Each week leading up to the draft, the Foxboro Blog crew will spend a week breaking down a position on the Patriots' roster.  We'll start with a quick overview and then move onto a discussion involving potential draftees at that spot as well as free-agents that the Patriots may pursue.  Up this week are the running backs...

2010 Recap:  The Patriots started the 2010 season with five backs in the fold and by the time January rolled around, only one of them would be making significant contributions.  Veteran Fred Taylor appeared to be the leading candidate for the top back position during the pre-season, but was sidelined early in the year with a toe injury.  Kevin Faulk's season was lost early on due to a torn ACL.  Former 1st round pick, Laurence Maroney found himself back in Belichick's dog house and eventually on a flight to Denver after being traded for a 4th round pick.  Sammy Morris made the bulk of his contributions on special teams as he was called to carry the football all of 20 times in 2010.  And then there was BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who spent training camp and the preseason on the roster bubble fighting desperately for his spot.  In the end, he was the lone survivor of the original running back corps and, in their absence, managed to put together the best season by any back since Clock Killin' Corey Dillon. 

BenJarvus' 1,000+ yards were complimented by Jets cast-off, Danny Woodhead, who was picked up by Belichick during Week 3.  In stark contrast to Green-Ellis' ground and pound approach, Woodhead earned his playing time by sneaky, quick, and impossible to tackle.  Often the smallest man on the field, Danny had no problem taking and dishing out big hits to move the ball down the field.  Together, the unlikely duo formed an attack that gashed through opposing defenses.  They brought much needed balance to a pass-heavy Patriots offense, and their rushing success opened up numerous play-action opportunities for Tom Brady. 

This week, we will look at three new mock drafts and see who New England will be picking based on their suggestions. This series of articles will culminate in April when we go over Mel Kiper Jr.’s and Todd McShay’s Mock Drafts.

Pro Football Talk – They said New England would take J.J Watt, the DE out of Wisconsin with the 17th pick, so we will look at their 28th pick.

WR Jonathan Baldwin – Pittsburgh

Their Take: A deep threat receiver isn’t as big a need for New England as some have made it out to be, but Baldwin could add an entirely new element to Bill O’Brien’s offense. Mike Mayock has projected Baldwin to run a sub-4.4 at 6-foot-5, 230 pounds, and the third-year junior averaged 18.26 yards per catch at Pitt.

My Take: One of the main weapons that the Patriots missed in their AFC Divisional Playoff loss to the NY Jets was their lack of a deep threat wide receiver. If New England doesn’t fit this need through free agency, Baldwin would be the ideal rookie fit. He gets yards after the catch which is always a plus in Bill O’Brien’s offense and can stretch the defense for Wes Welker and Brandon Tate to get their screen passes and turn them into big gains.

How much importance do you place on the recent switches with the position coaches and the official appointment of Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator?

Jason:  The promotion of O'Brien seems to be just a formality since he's been serving as the de facto offensive coordinator for the past two years. The bigger news to me was the move of Matt Patricia from linebackers coach to safeties coach. I thought Patricia did an admirable job getting any sort of production out of a linebacking corps that included three first-year starters in Spikes, Ninkovich and Cunningham last season. By all accounts, Patricia seems to be a solid coach, so it makes me wonder if the Patriots will feature a more aggressive style of defense next year that will require a higher level of play out of Chung, Sanders and Meriweather.

New England has two picks in each of the first three rounds of the 2011 draft. Stephen offered his thoughts on the first round of the draft last week, projecting the Patriots will land a defensive lineman and an offensive lineman to add some power in the trenches. This week, we'll be looking at how the second round might shake out. As always, feel free to offer your thoughts (or wish me a happy 31st birthday and make fun of my waning youth) in the comments.

33. New England Patriots – Brooks Reed, OLB, Arizona

I’m going out on a limb on this pick, but Reed is one of the better OLB prospects that you may have never heard of. With good game smarts and a relentless motor, he fits the mold of a New England player to a T. Originally projected as a late 2^nd round pick, don’t be surprised to see him flying up draft boards after the Combine. The Pats would probably rather trade down a half-dozen picks and take the same player.

34. Buffalo Bills – Christian Ballard, DE/DT, Iowa

The Bills tried to transition to a 3-4 defense last year with a roster full of undersized defensive linemen, and the results were disastrous. Ballard would provide a physical presence on the line next to Pro Bowl DT Kyle Williams.

