By Tom E. Curran
FOXBORO - A lot of names you've had spilled on your head in the past two months were still sitting there when the Patriots made their pick at No. 48 Friday night.
And none of those names was Tavon Wilson.
Wilson, a cornerbacksafety from Illinois (he played safety out of necessity in 2010 because of injuries), wasn't invited to the NFL Combine, he was almost impossible to find in some of the high-profile draft guides, he was seen as a seventh-round pick in projections.
And now he's headed to the defending AFC Champion Patriots.
He's 6-1, 205 and was a team captain his final year at Illinois where he was an All-Big 10 Honorable Mention the past two seasons.
He had three career picks and last year he had 81 tackles.
New England Patriots
Wilson sidestepped questions about where he felt he would go.
"I heard a lot of different things as far as what round so I just kept my head down and kept on working," said Wilson. "It was out of my hands so I just did everything I could to get drafted as high as possible."
The Combine snub definitely seems a motivating factor for the 22-year-old.
"I watched every rep of it," said Wilson. "I took it all in, watched what those guys did as far as the technique and stuff and watched their times and (went out to) compete with those guys and make myself better.
"It was definitely motivating," he added. "Anytime you don't get into something you feel you should be in you just .... I'm a competitor. I watched it and saw what those guys did and when I got my opportunity to show what I could do, I showed what I could do."
The fact he went way earlier than expected flavored his conference call with New England media.
"I feel like I worked hard enough to go (as highly as anyone)," he said. "It was out of my hands. I just did my part and prayed and hoped for the best. I just try to be the best player Tavon Wilson can be."