New England uses the second day of the draft to add more depth to its roster with players from lesser known college programs.

01:00 AM EDT on Monday, April 25, 2005

BY TOM E. CURRAN
Journal Sports Writer

FOXBORO -- So much for the traditional "big-school picks" the Patriots tend to make during the draft.

Yesterday, the Patriots closed out the 2005 NFL Draft by taking players from Fresno State, UNLV and William Penn, an NAIA school in Iowa. The only players they took from BCS conferences in this draft were Matt Cassell, a quarterback from USC who barely ever played there, and Ellis Hobbs, a corner from Iowa State, which will never be known as a national power.

The four players the Patriots added were James Sanders, a 5-foot-10, 207-pound safety from Fresno State with the 133rd pick; Ryan Claridge, a 6-2, 254-pound linebacker from UNLV with the 170th pick; Cassell (230th) and Andy Stokes, a 6-4, 253-pound tight end who was the final player taken (255).

Claridge could have the biggest early impact. The younger brother of Carolina Panthers lineman Travis Claridge, Ryan Claridge said he played inside linebacker in

the Rebels' 3-4 defense about 70 percent of the time over the last two seasons. He also played middle linebacker in UNLV's 4-3 alignment in 2000 and 2001 (he missed the 2002 college season with a hernia injury). Last year he had 87 tackles and nine sacks.

"Claridge is very productive," said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. "When you put on the film, you're not waiting a quarter-and-a-half and then saying, 'Oh, there he is.' He's in on a lot of plays and that's one of the things that's impressive. Whether he's outside, inside blitzing or not, whether it's (a) running play or screen he's instinctively pretty good. He's not the top testing athlete but he makes a lot of plays on the football field."

And he's used in a lot of places.

"He's played inside linebacker, middle linebacker, (strong and weak-side) linebacker," said Belichick. "He's played some on the line as a rusher. We see him a little bit more as an inside linebacker but he does have versatility outside."

Belichick said Claridge can play on all three downs, as well as on special teams.

"He's blitzed quite a bit and been in coverage from the inside linebacker and he also got on the edge and rushed," he added. "I'm not saying this is Lawrence Taylor here. This is just the way he was used. It's similar with (the way Willie McGinest was used at USC). Inside, outside, down, middle linebacker."

A pretty good tennis player (he played at UNLV and joked that he used to intimidate smaller opponents into changing line calls), Claridge was told by his brother that he'd one day be selected by the Pats because of his style of play.

Taken ahead of Claridge with the 133rd pick in the fourth round was safety James Sanders. A junior, the 21-year-old is a very solid hitter and an extremely intelligent and mature player.

Sanders initially entered the draft in January. He had second thoughts and sought a waiver to return to Fresno but, concerned that his appeal may not be upheld, he ultimately decided to remain in the draft.

He was an All-WAC selection in 2004 and had 63 tackles and three interceptions. He had three blocked kicks in his last two seasons there and could be a very early contributor on special teams. A pair of safety picks from last year -- Guss Scott and Dexter Reid -- will be ahead of Sanders on the depth chart to start out.

The Patriots traded out of the sixth round. They sent the 195th and 246th picks to Green Bay in exchange for the 175th pick. They sent No. 175 to Oakland in exchange for the Raiders' seventh-rounder (230) and a fifth-rounder next year.

They also traded one of their two fifth-round picks and a sixth-rounder (145 and 206) to Detroit for a fourth-rounder next year.

Eventually, New England used pick No. 230 on Cassell, who threw 33 passes in four seasons with USC while playing behind Heisman Trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

He's listed at 6-5, 230 pounds and also was a pitcher for the Trojans last spring.

This pick goes a little bit counter to the Patriots' practice of taking players who've shown high production in college, but the fact he was in a very good system at a high profile school behind two excellent players were mitigating circumstances. The Patriots are at least willing to see what he can do for them.

The final pick of the draft was Andy Stokes from William Penn ("Bill Penn" as Belichick referred to it after the draft).

Neither Stokes nor Cassell were even listed among the top 50 prospects.

Stokes was pretty productive as a senior at William Penn, making 42 catches for 753 yards (17.9 average). The native of Saint George, Utah, has very good athleticism, though, and while he may be a bit of a project, the Pats have the kind of depth at tight end that will allow him to be brought along slowly.

Both he and Cassell are likely candidates for NFL Europe next season.