Shawn Crable follow-up

On the second day of training camp, Bill Belichick talked about how the Patriots, like other teams, had placed a higher value on certain parts of their draft board than in past years.

Players like a third cornerback, third receiver, third-down running back, and second- and third-down rusher were closer to starter-like status based on their growing importance in today's game.

At that time, I wrote that the second- and third-down pass rusher was a point of particular interest and that rookie linebacker Shawn Crable, one of the team's third-round picks, was a player who seemed targeted for that role.

Following up on that thought through 18 training camp practices, Crable has created some havoc as a rusher. Initially, he probably does project mostly in a second- and third-down rushing role.

But after watching him to this point, he should not be overlooked as a possibility to emerge as a full-time outside linebacker in the 3-4 alignment at some point. While his legs might not look the part -- and might make one question if he can set the edge in the running game against bigger tight ends and tackles -- he has other attributes (e.g. long arms) that help him in that challenging aspect of playing the position.

Crable said that element of containment has been one of his biggest adjustments coming from Michigan.

"You're the end of the defense, so you have to set the edge and can't let plays get outside," he said. "In that terms, it's a lot different because the guys here are a lot stronger than they were in college."