Two for one

When you think Bill Belichick and the NFL Draft one word comes to mind... unpredictable.

The first round of the 2012 draft was no different. Pats fans always go into the night with dreams of linebackers dancing in their heads but braced for the coach/GM to trade away most of the picks for more picks the following year and the year after that and the year after that and the...

Turns out the year after that is 2012. The Pats traded up twice in the first round. That's right. Belichick and co. traded up to go get a player. Twice. I'm not sure if he did it to help me get over the Super Bowl loss, but I think the drafting of two defensive studs finally did the trick. I've moved on. (Although I'm still pissed at Brady).

So who did the Pats get? Two guys I had hoped for in my mockest of drafts. The Pats were sitting at #27 when the night started and I hoped Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower would slide his way down the board to them. I also wanted Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones but thought he would hang around till the second round. Apparently the Pats were interested in both players too, but had no interest in waiting around to see if they would be there when the team got its turn on the clock.

First Belichick traded the 27th pick and the team's third-round choice to Cincy to slide into the 21st spot and grab Jones. I think the Steelers were going to grab him two spots later and I think Belichick thought that too. Jones is a 6-5, 250 end out of Syracuse who can get after the quarterback. I thought he was a bit of a reach at the 62nd pick so it seems like a huge reach at 21. But Jones was one of the hotter names rising up the board leading up to draft day. Hot enough to get Belichick to move on him early. NFL Network's Mike Mayock said that in a few years Jones will be considered the best defensive player to come out of the draft.

The Pats were then sitting at #31 when they decided to make a move again ... this time for Alabama monster linebacker Dont'a Hightower. I thought it was worth moving down in front of the Jets at 16 to stop them from getting Hightower. Somewhat surprisingly the Jets passed on the 6-5 linebacker in favor of defensive end Quinton Coples of North Carolina. A Tar Heel lineman instead of a Nick Saban bred Crimson Tide linebacker? Rex is having quite an offseason so far. Hightower was sliding to the Pats but the Texans at #26 were not going to let him get past them. So, for a second time in the same night, Belichick traded up, this time costing the Pats a fourth-rounder to get Denver's #25 spot. Hello Dont'a. Meet Ninko, Mayo, and Spikes.

The Pats didn't get Harrison Smith, the safety from Notre Dame. He was the guy I wanted after Hightower. The secondary will have to be addressed in the remaining rounds. Jones and Hightower may finally solve what has been the team's biggest weakness for years. A mediocre pass rush.

The draft is only one round in and for the Pats it's already a success.