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Draft Preview: Patriots pick 20th
Posted: Monday March 29, 1999 03:16 PM
For the next 20 days, CNN/SI will offer a daily look at one pick from the 1999 draft, finishing with Cleveland. Check back for a new preview each day. After lengthy discussion about what the Patriots will do with the 28th pick, figuring out the 20th pick is a little simpler. Having multiple first-round picks is nothing new to the Patriots -- assuming they keep both, this will be the fourth time in the 1990s they've had more than one. Dallas and Minnesota have each done it three times (including this year for the Vikings) but no other team has done it more than twice. Only 10 NFL teams have gone the whole decade without more than one first-rounder. For the Patriots, more picks hasn't necessarily meant more luck. Last year, the Patriots had two solid first-rounders in tailback Robert Edwards and safety Tebucky Jones, but Edwards' career is in jeopardy after a serious knee injury in February. In 1991, New England took tackle Pat Harlow and tailback Leonard Russell in the first round. Five years later, both had left New England, though both had good seasons with the Patriots. In 1990, New England took linebacker Chris Singleton and defensive end Ray Agnew -- again, both were gone within five years of their arrival in New England. Best bet for No. 20 It's been a tough offseason for the Patriots. They haven't brought in any free agents and struggled to keep the only one they re-signed, kicker Adam Vinatieri. Meanwhile, center Dave Wohlabaugh, punter Tom Tupa, defensive tackle Mark Wheeler and linebacker Todd Collins have left for more money elsewhere, leaving the team with some new holes to fill. The tailback issue was addressed at length in previewing the 28th pick -- a solid starter can be found in the second round, so the Patriots have a chance to address other needs with their top two picks. Of these, the most glaring is at center, where Wohlabaugh was lured away by Cleveland's deep pockets. His top backup last year was rookie Jason Andersen, a seventh-round pick who didn't play in any games in 1998.
Centers don't turn up in the first round very often -- it's been six years since the Browns took Michigan's Steve Everitt with the 14th pick in 1993. This year's draft has a solid prospect in Boston College's Damien Woody, a 6-foot-3, 310-pound center who's well above any others at his position this year. Woody came out after his junior year at Boston College after three years as a starter at a school that's produced solid offensive linemen in recent years. Pete Kendall was a first-round pick of the Seahawks in '96, center Tom Nalen has started every game for three years in Denver, and guard Doug Brzezinski is regarded as the top guard available in this year's draft. With that history helping him out, Woody is a good fit for the Patriots, who need youth on a line whose starting tackles are 32 and 33. The Patriots aren't the only team looking for a center -- if they should look elsewhere, both Dallas and Jacksonville could use their top picks on Woody as well. For now, let's assume he won't be there, and New England will have a local star to build their offensive line around. Click here if you have a question or comment about the upcoming NFL Draft. We'll answer a few questions and publish selected comments once a week between now and April 17.
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