The New England Patriots

With a rather shocking move, the Patriots moved on from six time champion head coach Bill Belichik. There was some need for a fresh vision and I think GM Bill hurt coach Bill. Mr. Kraft did have a tendency to not want to pay for premier talent and they have seen the effects over the last 3-4 years. With coach Mayo taking over let’s look at their first four picks in the draft and see a vision for their future season.

Pick 3 was pretty much locked up for over two months it felt like. Even with betting odds changing and throwing people off it was always going to be Maye (QB). With a new staff and GM, going with the kid that is still super raw but has huge upside to grow was the right pick. Maye will sit for at least the first 4-6 games but may be thrown into it if the team is not doing well. This year is 100% not a tell for where Drake will be at but getting some game reps could help.

The 37th pick Ja’Lynn Polk (WR) is a very good grab for the Patriots to let someone grow with Maye and continue to build a connection. Polk and Odunze were Batman and Robin for Washington with Odunze really being the guy but 1159 yards and 9 touchdowns speaks for itself with Polk. Being that the Patriots lack a real number one it will give Polk quality reps to earn a big role in the offense.

At pick 68 the Patriots grabbed a good experienced RT in Caeden Wallace. Wallace is a similar pick like Blake Fisher from Notre Dame, going to be a kid that’ll sit and work his way in as a cheap option. I can see Wallace getting into the rotation before Fisher does with the Texans but either way Caeden was a good grab for someone who has seen quality reps and balanced work.

With pick 103, the Patriots grab another lineman with tons of reps in Layden Robinson. Robinson being a RG and playing all of his college snaps there shows they intend to beef up that right side of the line with some serious size. Being in more pass protection almost 2-1 to run plays, Robinson only allowed one sack all year but will need to work and anchoring better to stop the faster pressures from the defensive lineman.

Overall I was very pleased with the Patriots draft and some value they got in guys. I thought Polk could have even gone earlier and my favorite pick being Javon Baker out of UCF to pair with Polk and grow with Maye. I would give the Patriots a very solid B in this draft. The future this team needs to have at this moment is a winning season. It’s more realistic for them to still get another top 10 pick next year but I think being competitive each game will go a long way for this team at their current state.