Trader Bill strikes again, and hit us with a double whammy.

Bill Belichick managed to drive New England Patriots fans crazy on another National Football League Draft night, not once, but twice.

First, he dealt the No. 21 pick to the Kansas City Chiefs in the name of value to pick at No. 29, and get a couple of mid-round picks.

We all got nervous this week when we heard a lot of teams were looking to trade back. We got nervous when the trades started, and we groaned when it was announced the Patriots were moving back.

Even more so when the linebacker many thought would go to New England to shore up its defense, Devin Lloyd of Utah, went to Jacksonville at No. 27.

No corner. No linebacker. But instead, at No. 29, an offensive lineman hardly anyone had heard of, Cole Strange, whose last name is one description we have of the choice.

Strange is a guard out of University of Tennessee-Chattanooga that evidently is supposed to ease the pain of the trade of Shaq Mason to Tampa for basically nothing.

We all new the Patriots would need offensive line help at some point. But this? Strange is the highest pick ever out of UT-Chatanooga. Supposed to be a good run blocker, which is what guards are supposed to do, right? Said to have a mean streak, and if you think about it, it looks like the Patriots possibly drafted a Logan Mankins clone.

But this just wasn’t what any of us expected. We all thought after the bad taste left from the Buffalo blowout just over three months ago that deeeeefense going to be more than something around the yard for this team.

This is the ultimate in Bill We Trust.

We weren’t looking for a game-breaking receiver, or even a slot guy. They can probably get one tonight in the second or third round.

And that’s when Strange was supposed to go.

Amazing. All that time in February and March when we were all analyzing all the defensive players and maybe receivers. Nope. If the Patriots were to grab a small college player, it would be waaaaay back in the draft, right? We’re thinking a kid from Clemson or Alabama and we get a guy with a supposed mean streak from an FCS school.

“I would say my playing style is aggressive, and relentless,” Strange said on a late night — or early morning — media conference call

But make no mistake, the Patriots and Belichick didn’t settle on Strange. They wanted him. Belichick said there was a “good chance” they would have taken him at 21 had they stayed there.

What about if they had taken another player at No. 29, would he have been around tonight for the second or third round?

“I’m glad Cole was there when we picked,” Belichick said. “He wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

Frustrating for a lot fans, especially when they watched the Jets grab a stud corner (Ahmad “Sauce” Garder), receiver (Garrett Wilson) and pass rusher (Jermaine Johnson II) in one night.

We’ll say it again, here’s the deal: Strange was the guy they wanted.

“Cole fits well into our team and our system, and he’s obviously a good player,” Belichick said, adding it was the player’s “composite of work” that led to the pick and noted that Strange’s workout was good and that UT-Chattanooga played a couple of SEC schools on their schedule.

“Pretty athletic guy, good size, smart, got a lot of tools to work with,” Belichick said. “He played well against good competition and he played well against good competition at the Senior Bowl. I think he has an opportunity to be competitive at a couple of different things.”

Strange said he’d have “the same chip on my shoulder” no matter where he was picked. We all thought that would come on Friday. But we got the trade out of 21, and the surprise pick at No. 29.

“We felt we made the best decision we could, and that’s what we did,” Belichick said of the trade and the pick.

Strange indeed, but par for the Patriots course, right?

Tom King may be reached at @Telegraph_TomK on twitter, or tking@nashuatelegraph.com

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