The Patriots used their first 1st round pick to select Safety Brandon Meriweather out of the University of Miami (FL). Meriweather had a great junior year, but his senior year fell short of expectations. Many people felt as though he was a second round pick, at best. Another thing that hurt Brandon was the incident between the Hurricanes and Florida International, during which Meriweather, and others, stomped on an FIU player lying on the ground. A second potential red flag went up when Meriweather was involved in a shooting in which he fired at a man.
But here's the thing. The ENTIRE Miami football team was involved in the incident against Florida International. And the shooting incident? The police ruled that Meriweather used his gun legally. The gun was properly registered, and Brandon fired at a man who had fired on his roommate. No bad judgement there, just a man in a situation in which his friend is in danger, and he stuck up for him.
Meriweather is a good athlete and a good football player. He's also very versatile. Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson have both missed games due to injury in the past few seasons. Harrison is also getting up there in years. The status of Asante Samuel is in doubt, and Ellis Hobbs was exposed several times in the playoffs. Meriweather can be a nickelback, as well as a safety. No, not a shitty music making Nickelback, but a 5th DB kind of nickelback. He can back up Harrison, and possibly allow Wilson to move back to cornerback.
I would have preferred that the Patriots drafted a cornerback, but none deserving of the 24th overall pick were available. The Jets traded their 1st, 2nd, and 5th round picks to move up and get CB Darrelle Revis with the 14th pick. I wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots had been in discussions for that pick, but the price New York paid was WAY too high, in my opinion, and I'm glad we didn't pay it.
The Patriots traded their second pick in the 1st round to San Francisco. In return, they got a 4th round pick in this year's draft, and a 1st round pick from the 49ers in next year's draft. I LOVE this trade! There really wasn't anybody worth taking for the Patriots with this pick, so why spend a 1st round signing bonus for a guy you don't really need on your team when you can get a 1st round in next year's draft. This trade shows some of the differences between the Patriots and other teams. The Browns used their 1st round pick to get Brady Quinn, and the Jets gave up a lot to get Revis. Neither pick was all that bad, but they gave up some opportunities to improve their entire teams for the sake of sole individual players that they coveted.
The funniest part of the first round was the Miami Dolphins. The Jets fans acting like morons and chanting the war cry of their mediocre team over and over and over was a very close second. But Miami, in desperate need of so much, including a QB, passes on Brady Quinn and decides to take Ted Ginn Jr. with the 9th overall pick. Wow!
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