35. Cincinnati Bengals – Mikel LeShoure, RB, Illinois

LeShoure has the potential to be an every-down back that would take some of the heat off of Carson Palmer and make up for the possible loss of Cedric Benson. Could end up being a steal in the 2^nd round.

36. Denver Broncos – Quinton Carter, FS, Oklahoma

My friend Chuck the Broncos Fan said that if Denver doesn’t use all of the team’s picks on defense, he’s going to take a hostage. From what I saw of that defense, I’m inclined to agree.

37. Cleveland Browns – Leonard Hankerson, WR, Miami

The Browns need a playmaker to help 2^nd year QB Colt McCoy, and Hankerson showed a knack for making big plays during the Senior Bowl. He may have leap-frogged Pitt’s WR Baldwin at this point.

Do the Patriots need to add a big-time playmaker at wide receiver and/or running back or is this offense good enough to win a title with?

Jason:  I may be in the minority, but I really don't think that the offense needs another playmaker to win a Super Bowl. The personnel on offense hasn't been a problem. The Patriots led the league in scoring offense this year, and they finished the regular season 9th in rushing yards per game and tied for 2nd in rushing TDs. A lot of folks feel New England needs a dynamic gamebreaker to put a halt to the current three-game playoff skid, but I think the larger problem has been the lack of balance in play calling and the absence of playmakers on defense.

In the regular season, the Pats ran the ball about 28 times per game and put it in the air about 33 times. In each of the last three playoff losses, the Pats had a 2:1 pass:rush ratio. And it's not like the running game has been terribly inefficient in those games either. If the opposing team knows that 65-70 percent of your plays will be passes, playing defense becomes a whole lot easier. And if you're not sustaining drives and taking time off the clock, you're exposing your defense to an extra possession or two that can create problems. The Super Bowl teams at the beginning of the decade had excellent balance on offense and championship-caliber defense. The Patriots need that more than they need a new running back or wide receiver.

Kamerion Wimbley (OAK)

Among the experienced 3-4 OLBs who are likely to be available, Wimbley probably makes the most sense for the Patriots. He's shown a propensity for getting to the quarterback with 35.5 sacks in his first 5 years in the league. Wimbley is young, has the versatility to play at DE and could be one of the better OLBs available. He is at his best when he is asked to rush the passer, so he could fill an important need for New England. If the price is right, he could easily be a Patriot.

LaMarr Woodley (PIT)

Woodley is just 26 and one of the league's premier pass-rushers as an OLB in the 3-4. The major question would be his availability. The Steelers will almost certainly put the franchise tag on him, but if they fall asleep at the switch or if the new CBA voids the franchise tag (very unlikely), he would make a huge impact for the Pats. It would take a mint to sign him, but his big-game experience and leadership could make him well worth the investment. He'd be even better than Adalius Thomas in his heyday.

Tamba Hali (KC)

Hali is also likely to see the franchise tag, so the most realistic chance for him to be available would be a prolonged holdout to force a trade (unlikely) or the possibility that the new CBA does away with the tag altogether (equally unlikely). Hali led the conference in sacks with 14.5 last season and terrorized opposing quarterbacks all season. He recorded 37 percent of his team's sack total, and his constant pressure was one of the driving forces for a defense that was good enough to win the division and make the playoffs. He could be the every-down linebacker New England's defense needs to take the next step in the playoffs.

Antwan Barnes (SD)

Barnes does not appear to have the physical make-up to be an every-down OLB in the 3-4 at just 6'1" and 250 pounds, but he could contribute as a pass-rusher in sub packages. He got plenty of pressure on Brady in Week 7 with two sacks on a limited number of snaps, and that performance may have opened a few eyes on the Patriots coaching staff. He probably wouldn't require much of an investment since his value as a 3-down player is somewhat limited.

Mike Vrabel (KC)

This name might be familiar to a few Pats fans since he won three Super Bowls with New England before his trade to Kansas City. At age 36 to start the 2011 season, Vrabel will be a dinosaur in NFL terms. He is definitely past his prime as an every-down linebacker, but even at his advanced age, he could be useful in sub packages on a limited number of snaps. His veteran presence could also aid in the development of the inexperienced OLBs on the current roster.

Long gone are the days of Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel setting the tone on defense.

It goes without saying that the success of running a 3-4 defense relies most heavily on the linebacker corps. The corps must be well rounded as all four starters have multiple responsibilities in stopping the run, dropping into coverage, taking on blockers and rushing the passer. Ever since the Super Bowl loss to the Giants, there has been a serious talent drain at linebacker for the Patriots.

