2011 NFL Mock Draft: New England Patriots Select Mark Ingram

With the 33rd pick of Pride of Detroit's 2011 NFL Mock Draft, the New England Patriots select Alabama running back Mark Ingram. Mavyrk is serving as the Patriots' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.

When I originally took the position as the GM for the Patriots, I had assumed it would be mildly difficult, but I never imagined that it would be difficult because of the reasons it appears to be. I had expected having to make the decision on whether or not to pick Mikel Leshoure at this choice, and then imagined I would settle on passing on him in favor of the Patriots likely picking up a running back in the later rounds, possibly the third.

And when I had made my pick at 28th I had imagined I would still have my pick of G/Cs, and it turns out that this was the case. But I did not expect to still see Ingram staring at me at 33rd. As such, the conundrum that I'm facing is between Danny Watkins, Jabaal Sheard, and Mark Ingram.

After some heavy thought on the manner, to which Sean Yuille can attest as it was my longest pick yet, I've finally decided on Mark Ingram here. I think he's the most solid choice here and presents the best value for a number of reasons. If I were just drafting in terms of need, I'd probably choose Danny Watkins here, but Mark Ingram addresses a lesser need as well, and Danny Watkins is merely being projected to play OG from an OT background.

Given how the draft has shaken out, I feel confident that I'll be able to address either DE or OG at the 28th pick of the second round, and have no qualms about picking Ingram here. He makes the most sense to me by a long shot, and it would be a mistake for me to choose anyone else at this juncture.

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Check out the 2011 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.