The 2010 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft rolls on, with each SB Nation blogger making selections for their respective teams. Richard Hill, lead blogger at SB Nation's New England Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit, checks in to make the No. 22 overall selection in this year's mock. Take it away, sir!
2010 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: Round 1, Pick 22
With the No. 22 overall pick in the 2010 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft, the New England Patriots have selected Jared Odrick, defensive lineman, Penn State.
Richard Hill says: The Patriots have had a pressing need for an improved pass rush for a couple seasons. The last minute trade of Richard Seymour to Oakland and the recent departure of free agent Jarvis Green to Denver didn't help the situation. The Patriots have two definite needs in this draft - a solid 3-4 DE and a solid 3-4 OLB. This draft is extremely deep with 3-4 pass rushers, but no so much with space-eating, double-team-commanding, run-stuffing 3-4 defensive ends. Due to the position demographic of this draft, the New England Patriots must draft a 3-4 DE, and Penn State's Jared Odrick is a versatile player who fits this need.
Out of the two potential 3-4 DEs to grab at this point in the draft, the 6'5", 304-pound Odrick is the only perfectly sized 3-4 DE who can fit the Patriots' scheme. Florida's Carlos Dunlap appears to be another possible choice, but at 277 pounds, Dunlap is far too light to succeed with the Patriots. Odrick has the perfect body size and skill set to fit into the position Seymour left vacant. With the ability to bull rush into the backfield when single covered and the capability to push around double teams, Odrick should be able to immediately step into the DE position and open up lanes for whatever linebackers line up behind him. 3-4 DEs for the Patriots must be able to eat up blockers for the linebackers and stop the run. Odrick is more than capable of doing both.
Another reason for selecting Odrick has to do with draft depth in other positions. The Patriots should be looking to fill the DE, OLB, OT, TE and possibly CB positions early in the draft. With so many players in the other positions still on the board, selecting Odrick is also based upon the chance that the other top players drop down to the Patriots due to how many still remain. The TE position for the Patriots is a block first, catch second job, and all the top tight ends are receivers first, which means that their strengths most likely won't be capitalized in our offense. The top project OTs still remain (think Sebastian Vollmer 2.0), so there's no reason to select one yet. Only Brandon Graham has been picked from the rich OLB crop, which means there will be plenty to pick from later on. Since no first-round quality CB dropped, that leaves DE as the lone position to address.
Mocking Dan reacts: Odrick is a good, smart pick, but I was surprised this wasn’t Sergio Kindle. There are plenty of solid 3-4 end prospects in this year’s draft and Kindle is the premier 3-4 linebacker. Although New England should be able to get a good 3-4 linebacker in the second round, passing on the best one available was a surprise.
Mocking the Draft's Top 5 remaining prospects: 1 - Everson Griffen/DE/USC, 2 - Jermaine Gresham/TE/Oklahoma, 3 - Anthony Davis/OT/Rutgers, 4 - Sergio Kindle/OLB/Texas, 5 - Ryan Mathews/RB/Fresno State
Sound off, SB Nation! What say you of New England’s pick of Jared Odrick? Please be sure to check out Pats Pulpit for all of your Patriots needs.
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