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FOXBORO - Bill Belichick poked a little fun at himself Sunday evening after perusing the list of selections he and his drafting team had made, and realizing that it took most of a decade for him to accomplish a goal.

"We wanted to get younger and faster on defense, but I've been saying that for six years, or really since the '01 season," the Patriots' coach said. "We just had some opportunities here, the way things fell, that there were players that fell into that category, whether they were linebackers or defensive backs."

Those turned into allegedly unintentional priorities for the Patriots, who selected three linebackers and two cornerbacks among their seven choices over two days.

Both positions had been targeted as positions of need by media analysts and scouts, and Belichick didn't disappoint. He said he and his staff entered the draft "open-minded," and he proved the point by choosing two of the linebackers in the first three rounds (the first time he has done that with the Patriots), and not choosing a defensive end for conversion to an outside pass-rushing position. Instead, he picked two collegiate outside rushers to try out for his team in the same positions.

Other needs went unheeded, which probably means that Belichick didn't share the popular notion that they were needs. He did not select a tight end, despite having chosen nine tight ends in the previous eight drafts and still not being totally secure at the position entering this season.

He did not select an offensive lineman, obviously not subscribing to the popularly held notion that the Patriots' line had been "exposed" as overrated by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

He did not select a defensive lineman, apparently feeling no sense of urgency to prepare for the end of contractual agreements in 2009 with Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Jarvis Green.

Running backs and wide receivers were also off the board, although UCLA jack-of-all-trades Matt Slater might qualify technically as a wideout. In reality, the son of Hall of Fame offensive lineman Jackie Slater is a special-teams maven who'll contribute as a returner and a "gunner" on kick coverage.

Quarterbacks, however, were not. Belichick raised an eyebrow or two with his third-round selection of San Diego State's Kevin O'Connell, a tall (6-5), strong-armed replica of Tom Brady with the added bonus of running ability, having led the Aztecs in both passing yardage and rushing yardage this past season.

"He's a good player in a good program," Belichick said of O'Connell, who is almost certain to end the Matt Cassel experiment after three seasons. "He's showed a lot of poise and a lot of ability."

But the focus was clearly upon bolstering the linebacking corps with first-round pick Jerod Mayo of Tennessee, third-rounder Shawn Crable of Michigan and sixth-rounder Bo Ruud of Nebraska, and the cornerback corps with second-rounder Terrence Wheatley of Colorado and fourth-rounder Jonathan Wilhite of Auburn.

Wheatley and Wilhite are both smallish, under 5-foot-10, but they have speed to burn and apparently are at home in man-to-man coverage. Crable and Ruud are outside linebackers by trade but may have some position flexibility to help Mayo in the quest to bolster the inside behind aging veterans Tedy Bruschi and (possibly) Junior Seau.

Belichick also helped himself out for next year when he swung a deal with the San Diego Chargers at the top of the third round. San Diego got the No. 69 pick for a fifth-rounder (No. 160, later dealt to Tampa Bay) and a second-round pick in 2009.

That pick, although not expected to be high in the round, may be a hedge against disaster in the very unlikely circumstance that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reviews what former videographer Matt Walsh has to offer on May 13 and finds something worthy of assessing additional "Spygate" penalties. Although Belichick wrapped up the draft almost a full round early because the trade with Tampa Bay (to get Slater, somewhat of a sleeper reach) included their seventh-round pick as well, his day was certain to last well into night. The next task would be to peruse the storehouse of non-drafted free agents and determine which would be worth signing for this year's training camp.

And that would be conducted for the first time in decades without the presence of long-time executive Francis "Bucko" Kilroy, who died last year after 37 years of service to the Patriots, many of them spent in the draft headquarters room aside 10 head coaches.

"I always remember walking into the room with Bucko every draft," Belichick said, "and he had his charts there, and he'd have the values and how they were going to be picked off the board. And it was such an exciting day for him, and all of us even in the later years, he never lost his enthusiasm and zest for these two days.

"He was certainly in our memory today," he said.

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