Thanks to Chris Price from the great Patriots Blog It Is What It Is for stopping by and chatting about the Patriots and the NFL Draft. Make sure you follow him on Twitter as well.

Much is made each year about Coach Belichick’s penchant for moving around on Draft Day, especially down. Do you see the Patriots staying put this year, or even moving up?

I think they’ll stick with their first round pick at No. 22, but they could make some moves involving one of their three second-round selections, either using some of them to trade up to a later first-round spot or an earlier second-round spot if they think some other team is going to take a player they may be after. I don’t think, however, they’ll take any one of those first four picks and try and move into this year. This year’s draft is deep in areas of need for the Patriots, and they are going to need those this year.

The Patriots have struck gold with some undrafted free agents (Guyton, Hoyer…) and late-round picks (Cassel, Edelman…) in the past few years. To what do you attribute the success of the Patriots at finding the proverbial diamond in the rough?
The Patriots remain one of the best teams in the league at finding players who fit their system. They almost never try and place a square peg into a round hole. And in a copycat league, they also make sure to think non-traditionally when it comes to guys like that — witness what they did with Edelman.

New England is both heralded as a team that holds “character” on a pedestal, but also took chances on Corey Dillon, Randy Moss, and others. In your opinion, how much does character play a part in the Patriots draft process?
Interesting question. A couple of points: I think character does play a part in the Patriots draft process, but it’s not the end all and be all. They will take a chance on a guy in the draft if there are a couple of minor questions about his character–and they might do that with Dez Bryant or Sergio Kindle, two guys two have been linked to the Patriots by several draft gurus but have some red flags in their past. But also when you look at most of the character guys they took chances on, it’s important to remember they were already established in the league and they were acquired, not drafted.

If the Patriots stick at #22, give us who you would pick – both for the offense and the defense.
I think the Patriots need to target a pass-rusher, one of those 3-4 OLB/DE conversion types. Kindle is certainly a candidate to be there at No. 22 if they decide to go in that direction. (I would also look for guys like Brandon Graham–if Graham is there and selected, it would represent a bit of a departure for them because of his size–when it comes to his look, he’s more Elvis Dumervil than Wille McGinest, and they have rarely gone after those smaller pass rushers/edge guys.) If they go for offense, I think a pass-catching tight end is also high on their list of priorities, and Jermaine Gresham of Oklahoma would be a good fit. My “NFL Sunday” partner Christian Fauria made a good point when he said the Patriots like to pair up a veteran and a youngster or someone who is new to the system at tight end, and the combination of Crumpler and Gresham would certainly fill the bill there.

Shalise Manza-Young, spectacular New England Patriots reporter, was kind enough to take a few minutes to chat with us about the Patriots off-season so far, as well as the NFL Draft. You can read Shalise at Boston.com or follow her on Twitter.

What have you heard, if anything, about the health of Wes Welker? What’s your take on when he’ll be able to return to the team?

I haven’t really heard anything directly myself. The timetable for an ACL is around nine months, and Welker’s surgery was on Feb. 3, which means nine months is Nov. 3. As a receiver, and as the receiver Welker is with the cutting and juking and such, his recovery will take longer than Brady’s. Personally, I think it will be Thanksgiving at the earliest before we see him on the field trying to play. And don’t forget, he also underwent the rotator cuff surgery, so he’s rehabbing two things.

With the Patriots taking care of their own this off-season, rather than going for other big name free agents, do you feel that the Patriots front office feels that this team can win the Super Bowl with a few minor tweaks through the NFL Draft?
I’m not sure if that they feel the team as it is now can win a Super Bowl, but I do think they felt that because of the CBA rules and UFA/RFA changes that some of the best free agents who were available were their own guys, so they made the effort to retain them. The chances of the Pats (or any NFL team for that matter) finding four or five players in the draft who make major impacts as rookies are extremely slim, so you can’t count on the draft to improve your team that dramatically until two or three years down the line.

In your opinion, what has been the most underrated transaction so far this off-season for the Patriots?
To me it was re-signing Leigh Bodden. Once they franchised Vince, things that were said on both sides made it pretty clear he would be staying in New England (and really, with the number of teams now playing a 3-4, the Pats had no choice). But Bodden was another story — they have traditionally put a price tag on cornerbacks, and if you want more than that, they let you go. So while Bodden didn’t get a king’s ransom, they certainly did right by him. He’s pretty young, a good locker room guy and with another season in the defensive system I think he’ll show improvement above the better-than-solid season he gave them last year.

Are you surprised by the Patriots bringing in a guy like Dez Bryant for a visit, or are they just doing their due diligence?
I think it was a due diligence thing, and I go back to Brandon Meriweather for this one. Meriweather was considered a punk and a risk when the Pats drafted him because of the shooting incident and his actions during the UM-FIU brawl. But Bill Belichick spent time with Meriweather pre-draft, made his own assessment of the young man, and Meriweather has been a model citizen since coming here. Does that mean Bryant’s story ends the same way? No, but it shows New England will take a chance on a kid considered a risk if they have a good feeling about him.

One last thing – give us your prediction for pick #22. Pick the player or make the trade.
For the sake of the team and its fans, I hope like heck they at a minimum stand pat or maybe move up — not move down. That said, at number 22 I’m taking Sergio Kindle (Texas) if he’s there — physically he fits New England’s prototype for OLBs and Belichick has a great deal of respect for Texas DC Will Muschamp, who used to coach under Nick Saban.