New England Patriots - NESN.com
Mike Vrabel was in his element on Monday.
The Patriots will have a large contingency at the scouting combine this week, but the first day of interviews and meetings seemed to be specifically designed for the head coach — who got to chop it up defensive linemen and linebackers.
Vrabel’s takeaways were about what you’d expect.
“I think it’s a good draft,” Vrabel said Tuesday, per team-provided video. “There’s a lot of names, a lot of personalities. We met some guys last night that were serious, some guys had a different personality that was a bit more engaging. I think that’s fun, because all we’re trying to do is get the players to be as authentic as possible — to figure out where the fit is and how they can add to our roster, our team and the vision we have for them.
“It’s been a great start going through that process with them, and it just happened to be the defensive line, edge players and the inside linebackers.”
Yes, he “just happened” to enjoy his time with the front-seven players. It’s a total coincidence.
New England obviously has plenty of needs to address, but the expectation is they’ll make significant additions to the offensive and defensive lines — whether it be through free agency or the draft. Vrabel has always invested heavily in trenches, and recently was given a decent example as to why.
“You have to look at the line of scrimmage,” Vrabel said. “You don’t need to look any further than the Super Bowl, because that game was won at the line of scrimmage.”
Abdul Carter (Penn State) and Mason Graham (Michigan) are two front-seven players who could conceivably be taken with at No. 4. Darius Alexander (Toledo) and Jack Sawyer (Ohio State) are second-round options. Aeneas Peebles (Virginia Tech) and Kyle Kennard (South Carolina) could slip to Day 3, though they’d be highly sought after in any other year.
Vrabel will have plenty of premium options to choose from, which he clearly is excited about.
