2013 NFL Mock Draft: New England Patriots Select...

This was a tough pick for me as a Steeler fan. Frankly, I'd prefer this pick to be taken away from them a la post-Spygate scandal again. But since I have to pick for the New England Patriots, I'll do my best.

I see two positions of immediate need - receiver and safety, and three positions that could use necessary depth later in the draft - nose tackle, offensive tackle, and center.

At safety, I think the Patriots were very high on Matt Elam. Although somewhat slight in height, Elam packs a wallop that many other safeties cannot brag about. He is a DOG. The signing of Aqib Talib for a second season proves that Belichick is willing to gamble a bit on talented playmakers to try to rebuild the secondary. However, Elam was just snatched up by the Broncos - so let's turn to receiver.

New England hasn't had a big receiver worth anything since Randy Moss. Then this past year, they experimented with then parted ways with Donte Stallworth (who had just a single catch last year), and Brandon Lloyd (who is not a top target anymore). And then there was the public debacle with Wes Welker that saw Tom Brady's favorite target take a trip to Denver instead of re-signing.

The Patriots did just sign Danny Amendola in free agency to a long-term deal, but he's more of a move-the-chains guy. Meanwhile, Julian Edelman is..............cute. And they do not make a particularly sexy starting duo.

With the 29th pick, the New England Patriots select Keenan Allen, WR, California.

Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

Keenan Allen is a big, disciplined route runner who is great at positioning his body. Good long speed and attacks the ball at the highest point. Allen needs help with blocking, but that's coachable. He gets low very fluidly and sinks his hips in his route running - not a lot of wasted motion. I think he's the next Marques Colston with more explosion.

	Team	Player	Pos	School	BTSC rep
1		Star Lotulelei	DT	Utah	[Link to pick]
2		Dion Jordan	DE/OLB	Oregon	[Link to pick]
3		Sharrif Floyd	DT	Florida	[Link to pick]
4		Dee Milliner	CB	Alabama	[Link to pick]
5		Eric Fisher	OT	Central Michigan	[Link to pick]
6		Luke Joeckel	OT	Texas A&M	[Link to pick]
7		Lane Johnson	OT	Oklahoma	[Link to pick]
8		Barkevious Mingo	OLB	LSU	[Link to pick]
9		Chance Warmack	OG	Alabama	[Link to pick]
10		Jonathan Cooper	OG	North Carolina	[Link to pick]
11		Tavon Austin	WR	West Virginia	[Link to pick]
12		Xavier Rhodes	CB	Florida State	[Link to pick]
13		Ezekiel Ansah	DE	BYU	[Link to pick]
14		Cordarrelle Patterson	WR	Tennessee	[Link to pick]
15		Jarvis Jones	OLB	Georgia	[Link to pick]
16		Kenny Vaccaro	S	Texas	[Link to pick]
17		Tyler Eifert	TE	Notre Dame	[Link to pick]
18		Sheldon Richardson	DT	Missouri	[Link to pick]
19		Bjoern Werner	DE	Florida State	[Link to pick]
20		D.J. Fluker	OT	Alabama	[Link to pick]
21		Alec Ogletree	LB	Georgia	[Link to pick]
22	via	Eddie Lacy	RB	Alabama	[Link to pick]
23		Sylvester Williams	DT	North Carolina	[Link to pick]
24		Datone Jones	DE	UCLA	[Link to pick]
25	via	Geno Smith	QB	West Virginia	[Link to pick]
26		Johnathan Hankins	DT	Ohio State	[Link to pick]
27		Arthur Brown	LB	Kansas State	[Link to pick]
28		Matt Elam	S	Florida	[Link to pick]
29		Keenan Allen	WR	California	TrifeReality
30					MDR21
31					afbassi
32					Mr MaLoR