FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots closed out the 2018 NFL Draft by selecting six players Saturday: two linebackers, one wide receiver, one quarterback, one cornerback and one tight end.
Here’s a quick snapshot of each, in the words of Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio:
Ja’Whaun Bentley, linebacker
Drafted: Fifth round (No. 143 overall)
School: Purdue
Caserio’s take: “This kid’s got a unique story. I’m sure you guys will talk to him here at some point, but this guy is an awesome kid. Four-year starter, three-time captain, which there’s not a lot of people that can say that. A pretty impressive kid, been through a lot on a personal level. But a good football player, very smart, signal caller, ran the defense there at Purdue, played for a couple of different coaches, a couple of different staffs. We brought him in here for a visit here to Foxboro. He was awesome. He was really, really impressive. He was somebody that we felt comfortable about and with.”
Christian Sam, linebacker
Drafted: Sixth round (No. 178)
School: Arizona State
Caserio’s take: “I’d say (Bentley and Sam) are a little bit different. They’re both off-the-ball linebackers. Bentley’s a little bit more of a ‘mike’ linebacker. Sam is probably a little bit more of a ‘will’ linebacker. His situation — a real successful high school program at Texas. He actually was a defensive back. He played safety in high school and then he got to Arizona State. … (He’s) athletic, runs really well, played for Coach (Todd) Graham, who we have a lot of respect for. A smart kid, ran the defense, so between the two of them you’re talking about good mental capacity just in terms of handling volume, handling adjustments.”
Braxton Berrios, wide receiver
Drafted: Sixth round (No. 210)
School: Miami
Caserio’s take: “An impressive kid. This guy’s really, really smart. He graduated in, I want to say, three to three-and-a-half years, whatever it was. Played inside the formation at the University of Miami, really productive, really tough, good traits, smart, good quickness, was productive, had more opportunities here this season in Miami, and he made the most of them.”
Danny Etling, quarterback
Drafted: Seventh round (No. 219)
School: LSU
Caserio’s take: “We took Danny there at the top of the seventh round, who was a player that we spent some time with here as a part of the process. Here’s a guy, a Purdue transfer, went down to LSU and the thing about him — he played for Coach (Cam) Cameron in kind of a pro-style offense. He had some experience. The one thing he didn’t do — he didn’t turn the ball over. You look at his career production, and this guy didn’t turn the ball over. I think it was 16 (touchdowns, two (interceptions) this year — a low percentage. He takes care of the ball, smart, pretty accurate thrower. There’s some good qualities and traits that we think we can work with and develop.”
Keion Crossen, cornerback
Drafted: Seventh round (No. 243)
School: Western Carolina
Caserio’s take: “The way this guy kind of got on the radar screen initially was he worked out at the Wake Forest pro day, so that’s where he showed up and tested extremely well, so a lower level of competition, obviously, at Western Carolina. He showed up on a big stage just from a workout perspective. It really blew it out of the water. He’s undersized (5-foot-9, 179 pounds), just from a size standpoint, but he’s athletic. He runs well, he’s explosive, he’s real competitive. Probably more of a perimeter corner. He played more on the perimeter at Western Carolina. We saw him work out there at Wake Forest, did a little more follow up work with him, had him in here to Foxboro to visit with him. He’s a player. He’s young, he’s athletic, he runs well, great attitude. When you guys talk to him, this guy’s got a lot of energy. He’s real positive, really upbeat, so hopefully he brings that mentality and that mindset here to New England when he shows up here in a couple weeks.”
Ryan Izzo, tight end
Drafted: Sixth round (No. 250)
School: Florida State
Caserio’s take: “Here’s another guy, a good program, pretty consistent player, a three-year starter, more of an on-the-line-of-scrimmage player, very tough. Midwest, northeastern kid from New Jersey. He played in a good high school program, went down to Florida State and they’ve had some good players down there. He was productive in their offense. He’s got smart, good traits. He was a player that we liked just in watching him.”
