2011 NFL Draft: New England Patriots Met with Chykie Brown of Texas

Chykie Brown, cornerback out of Texas, has reportedly met with the New England Patriots, according to the Dallas Morning News. 

Brown, who's a 12-game starter for the Longhorns, is projected to go somewhere in the second-to-third rounds, could be on New England's radar entering the 2011 draft. 

Strengths

Brown, who stands in at 5'11" and 190 lbs., has decent size and bulk—big enough to cover the taller receivers he faces. 

While playing at Texas, Brown was well-known for a great leaping ability which helps him in jump ball situations. 

Also, Brown plays extremely physical, and would flourish in press-coverage situations thanks to his strength and long arms. 

In the terms of fitting the "Patriot mold," Brown is known to be a hard worker, a leader, and he loves playing the game; he plays with much intensity. 

Weaknesses

If you take a quick glance at Brown's stat sheet, you might be surprised—he's not as productive as you'd expect. Brown has all the intangibles to be a ball-hawking defensive back, but he's only intercepted two passes in his entire collegiate career. Notably, those lone two interceptions came in his junior year. He finished his senior season with no interceptions and only 13 tackles with one sack. 

Brown possess a lot of talent, but most of that raw talent has yet to be converted to football skills—which is why he's got so much potential. Brown would be a minor developmental project. 

Like most corner backs out of college, Brown isn't great at tackling, and needs to improve his form in order to wrap up running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends at the next level.

Conclusion

Brown isn't projected to be anything special, but I feel he's got a lot of raw talent. If Brown is drafted by the right team, such as New England, Bill Belichick might be able to turn his raw talent into legitimate football skills.

If drafted by New England, he will need some time to develop, and obviously, adjust to Belichick's complex 3-4 defense.

You can draw a very fine line of comparison with Patriots' cornerback Devin McCourty: McCourty joined the Patriots with raw talent, and was projected to be a special teams player, not a number one corner. Brown, who would be productive on kick coverage, does possess the raw talent to be a quality NFL corner, and could develop into one, similar to McCourty. 

As New England sits with a late-second round pick and late-third round pick, Belichick could take the gamble with Brown. But, he might not be an impact player quite yet, possibly just a special teams player. But, if developed correctly, Brown could end up being a sub-package player or even a starter in his NFL career.  

NOTE: This article was first seen at PatriotsPlus.net. Be sure to follow Tony Santorsa on Twitter @  TonySantorsa.