2010 NFL Draft: New England Patriots Thinking About Iowa's Amari Spievey?

Iowa football has been quietly funneling defensive backs into the NFL over the last 10 years.

Matt Bowen, Jovon Johnson, Marcus Paschal, and Bob Sanders all played in the defensive backfield for the Hawkeyes in the past 10 years, and all have had careers in the NFL.

Sanders is probably the most well-known name in that bunch, thanks in part to his kamikaze-like tackling style. In 2007, Sanders won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, providing evidence that he is arguably one of the best players to ever come out of Iowa.

In recent years, the funneling trend has become more prevalent. 

Charles Godfrey was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2008 and had a stellar rookie season. Godfrey was followed to the NFL in 2009 by Bradley Fletcher, a third round pick of the St. Louis Rams.

This year, it looks to be Amari Spievey's turn. The junior is foregoing his senior season to test his luck in the 2010 NFL draft.

"My time at the University of Iowa has been great and the opportunity Coach Ferentz and defensive coordinator Norm Parker have given me has been tremendous," Spievey announced in his statement. "Even though I love being a Hawkeye, moving on to the NFL is in my best interest.''

Spievey's story is an interesting one.  

In high school, he was Connecticut's Player of the Year at Middletown Xavier High School in 2005. He played both offense and defense, but his play on offense grabbed more attention as he rushed for over 1,600 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Spievey picked Iowa to get away from offense, as he thought his best chances at the NFL were on defense. It appears he made the correct decision, although he began to wonder for awhile.

After his freshman year, Spievey's career took a detour due to academics. He went to Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge to get his grades up, and wound up earning junior college all-American honors in the process. 

He recorded seven interceptions, two for touchdowns. He also scored two touchdowns on kickoff returns, not to mention blocked four punts, all while drastically improving his GPA.

See what I mean about Iowa's Rudy-like stories?

Spievey’s two-year career at Iowa included six interceptions, 14 pass break-ups and 124 tackles. This year, he started all 13 games and recorded 56 tackles (42 solo), eight pass breakups and two interceptions. 

His speed and ability to read receivers earned him the nickname "the glove", and are a huge reason for his solid short career in college.  It is also a huge reason Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz loves him.

"I'll put it this way. At this age he's way ahead of Brad Fletcher,” Ferentz said of his NFL prospect cornerback.

Plays like his 57-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Minnesota Gophers in Iowa's last game of 2008 definitely help support Ferentz's theory.

ESPN's Mel Kiper thinks he is a solid NFL prospect, too, ranking him as the fourth-best junior cornerback nationally. Kiper, like many other online mock drafters, have Spievey as a third round pick.

He has a chance to continue the trend and follow in the footsteps of Godfrey and Fletcher, Iowa players also drafted in the third round.

The only question is which NFL team wants Spievey the most.

In the world of message boards, the New England Patriots seem the most interested in Spievey, and might use one of their multiple picks in the second round on a defensive back.

The Patriots need a solid corner that would work well in the Belichick system and make an immediate impact.  Ferentz worked under Belichick on the Cleveland Browns, which might work in Spievey's favor as it suggests he works well under a similar system.

NEPatriotsDraft.com supports this idea.  "A few pick-sixes for the Patriots would shock the world as well, hopefully Amari Spievey can exchange the black and gold for the red, white, and blue during the 2010 NFL Draft."

Message boards and blogs for the New York Jets and New York Giants are chalked full of praise for Spievey, too. Not that draft experts for either team pay attention to online fanatics, but at this stage in the 2010 NFL draft, they at least suggest the fan bases are interested.

The Kansas City Chiefs also need to pick up a cornerback in the off season this year. While they are likely to pick up a free agent with experience to help out, don't put it past Scott Pioli to give special consideration to a player Norm Parker says could be the best cornerback to come through Iowa City during the Ferentz era.

Maybe Pat Angerer and Amari Spievey will be playing on the same team again next year.

The NFL draft will kick off in a few months, on Thursday, April 22.  That's when Spievey will find out if New England or Kansas City are truly interested in him.