Recently the Patriots have been able to replenish the depth at inside linebacker starting with Jerod Mayo, who earned his first Pro Bowl selection this season after being drafted tenth overall in the 2008 draft. In the ’09 draft the Patriots selected Brandon Spikes out of Florida and the former Gator showed a knack for stopping the run. His size and instincts overshadow his lack of speed and he complements Mayo’s style well. Undrafted free agents Gary Guyton (2008) and Dane Fletcher (2010) have carved out their own roles as sub-package players who are adept at pass coverage and putting pressure on the quarterback.

While the Pats are well stocked at inside linebacker, outside linebacker is a different story. Besides 2009 second-round pick Jermaine Cunningham, there isn’t a whole lot to look forward to in the future. This is a key area the Patriots need to address in the draft if this defense is going to take the next step. That being said, here are five outside linebacker prospects who should be on the Patriots’ radar for the 2011 draft.

First off, my apologies to Rex Ryan if the above photo is getting him a little hot under the collar, but this impromptu update of Foxboro Blog is regarding the recent announcement that the Patriots will indeed be assigning the franchise tag to Logan Mankins.  It's not a huge shocker, considering that the Pats would have to be pretty dumb to expose Mankins to the open market of unrestricted free-agency and risk losing him without compensation.  Still, it's a noteworthy bit of news considering the cloud of controversy that has surrounded the Mankins contract talks for nearly a year now. 

The big questions that are still to be answered...

Will Mankins ultimately end up with a one year deal worth approximately $10 Million, or will he and the Patriots be able to hammer out a long-term extension.

Should contract talks go sour, will Mankins stage yet another hissy-fit and sit out training camp and potentially  some games?  (That's assuming there's actually a 2011 season, of course.)

If Mankins continues to have a rift with management, what can the Patriots realistically expect to get in return for him in a trade?

It should be interesting to say the least.  Let us know your thoughts on the drama in the comments...

Each week leading up to the draft, the Foxboro Blog crew will spend a week breaking down a position on the Patriots' roster.  We'll start with a quick overview and then move onto a discussion involving potential draftees at that spot as well as free-agents that the Patriots may pursue.  Up this week is the Linebacking Corps...

2010 Recap:  The Patriots entered the 2010 off-season with a need for a pass-rushing outside linebacker.  The Adalius Thomas experiment had come to a contentious end the year before and the Pats anemic pass rush had severely hurt them in '09.  As the analysts and prognosticators made their predictions, they assumed Bill Belichick would make a big move to address this gaping hole in the defense either via the draft or free-agency.  They were wrong.  The only free-agent that seemed to by seriously courted by the team, ex-Bill Aaron Schobel ended up passing on the Patriots in favor of sitting out the season.  The team did spend a 2nd round pick on Jermaine Cunningham who would play OLB,  but he was in the process of converting from the DE position in college and was pegged for a "transition" year in 2010.  Things got even more dicey in training camp when veteran Derrick Burgess held out to contemplate retirement, only to re-join the team and subsequently get cut.  That left the bulk of the outside linebacking duty to Rob Ninkovich and the 2009 team sack-leader Tully Banta-Cain. 

While Ninkovich exceeded most people's expectations, Banta-Cain had a severe drop-off from his previous season.  Jermaine Cunningham showed flashes of brilliance, but injuries slowed him down at the end of the year.  Overall, it was a pretty dismal season on the outside and the Patriots' lack of a pass rush was perhaps the top reason why the team seemed to fail to get stops time and time again on third down.

On the inside, things were much, much brigther.  It always helps when you have a Pro Bowl-caliber tackling maching like Jerod Mayo.  Rookie Brandon Spikes was excellent at stopping the run and will likely develop into a special player if he responds well to coaching.  Gary Guyton continued his solid play as well and even found himself on the highlight reel a few times by reeling in some opportune interceptions.

How do you see the Logan Mankins contract situation playing out, and what do you feel is the best way for the Patriots to handle it?

Rick:  This seems like a past issue with the contracts of a Randy Moss or an Asante Samuel. If you do not want to be part of the TEAM, then you are gone. Mankins and owner Robert Kraft burned a ton of bridges last offseason. I can't see any way that Mankins will be back in a Patriot uniform next year. New England has depth at the offensive line position with Connolly, but there is not much else as we saw at the beginning of the year. They will miss Mankins' impact, but look at the job the coaching staff has done with Sebastian Vollmer. They can make a lineman into a good player and Brady didn't get sacked too many times the first 8 games. Right now, I say its a 85% chance Mankins is packing his bags somewhere else and you can blame both sides if that happens.