With four picks in the first two rounds of the 2010 NFL Draft, Patriot fans are desperately trying to figure out in what direction Bill Belichick and company are leaning, position-wise.

We’re going to take a look at the trends to see what positions the Patriots have favored over the last decade in the first three rounds.

Offense – 13 picks
RB – 1 time (Maroney ’06)
WR – 4 times (Tate ’09, Jackson ’06, Johnson ’03, Branch ’02)
TE – 3 times (Thomas ’06, Watson ’04, Graham ’02)
OL – 4 times (Vollmer, ’09, Mankins ’05, Kaczur ’05, Light ’01)
QB – 1 time (O’Connell, ’08)

Defense – 17 picks
DL – 5 times (Brace ’09, Wilfork ’04, Hill ’04, Warren ’03, Seymour ’01)
LB – 3 times (McKenzie ’09, Mayo ’08, Crable ’08)
DB – 8 times (Chung ’09, Butler ’09, Wheatley ’08, Meriweather ’07, Hobbs ’05, Scott ’04, Wilson ’03, Williams ’01)

What conclusions can be drawn?

1. The Patriots will probably draft a defensive back somewhere in the first three rounds of the draft. There is already some good depth at the position, but save for the top two on the depth chart (Butler, Bodden), nobody should feel too secure in their job for 2010.

2. We won’t be shocked if the Patriots draft Tim Tebow. The drafting of Kevin O’Connell and Rohan Davey (4th round ’02) show that the Patriots don’t mind spending a high pick to improve parts of their team where they are already set.

3. The Patriots will take at least one offensive and one defensive player. After 30 picks in the first three rounds, the results are pretty evenly split from an offense/defense standpoint. Only once in the last decade (excluding years with only one top pick) did the Patriots spend all of their top picks on one side of the ball, the ill-fated 2006 NFL Draft where they took Maroney, Chad Jackson, and David Thomas.