Believe it or not, Darius Butler was a prototypical Patriots defensive back draft pick.
NEPD Editor: Doug Kyed
Entering the 2012 NFL Draft, there seems to be one common sentiment among Patriots fans, “We need defensive backs!”
One of the chief reasons why the Patriots need defensive backs is their spotty history in the draft taking corners and safeties.
Throughout the twelve seasons Bill Belichick has been Head Coach, the Patriots have taken 21 defensive backs, four remain with the team.
I put together a spreadsheet containing all of those players vitals, hoping to come up with some patterns to possibly try to determine what the Patriots look for in a DB, and which players in the 2012 class they’ll potentially be looking at. (Thanks to NFLDraftScout.com and the Boston.com Draft Database for all combine results)
Here are some of the most interesting findings:
