Patriots Select Five Players on Day 3 (4/27/24)

With the 103rd pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots selected Texas A & M offensive guard Layden Robinson. Just like Caedan Wallace for Penn State, Robinson only allowed one sack for the Aggies all season in their first year in the SEC. He was second team all-ACC in 2021 and last season. If Jerrod Mayo and Eliot Wolf didn't think Cole Strange was good enough, they might have drafted his replacement. Or at very least he could be a good backup.

                                                       Good luck to Robinson

With the 110th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft they got from the Los Angeles Chargers, the New England Patriots selected Central Florida wide receiver Javon Baker. He started in Alabama but transferred to UCF. He had 52 receptions for 1,139 yards and 7 touchdowns in the 2023 season. He had a bunch of drops but the Patriots are baking on his receptions being his contribution to this fall's team.

                                                Does he know any of these plays?

With the 180th pick in the draft, the Patriots selected South Carolina cornerback Marcellas Dial. Dial knocked down 31 passes and picked off three balls with the Gamecocks also winning the Overcoming Adversity Award. The Patriots need insurance in case Christian Gonzalez gets hurt again and someone like this could play on special teams as well.

                                                              Possible nickel corner

With the 193rd pick in the draft, as in the pick they got in the trade for Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Patriots selected quarterback Joe Milton from Tennessee University. He has a cannon arm and he's a big guy at 6 foot 5 but spent six years at college. He spent 3 years at Michigan going 2-3 as a starter than transferred to Tennessee where he was Orange Bowl MVP in 2022. Mel Kiper says he's got the strongest arm in the draft so how did he fall so far? We're going to have a quarterback controversy as now they have Maye, Brissett, Zappe and Milton. That's the good kind of competition where they'll be playing for their lives. In essence the Patriots traded Mac Jones for Joe Milton.

                                                      Milton is a big dude

The final Patriots pick in the 7th round came at 232 and they selected Tight End Jaheim Bell out of Florida State. He is a dual threat as a receiver and a runner for South Carolina before he transferred to FSU. He had 95 receptions for 1,260 receiving yards and 9 touchdowns while picking up 84 carries, 303 rushing yards and four touchdowns. The Patriots needed a tight end to go with Hunter Henry and hopefully he'll be useful.

                                                         Can catch and run

All in all the Patriots addressed their needs and got some much needed depth. Robinson and Baker will definitely give the established receivers and lineman some competition and Bailey Zappe's days might be numbered with Joe Milton in camp. Who knows what Bell is capable off but we won't know for real until August. Dial is the wild card of the group, he may be good but he may not. Unless the Patriots pick up some free agents out of nowhere during training camp, they're going to be a young team next year. If Mayo can keep the defense relatively close to what it was last year, with an improved offense at least the Patriots will be watchable this coming fall.

Patriots Trade Down, Take Polk & Wallace (4/26/24)

With the 34th pick in the NFL Draft the New England Patriots selected...nobody! As usual they traded down with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chargers got pick 34 and the Patriots 5th rounder 137 overall and the Patriots got pick 37 and pick 110 overall in the fourth round. The Chargers selected Ladd McConkey with the 34th pick. The Patriots ended up selecting Ja'Lynn Polk out of Washington University. Polk played 10 games for Texas Tech in 2020 then played the last three years for the Huskies. He has blazing speed and can be a deep threat as long as he can create separation at the pro level. Drake Maye needed some help at receiver and theoretically he just got it.

                                                 Drake Maye has a deep threat in Polk

The rumor is the Minnesota Vikings would have traded the 11th and 23rd overall picks and a 2025 first for the third overall pick....but Eliot Wolf said no. The other rumor was the New York Giants would have traded the 6th overall pick with a 2025 first rounder for the third pick. The Giants offer was good but not exactly worth giving up a potential star quarterback. Not taking the Minnesota offer is a huge dice roll. They may not get a generational quarterback with the 11th and 23rd, but they might have gotten a new blind side tackle and a better receiver than Polk. That 2025 pick could be used in a package with their own to trade up for a quarterback next year. Oh well.

With the 68th pick in the draft the Patriots selected Penn State offensive tackle Caeden Wallace. He was a right tackle for the Nittany Lions who finished 10-3 on the season. Scouts say he only allowed one sack in 359 drop backs so he might be a decent pass blocker. That's wonderful but they still need a left tackle to protect Drake Maye or Jacoby Brissett.

                                                        The Patriots' new right tackle

All in all in Day 2 of the draft the Patriots subtracted their fifth round pick but selected a receiver and a tackle while adding a fourth round pick for tomorrow. The Patriots weakness all season was offense and they've taken a receiver, a quarterback and a tackle to help rectify that. Tomorrow's picks are going to be depth pieces mostly so they had to strike while they still could. Whether or not these guys will be good will remain to be seen, but its a start.

Patriots Draft Drake Maye 3rd Overall (4/25/24)

With the third pick in the 2024 NFL Draft the New England Patriots select....Drake Maye, quarterback from North Carolina. After months of speculation, the Patriots ended up with arguably one of the most athletic quarterbacks in the draft.

                                                            Welcome to New England

Maye was ACC player of the year for the 2022 UNC Tar Heels as they made it to the ACC Championship Game. In 2023, two of his top receivers graduated so his numbers went down a little bit. At 6'4 and 230 he's got the size to make it in the league and he's a bit more mobile than Mac Jones.

                                                                Maye at UNC

Now that the Patriots have a quarterback prospect, it's up to Eliot Wolf to surround Maye with talent in this draft. Tomorrow night they need at least one receiver and one offensive lineman to help Maye out. As bad as Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe played last year, they had no receivers to throw to and good lineman to protect them. The rumor is that the Patriots might shop the 34th pick for Brandon Aiyuk in San Francisco. Probably not a good idea but you never know what the Patriots are going to do.

                                                           Aiyuk to the Patriots?

98.5 and their fans are already screaming that Maye has terrible footwork and JJ McCarthy was a better pick. Also some fans want Maye to sit for the full year and let Jacoby Brissett play. That can be argued all day but what can't be argued is the Patriots now have one of the top quarterbacks available. Tomorrow night the 2nd and 3rd rounds will decide if Maye has fellow rookies to play with or someone like Aiyuk. Time will tell.

                                            "Yeah we drafted Maye, got a problem with it?"