FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — One by one, the New England Patriots picked off their wish list in the second round of the NFL draft Friday night.

Looking to improve a pass rush, the Patriots took Southern Mississippi linebacker Jamie Collins with the 52nd pick of the draft, in the pick they acquired from Minnesota in a trade Thursday. Collins, 6-foot-4, 250 pounds, played on a winless team last year but still had 10 sacks and 20 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.

Then with the 59th pick, they made a move to improve the offense. The Patriots drafted Marshall wide receiver Aaron Dobson, who finished his career averaging 14.5 yards on each reception.

Dobson, 6-3, 210 pounds, caught a career-high 57 passes for 679 yards and three touchdowns last year, despite missing two games. His 24 career touchdown receptions tie former Patriot great Troy Brown for fourth on Marshall’s all-time list.

The Patriots continued to address needs in the third round. Trying to shore up a pass defense that ranked 29th of 32 teams last year, they took a defensive back.

With the 83rd pick, also acquired from Minnesota, they took cornerback Logan Ryan out of Rutgers.

Advertisement

Ryan, 5-foot-11, 191 pounds, is considered a physical corner with good ball skills and exceptional hands.

He had 21 pass defenses this year, along with four interceptions. And he was second on the team with 94 tackles.

He had seven interceptions over the last two years. Ryan just finished his junior year.

He was a teammate of Patriots defensive back Devin McCourty in 2009 at Rutgers as a red-shirt freshman.

The Patriots tapped into their Rutgers connection one more time, taking safety Duron Harmon with the 91st pick in the third round.

Harmon, 6-foot, 196 pounds, had six career interceptions and 119 tackles. As a senior, he had one interception and 50 tackles.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.