Belichick

FOXBORO — With all of the success he has had as head coach of the New England Patriots, it seems that when Bill Belichick wants something for his team, he goes and gets it.

He admitted yesterday, however, that that is not always the case.

After selecting three linebackers and two cornerbacks among New England’s seven picks in this year’s NFL Draft — the other two choices were a quarterback and receiver/special-teamer — Belichick was asked whether he had intended to be defense-heavy in his selections.

“No, we went into it open-minded. We really did. We certainly wanted to get younger and faster on defense,” Belichick said.

And then he added, “But I have been saying that for the last six years. This has really been since the 2001 season. We just had some opportunities here; the way things fell, there were players in that (defensive) category.”

New England’s fan base and observers have been saying that the team needs an infusion of youth on defense. Year after year, however, the linebacking corps remained one of the oldest in the league, though also quite effective. Last year’s group of Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau, Mike Vrabel, Rosevelt Colvin and Adalius Thomas had an average age of over 32. They were a solid group, to be sure, experienced and smart playmakers. But after watching his team suffer crushing defeats to close out each of the last two seasons, both times with the opponent driving than 80 yards for the game-winning touchdown, Belichick decided to act.

First-round pick Jerod Mayo expressed his eagerness to learn from Vrabel and Thomas, Bruschi and Seau, and he’ll probably be groomed to play inside linebacker. Mayo’s 6-foot-1, 242-pound size and savvy make him a good fit inside. He also made on-field adjustments and called the defensive plays while at Tennessee.

With their first pick in the third round, New England selected Michigan linebacker Shawn Crable. Crable projects as an outside linebacker in the Pats’ 3-4, although he also has experience in a three-point stance on the line.

He is tall, listed at 6-foot-5, though a little on the thin side, at 243 pounds.

Belichick sees similarities between Crable and current Pats linebacker Pierre Woods, a former teammate of Crable’s with the Wolverines.

“I think there are a lot of similarities between Shawn and Pierre. They’re both tall guys, very rangy, fast, good special-teams players,” Belichick said. “(Crable) has exceptional strength. He plays a lot stronger than he looks.”

New England selected Nebraska’s Bo Ruud with its final pick of the day. He is also an outside linebacker.

Mayo and Crable appear to be promising candidates to carve out a place with the linebacking group, and the corners New England chose — Colorado’s Terrence Wheatley and Auburn’s Jonathan Wilhite — could become contributors, as well.

Both are fast but small players, and Belichick mentioned that he sees the pair as similar in terms of playing style.

The only area of the defense that Belichick and Scott Pioli did not bolster was the defensive line. Belichick even joked to reporters about how rare it was for a draft on his watch not to have any D-linemen, offensive linemen or tight ends taken. Over the years, following his mantra of building a team from the trenches out, he has tapped numerous players at those spots.

But New England’s defensive line remains one of the best in the league, with four regulars who are all relatively young — Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren and Jarvis Green. Backups Mike Wright, LeKevin Smith and Santonio Thomas are even younger than that quartet, though they are largely untested.

It is, of course, impossible to predict how quickly New England’s draft picks will develop into contributing players or whether they will develop at all. But the Pats certainly took a step in the right direction with their moves over the weekend.

smanza@projo.com