01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 23, 2006

Leading up to the NFL Draft, the Journal's Tom E. Curran will profile a player at a "need" position for the Patriots each day. New England has 11 picks in the draft, six in the first four rounds. The Pats' first-round pick is the 21st overall. Profiles are based on our own analysis and interviews, various draft resources and Pro Football Weekly's 2006 Draft Preview book.

TODAY'S PROFILE:

ANDREW WHITWORTH

POSITION: Offensive tackle

COLLEGE: LSU

HEIGHT: 6-foot-7

WEIGHT: 334 pounds.

TIME IN THE 40: 5.17

THE LOWDOWN

Started an astounding 52 games at left tackle for the Tigers in the competitive SEC. Played almost 4,000 offensive snaps for LSU. Rarely made mental or physical mistakes and was a key part of a winning program that -- for three of his years there -- was run by Bill Belichick's kindred coaching spirit, Nick Saban.

THE PROS

Plays with smarts and good anticipation. Powerful, with a reported 500-pound bench press (Pro Football Weekly). Good reach and hand pop. Leads by example and takes coaching well. Tough to get past off the edge. Allowed one sack in LSU's national championship season, 2004.

THE CONS

He's not real fast or quick so he has trouble getting to the second level and getting a clean lick on a moving target. Needs to add some flexibility to his body and tinker some with minor aspects of his fundamentals (balance, getting low) to raise himself to the next level.

COULD HE BE A PATRIOT?

With Tom Ashworth gone and Matt Light coming back from a serious leg injury, it's time for the Pats to start looking for their next tackle. And while there's also a need at backup center and guard, the sense here is that they'll look for a tackle in the draft and solve the center/guard issue through other routes. Even though they took Nick Kaczur last year to play right tackle, his work at LT last year could make him a long-term possibility there when Light is done. So the guy they draft would need to be merely a capable RT. Whitworth's effort, durability and passion for the game would make him a likely suspect.

COLLECTION OF CARDS

"Draft Card" will run every day between now and Friday, which is the eve of the NFL Draft. All entries are archived on projo.com at www.projo.com/patriots