The New England Patriots come into the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft with two picks. The first is courtesy of an earlier deal in the draft with Houston. New England sent the #60 selection in the second round to the Texans in return for an earlier third round pick #73 that was used to take LSU RB Stevan Ridley and the Texans fifth rounder at #138. They then had their own original selection at #159.
With the 138th pick of the draft Bill Belichick chose OL Marcus Cannon from TCU. At 6’5”, 358 lbs. Cannon is one of the largest linemen on the board and he will project as a right guard or right tackle.
A redshirt senior, he started all 13 games for the Horned Frogs and was an All-Mountain West First Team selection for the second consecutive season.
He was considered an earlier round selection, possibly as high as the second or third round but dropped considerably due to some medical concerns. He was just recently diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and his prognosis is very good. He recently started chemotherapy and should be complete by June 29th. Due to his health concerns the Patriots could basically “redshirt” for the year by putting him on the PUP list and save a roster spot until 2012.
One other interesting note on Cannon, he played his high school football at Odessa (TX) High School of “Friday Night Lights” fame.
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The Patriots still in need of some pashing rushing help at either the OLB spot or the DE spot then used the #159 pick of the draft on a tight end by taking Lee Smith of Marshall.
Smith is 6’5” 266 lbs. and is one of the bigger tight ends in the draft. He is considered a very good run blocker and was also the Thundering Herd’s backup long snapper so there is a method to Belichick’s madness in this selection. He also is a backup to Alge Crumpler who at 33 is in the last year of his two-year contract and coming off of off-season shoulder surgery. With that name maybe the Sox could use him in the bullpen in the off season.
Smith is married and has two children, his father, the late Daryle Smith, was an offensive lineman for the Eagles, Cowboys and Browns from 1987 to 1992 and played for Belichick in Cleveland.
He had a career high 38 catches last year for the Herd.
