in 2011.  QB Ryan Mallet could be a huge steal for the Patriots as he slipped to the 3rd round due to off the field issues.  The talent is there to be one of the best QBs in the NFL down the road due to his ability on the field.  He will get to learn behind Tom Brady for a while before maybe eventually replacing him down the road.  TE Lee Smith came to the Patriots in the 5th round and his game is blocking in the running game.  CB Ras-I Dowling came to the Patriots in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL Draft and he should help right away.

PROJECTED GRADE:  B