New England Patriots: 7-Round 2018 mock draft pre-Combine
It is extremely unlikely that the New England Patriots bring back Malcolm Butler this offseason. The former undrafted free agent turned Super Bowl hero is about to hit the market and will have plenty of suitors. After paying fellow cornerback Stephon Gilmore last offseason and sitting Butler in the Super Bowl, there is bound to be a team out there who will outbid the Pats.
The Patriots will likely snag a solid veteran free agent cornerback to help replace Butler, but they need to be thinking long-term as well. With their late third round selection, the Patriots select Wisconsin cornerback Nick Nelson in this mock draft.
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Nelson began his career at the University of Hawaii, where he had a lot of immediate on-field success. He started 21 games during his first two college seasons, but decided to transfer to Wisconsin after 2015. Nelson had to sit out the entire 2016 as a transfer student, but became an immediate star for the Wisconsin defense last year.
The Badgers consistently lined Nelson up on an island against the opposing team’s best receiver. His ability to lock up receivers on the outside allowed Wisconsin to run an extremely aggressive defensive scheme which led to a lot of success last season.
At 5-11, 208 pounds, Nelson does not have ideal size for his position. But it is not like he is super small. Nelson does a great job of using what size that he has well. He is extremely aggressive at the line of scrimmage and works through traffic well.
In a way, Nelson shows strong ball skills. His ability to knock passes away is legit. He always seems to be able to get a hand in there and make a play on the ball. However, he ended his college career without a single interception. It is really odd to see a cornerback bat away so many passes but not bring a single one in for an interception. He seems to track the ball well, but an inability to create turnovers is obviously a concern.
Overall, Nelson is a relatively athletic cornerback with nice length and good college production. He also reads routes extremely well and has natural man-to-man coverage skills. The Patriots need to invest in the cornerback position and it could easily come earlier in the draft than this. However, Nelson is a strong choice for the team in this range.