Pats choose Temple defensive tackle Dan Klecko, the son of former New York Jets great Joe Klecko.
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots finally used two of their original 13 selections in the NFL draft, but not until the seventh and final round on Sunday afternoon.
After a total of six trades in two days, the Patriots made two picks in their original, pre-draft positions, adding Brigham Young tight end Spencer Nead and California defensive end/linebacker Tully Banta-Cain. They were chosen with the 234th and 239th selections, respectively.
Otherwise, the Patriots continued their swap-meet approach to the draft on its second day, adding two trades to the four they made Saturday and eventually emerging with 10 new players.
After using the first of their two fourth-round selections to choose Temple defensive tackle Dan Klecko, the son of former New York Jets great Joe Klecko, the Patriots dealt the 128th and 157th selection overall to Denver for the 120th, which they used to select Central Florida cornerback Asante Samuel.
They made one more deal before the end of the fifth round, sending the 154th overall selection and a seventh-rounder, the 225th, to the Tennessee Titans for Nos. 164, 201 and 243.
With the fifth-rounder obtained from the Titans, the Patriots selected Boston College center Dan Koppen. Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury was chosen in the sixth round, 201st overall, and Baylor defensive tackle Ethan Kelley was their final selection, 243rd overall.
The Sunday trades continued a trend that began in the first day of the draft, in which the Patriots used four deals to select three players and add Baltimore’s first-round pick in 2004 to their stockpile of 11 picks for next year.
On Saturday, the Patriots selected Texas A&M defensive tackle Ty Warren in the first round, Illinois cornerback Eugene Wilson in the second and Texas A&M wide receiver Bethel Johnson in the third.
Of Sunday’s picks, Klecko was the most intriguing. A slightly undersized nose tackle at 5-foot-11 and 283 pounds, he is too young to remember his father’s visits to Foxboro Stadium as part of the spirited rivalry between the Patriots and Jets. But he said those battles came up frequently in their discussions.
“The Jets and the Patriots always had great battles in the ’80s, and we always talked about that,” the younger Klecko said. “But I’ve modeled my game after him. I don’t think there’s anybody better that I could model my game after than a Hall of Fame-type player, and I used pretty much everything he used in my game.”
Samuel, at 5-10 and 185 pounds, is projected as a potential nickel or dime back and return specialist.
Koppen, meanwhile, is seen as insurance in case the Patriots current starting center, Boston College product Damien Woody, signs with another team when he becomes an unrestricted free agent after next season.
Banta-Cain is projected as a pass-rushing outside linebacker in a 3-4 alignment, much as veteran Tedy Bruschi was converted from a collegiate defensive end.
Kingsbury, Nead and Kelley will be competing to add depth at their positions.
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