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FOXBORO - Pity the poor eight players who were chosen by the New England Patriots on the second day of the NFL Draft.

Their relative obscurity was already assured by the positions in which they were selected. But the trade that brought five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Randy Moss to the Patriots certified that no one will remember their names if they aren't absolutely spectacular in training camp.

This was the Randy Moss Draft, and nothing else.

The Patriots' wheeling and dealing for one of the more talented receivers in all of football completely overshadowed anything else they did in the two days generally dedicated to restocking the shelves, except possibly the acquisition of a second first-round draft pick for next year.

The same can't be said for the 2004 draft, in which the Patriots spent a second-round selection for another bad boy of note, Cincinnati running back Corey Dillon. That happened before the actual draft, and the Patriots still had a pressing need to use their two first-round selections (for tight end Benjamin Watson and nose tackle Vince Wilfork). This time around, safety Brandon Meriweather of Miami became a controversial first-round selection with gunplay and on-field outbursts in his past, and he's far less likely to challenge for a starting role in his rookie season than either of the 2004 picks were.

The Patriots didn't pick again until the fourth round, and everyone else who came to the team was basically an afterthought in the grand scheme of things. The best they can expect is to get depth from among the three offensive linemen, two linebackers, one cornerback, one defensive lineman and one running back they selected.

The trade for Moss had been bantered around over a shorter period of time than the Dillon deal in 2004, Belichick said, and the trigger was almost pulled before the third round came to an end shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday.

But the Patriots and Raiders could only agree at that time upon a swap of picks, Oakland getting No. 91 and surrendering No. 211 and a third-rounder in 2008.

Not long after that deal was consummated, Belichick said, the process to secure Moss rekindled in earnest. Then he phoned Moss to get a feel for how the 10th-year veteran would take to becoming a Patriot.

Asked if he was "struck" by Moss' enthusiasm, Belichick shrugged.

"Struck? I don't know," he said. "It was two in the morning. I don't know if that was a good time to be struck. I could hear it in his voice he was enthusiastic about it at that point, really, more than anything, we were just trying to get things done."

Belichick characterized the early-morning efforts as "fighting the clock." Moss boarded a jet and came to Foxboro for his physical and then sat with Belichick and other staff for a discussion of what the future might hold - and all went well enough for the deal to be made long before the Patriots' first pick (fourth round, 110th overall) of the second day, which went to the Raiders.

"Today between picks, we had a little bit more time to sit down and talk," Belichick said. "He asked questions. I asked questions. We had a good conversation. I talked about our team and so forth and what was expected and all of that."

"We mostly talked about the football side of it and what the New England Patriots were about," Moss said via conference call. "I think he just wants me to be me and go out here and compete and have fun like I know how to do." No doubt, character issues played a role in Belichick's thinking. Moss has a history of marijuana use and was formerly in the league's substance abuse testing program, and has a few scrapes with the law on his record.

But the biggest problems to arise from him in recent years, both in Minnesota and Oakland, were his on-field tirades and frequent lapses in effort that proved divisive in both locker rooms. Moss claimed Sunday that his frustration over losing was at fault, much as Dillon claimed his problems in Cincinnati stemmed from a desire to win that was never fulfilled.

Belichick said he did his homework, and he was satisfied with what his sources told him about Moss.

"It was a player from another organization that I personally didn't know very well," he said, "so you rely on other people that you know and also how you feel like he fits into your system and whether he'd be productive as a player within your system and that type of thing.

"I talked to a lot of people that were all close to him, both teammates and coaches, people that were on his team, and they have a lot of respect for him," he said. "I had a lot of respect for him, competing against him, and that all lined up pretty consistently."

Belichick refused, however, to characterize Moss' situation as similar to Dillon's.

"I think Randy is different than Corey or anybody else," he said. "We're all different. I wouldn't want to characterize him as, 'This is just a replication of another situation, another player or another person,' because I really don't feel that way."

No doubt, Moss adds another dimension to a Patriot passing attack that had already been upgraded significantly through the offseason acquisitions of receivers Donté Stallworth, Kelley Washington and Wes Welker. If he just reaches his averages (75 catches, 1,189 yards, 11 touchdowns) from only nine seasons, his production will far exceed what most Patriot receivers have done in the history of the team.

It's also without doubt that Moss, who accepted a one-year contract for a possible total value of $4 million less than his original 2007 base salary for Oakland, will be on a very short leash.

"Bill and Scott (Pioli, Personnel VP) have shown that they can assemble players, especially veteran players, who can acclimate to our culture," Patriots' owner Robert Kraft told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "If people don't adjust to our standards, they won't be here."

The second-most significant accomplishment of this draft was securing San Francisco's 2008 first-rounder and Oakland's 2008 third-rounder through trades. That currency could go a long way toward strengthening the Patriots' clout in what's expected to be a deeper draft.

Beyond that, the second-day draft selections will have a long way to go to prove themselves.

The presumed area of greatest need entering the draft may have been the most neglected by Belichick and Pioli. SMU defensive end Justin Rogers (picked 180th overall) will be converted to linebacker because he can't keep weight on his frame, while seventh-rounder Oscar Lua of Southern Cal (211th overall) has the intangibles to be a solid inside linebacker, but they're contained in a smallish (6-0, 241) body.

Elsewhere, they found a potential backup nose tackle in Miami's Kareem Brown (127th overall), and possible depth along the offensive line in tackle Clint Oldenburg of Colorado State (171st), tackle-guard Corey Hilliard of Oklahoma State (209th) and center Mike Elgin of Iowa (247th).

And a couple of markers were called in when old friend Charlie Weis sent cornerback Mike Richardson from Notre Dame with the 202nd pick, and Pioli's alma mater of Central Connecticut State produced running back Justise Hairston with the 208th.

But this draft wasn't about them. It was about Randy Moss, and time will tell whether that was the proper course of action for the Patriots to take.

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com