1 – A week before the 2024 NFL Draft, Patriots de facto GM Eliot Wolf professed his supposed love for the talent his New England roster had on the offensive side of the ball.
“We have NFL receivers, we have NFL tight ends, we have NFL running backs, we have NFL offensive linemen,” Wolf said in his pre-draft press conference at Gillette Stadium. “We feel good about where we are and we feel through free agency, on the offensive side in particular, that we've been able to supplement our roster properly, so we're not having to draft for need as much offensively.”
Then, draft weekend played out, and Wolf’s actions spoke volumes about what he actually thought of the Patriots’ roster on offense. He agreed with fans and media types that fixated on obvious needs at quarterback, wide receiver, offensive line and elsewhere on that side the roster ledger. And he went about trying to fix those issues by using seven of his team’s eight selections – two quarterbacks, two wide receivers, two offensive linemen and a late-round developmental tight end – to bring much-needed new talent to the new look New England offense.
This is the latest and greatest example that we should never listen to NFL decision-makers in the days and weeks leading up to the NFL Draft.
In the NFL, much like the rest of the world, actions always speak much louder than any words possibly can.
2 – That said, Patriots first-year coach Jerod Mayo was comfortable and matter-of-fact in his assessment of New England utilizing the bulk of its draft picks, including the first five selections in a row, on the offensive side of the ball. This, a year after Bill Belichick spent his final draft running the Patriots targeting the defense with his first three selections of last April.
“I had to take off my defensive hat,” said Mayo, the former All-Pro linebacker who helped run the unit in recent years under Belichick, “and put on my head coaching hat. We had more holes on the offensive side of the ball. You guys knew that. Defensively we feel pretty good about the players that we have.”
3 – After the potentially franchise-altering selection of quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick, the next selection of the New England weekend that may have the most impact could very well be fourth-round wide receiver Javon Baker. The former Alabama reserve and UCF star brings an obvious energy to everything he does around the game, which is visible in his college highlights and notable in his first press conference with the New England media.
“When you talk about Javon, look, you talk about run after catch, the run after catch, this guy is aggressive, and I would say Bake is all about -- he's all ball,” Mayo said. “He's all ball, which I can appreciate. You can see the passion come through when you watch them on film.”
4 – If Baker seems to bring passion if not a volatility in his game and attitude, second-round wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk seems to be on the other end of the spectrum. The Washington playmaker combines elite off-field intangibles with high-end on-field production and skills, a package that could and should make him a complementary contributor, at the very least, early in his pro career.
“He's one of those guys that before we even get to the main responsibility of a receiver as far as get open, catch the ball and run with it, he's one of those guys that isn't afraid to do the dirty work,” Mayo observed. “When we talk about the dirty work, obviously we have a good set of backs. But sometimes you need those receivers to come in there and kind of dig out support, and he does that at a very high level. Now, let's get to the meat and potatoes of Polk. He's one of those guys, smooth route runner, has good hands, can do a lot of different things and he's smart. That's one thing that we covered around here. He's flexible, can play in different spots, and I'm excited to really see him out there.”
5 – The additions of Baker and Polk make for a more crowded wide receiver depth chart. They join a veteran mix of Kendrick Bourne (returning from a torn ACL), free agent newcomer K.J. Osborn, returning disappointing veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster, second-year playmaker DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Jalen Reagor and Tyquan Thornton. While it’s very early – and injuries will clearly alter the landscape between now and the regular season – on paper it looks like Smith-Schuster, in particular, and Thornton could fight an uphill battle to make the 53-man roster this fall.
6 – Joe Milton III, a sixth-round QB out of Tennessee, is probably the most physically impressive member of the Patriots’ 2024 draft class. He’s big, strong, fast, athletic and can throw the ball “over them mountains.” But, he’s certainly raw as a passer and given Maye’s presumed spot atop the depth chart moving forward, Milton’s role is as a developmental option at this point. He made it clear after his selection that a move to another position like tight end will “never happen.” And that’s not something the Patriots are considering at this point, but it will be worth watching how Milton competes as a passer in the coming summer and preseason work behind Maye and veteran Jacoby Brissett.
“We drafted him as a quarterback,” Mayo said. “We're in the business of trying to get good football players through the door, and Milton happens to be one of them. Obviously he understands we took a quarterback at 3 in Drake. One thing that we preach is competition. Everything is about competition, and nothing is given. All of it's earned. That's how we thought about the process.”
7 – Collaboration has been the key word in New England since Mayo replaced Belichick in January. It was also the key description of the Patriots’ process for the draft with Mayo and Wolf atop the decision-making depth chart. As such, with the three-day talent acquisition process in the rearview mirror, Mayo was asked how the collaboration played out in the group’s first draft as a new-look collective.
“I thought it was great. I thought it was great,” Mayo said. “At the very beginning, we gave the coaches an opportunity to look at a group of guys and to grade them. The coaches, they actually wrote reports, so it was a good professional development thing for those guys.
“Honestly, I would say overall, the draft room was very cohesive. Everyone was on the same page. There were tough discussions that had to be made, but at the same time we all felt pretty good or feel pretty good about the haul that we just brought in.
“It was great. It was great. A lot of people in the room, a lot of good conversation, and hopefully a lot of good players. Right now, everyone feels pretty good, and we'll see as we continue to go down this journey what it looks like.”