02:00 PM EDT on Thursday, April 27, 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:

STEVE GOSTKOWSKI

POSITION: Kicker.

COLLEGE: Memphis.

HEIGHT: 6-foot.

WEIGHT: 214 pounds.

THE LOWDOWN

Originally a walk-on at Memphis, the right-footed kicker earned his scholarship and had a terrific career. He capped it by going 10-for-10 outside 40 yards, including 3-for-3 outside the 50 in his senior season. He hasn't missed a field goal of less than 30 yards since 2002. He's got the leg for kickoffs. He also plays baseball, pitching for the Tigers' baseball team.

THE PROS

Gostkowski is consistent, a good athlete and a hard worker. He has started for four seasons, and while Memphis isn't anyone's idea of a national power, he has made a lot of clutch kicks.

THE CONS

There's concern he could be interested in playing baseball, also.

COULD HE BE A PATRIOT?

New England is going to bring in someone to compete with Martin Gramatica for the job vacated by Adam Vinatieri. There are at least three good kickers in this draft, and Gostkowski is one of them. Because few kickers actually are drafted, the Pats may opt to take their chances finding one in the undrafted free-agent pool. When they do bring someone in, he'll need to show consistency (Gostkowski has done so) and the ability to kick off (he's done that, too). He seems a reasonable risk.

COLLECTION OF CARDS

"Draft Card" will run every day between now and April 28, which is the eve of the NFL Draft. All entries are archived on projo.com at www.projo.com/patriots .