With the 60th pick of Pride of Detroit's 2011 NFL Mock Draft, the New England Patriots select Pittsburgh offensive lineman Jason Pinkston. Mavyrk is serving as the Patriots' general manager, and his reasoning for the pick is below.
When I set into this draft I promised myself I'd tackle it as if it were a full seven-rounder so that I wasn't reaching and could always say to myself, "We'll address that need later." I sit here at the 60th pick with needs still remaining at CB, OG, DE and somewhat at WR. With the top three WRs left being taken in the five picks prior to me, I'd be forced to make a serious reach here to address that need. Similarly, at DE I'm looking at guys like Pernell McPhee and Greg Romeus and not feeling the value really lines up with where I'm selecting right now.
This leaves me with two positions left to address right now: CB and OG. The top two players left on the board for those positions, by my reckoning, are Curtis Marsh (Utah State) and Jason Pinkston (Pittsburgh).
Curtis Marsh is a two year CB convert from RB who had limited playing time during his junior season but played well in both years since converting. His limited experience on defense coupled with low competition levels will definitely drop his draft stock somewhat. He was invited to the Senior Bowl and the Combine, but missed the Senior Bowl due to a pulled hammy.
Jason Pinkston is a senior coming out of Pitt who was a pre-college DE convert, but made the switch to RT as a freshman. An injury redshirted him after that (gaining another year of eligibility), but he's essentially a four-year senior starter at LT on a strong Big East team. Pinkston's not as long or athletic as one would like in an NFL left tackle, so that kind of leaves him open to either RT or OG.
I think he's personally going to be best fitted to RG, which happens to be a position of need for the Pats. He's in the mold of a true blue-chip mauler, and in my eyes is going to be one of the steals of the draft if he transitions to G well. There's some mild injury concern, but he's a very stout run defender and well coordinated against the pass. Couple that with four years of experience and I think you've got a winner in this kid.
--
Check out the 2011 Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft tracker for a look at all of the picks.