Story by
Patriots make first defensive pick in 4th round
- Story by
- Patriots make first defensive pick in 4th round
After going all offense in the first three rounds, the Patriots opened Day 3 of the NFL Draft with their first defensive selection.
New England chose Craig Woodson, a safety out of Cal, with pick No. 104 early in the fourth round. The 6-foot, 200-pounder was a three year starter for the Golden Bears and ran a 4.45 40-yard dash at the Combine.
Advertisement
During his time at Cal, Woodson had 5 interceptions, 9 tackles for loss, 21 pass breakups, and 245 tackles. Woodson was the 90th ranked player on Daniel Jeremiah's Top 150 , while the Athletic's Dane Brugler had given Woodson a sixth-round grade.
"Whether playing down or on the backend, Woodson shows terrific recognition of run-pass development to smartly put himself in positions to make plays," Brugler said. "He is at his best in short zones or split-safety alignments, where he can maintain spacing and drive on the football. Overall, Woodson doesn't have dominant size or traits that make him jump of the film, but he is good enough in most critical categories NFL teams want at the safety position. He will be ready from day one to compete for a depth role."
The Patriots have a pair of starters penciled into the safety depth chart in Jabrill Peppers and Kyle Dugger , but both are 29 years old, so Mike Vrabel is likely looking for more depth at the position.
New England opened their draft by taking tackle Will Campbell (No. 4), running back TreVeyon Henderson (No. 38), wide receiver Kyle Williams (No. 69), and center Jared Wilson (No. 95). After the third round ended, EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf said the Patriots would be targeting defensive help on Day 3.
Advertisement
More Patriots Content
Read the original article on MassLive .
