FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick adores versatility, and his newest draft pick offers plenty of it.
Malcom Brown, selected 32nd overall by the New England Patriots out of Texas, is shaped like Vince Wilfork, and according to Belichick, he can be moved around in a similar manner. Wilfork played nose tackle, three-technique defensive tackle and five-technique defensive end during his time with the Patriots, and Brown served in a similar role with the Longhorns.
“We feel good about our selection of Malcom at (No.) 32,” Belichick said Friday at Gillette Stadium. “We’ll see how it goes.
“He’s a guy who played inside, on the nose, all the way outside to the five-technique and kind of everywhere in between, so he’s been moved around a little bit. He played a little bit more outside this year in Coach (Charlie) Strong’s defense and little more inside in the previous staff. He got plenty of snaps in a variety of spots. We look forward to working with him.”
Brown wasn’t expected to be available at 32nd overall, but the 2015 NFL Draft is loaded with nose tackles, which could have contributed to him falling to the Patriots. Brown was a popular pick to go to the Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions or Indianapolis Colts in mock drafts, but Belichick doesn’t pay much attention to those — they are posted on “MyFace,” after all.
“I think this is one of those drafts where you see those guys in those mock drafts go — one draft has him at 15, another one has him at 65,” Belichick said. “Same player. It just seems like there’s a lot of spread on a lot of players in this draft. I don’t put a lot of stock into that.”
For now, it appears the Patriots got a steal in Brown, but only time will tell if a team like the Colts, who had a terrible run defense in 2013 and 2014, will regret passing on him.
Thumbnail photo via John Rieger/USA TODAY Sports Images
