Report: Patriots Could Move Into Top 10 to Take Tyson Jackson

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In the days following the 2001 draft, when a still unproven Bill Belichick drafted defensive tackle Richard Seymour with the sixth overall pick, then-Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges writing for MSNBC.com cemented his place in Boston sports history by writing these words:

"On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second-best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sack last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon."

There used to be a time, before Al Gore invented these wonderful series of tubes, when the shelf life for banal tripe was a function of how long the offended parties kept the newspaper clippings. Even then, the outrage was segmented; there was no Facebook or Twitter, or e-mail for that matter. Just Letters to the Editor. And at some point, there are only so many times you can rip the local rag for its decision to give a voice to the village idiot.

The internet has changed all that, of course. And maybe it will give Borges pause after he reads this and before he sits down to write his next column: according to Yahoo.com's Jason Cole, the Patriots could be interested in finding the next Richard Seymour. And they might be willing to trade into the top 10 to make it happen.

The New England Patriots are trying to move up from the No. 23 spot in the first round of this weekend's NFL draft to the top 10 in hopes of taking LSU defensive end Tyson Jackson, according to three league sources. ...

"They [Kansas City and New England] see the same thing in Jackson," an NFC source said. "They see another Richard Seymour."

New England would offer at least one of its second-round picks in the deal, with the expectation of moving up to the Jacksonville Jaguars' spot at No. 8 or the Green Bay Packers' at No. 9. The belief is that the teams between Kansas City and Jacksonville won't take Jackson.

If the trade goes off, Cole writes that it won't happen until Saturday, and only if the Chiefs pass on Jackson. On a Monday conference call with reporters, former NFL general manager Charley Casserly spoke about Jackson's perceived rise up draft boards in recent weeks.

"... There aren't many defensive linemen in this draft. You have more teams going to the 3-4. When you get past B.J. Raji and Tyson Jackson, these are your only two run-stuffer defensive linemen that can sit in there and play a two-gap and be physical. ... [Jackson's] name has come up as a fallback guy, as high as the top 10. Which I think is interesting because I think he's more of a 12-20[th pick]-type ability guy. But if you're in the 3-4 the guy should line up and play for you."

Given that Seymour has suffered through injuries and stretches of ineffectiveness in recent years, and that he'll be 30 this season -- not to mention Casserly's point about lack of depth at defensive line in this draft -- the Pats' interest in Jackson seems eminently reasonable.

New England certainly has the picks to move up, and Belichick isn't afraid to do so if there's a player he likes: Ty Warren, Matt Light and Daniel Graham are proof. Now all that's left is for Seymour to demand a trade should the Pats take Jackson, and for Borges to pan Belichick for his draft-day decisions.