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Patriots trade down, select Chung

FOXBOROUGH - Patriots coach Bill Belichick decided the first round of the NFL draft was overrated and that the best way to tweak his roster was to play trading spaces yesterday.

The Patriots made three trades on the draft's first day and ended up with a quartet of second-round picks: safety Patrick Chung of Oregon, nose tackle Ron Brace of Boston College, cornerback Darius Butler of Connecticut, and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer of Houston.

"In our overall evaluation of the entire draft you just try to know what the values are and get a sense as much as possible where people are being looked at and where they're going to go and where you think the value of the draft is," said Belichick. "I think there was good depth in this draft, and I think there still is heading into [today], for a while. It's not going to last for seven rounds, but hopefully we continue to add players.

The Patriots began the day with the No. 23 overall pick and ended up without a first-round selec tion for the first time since 2000, when they sent their first-round pick to the Jets as compensation for Belichick, who hastily decided he didn't want to be Bill Parcells's successor for the J-E-T-S.

New England traded down twice and parachuted out of the first round, not exercising its first pick until No. 34, drafting Chung with the selection obtained from the Chiefs for quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel.

New England was on the clock at No. 23 and traded the pick to Baltimore, moving down three spots while picking up the Ravens' fifth-round pick (162). The Patriots then bowed out of the first-round altogether, shipping the No. 26 pick and the fifth-round pick from the Ravens to the Packers for a second-round pick (No. 41) and a pair of third-rounders (No. 73 and No. 83, which originally belonged to the Jets).

Green Bay used the pick to select Southern Cal linebacker Clay Matthews.

The 5-foot-11-inch, 212-pound Chung tied teammate Max Unger with an Oregon school-record 51 straight starts. He was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection as a rover and finished his career with 384 tackles, 4 sacks, and 9 interceptions.

Last season, he had 92 tackles, 2 sacks, 7 passes defended, and 1 interception, which he returned 31 yards for his only career touchdown. He also had experience at Oregon returning kickoffs and punts and had two career blocked punts.

A native of Kingston, Jamaica, who moved to California as a child, Chung profiles as a physical safety who can play in the box and cover tight ends. He could help fill the void left by the departure of Rodney Harrison, who is not expected to return to the Patriots.

LINK >> Patriots trade down, select Chung - The Boston Globe

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