I forget. I remember there being a flurry right before they picked and then someone saying later on that they also had another player in mind, I believe it was a defensive guy.
I went back and dug this out and I had written
the following after it happened, which has the players who went right before him:
"The thought process might have been that Belichick and New England may have had another player in mind who came off the board following their trade back from 21 to 29. There was a significant run on highly-touted defensive players from that point, with Quay Walker, Kaiir Elam, Jermaine Johnson II, Devin Lloyd and Devonte Wyatt each coming off the board following multiple trade-ups by the Packers, Bills, Jets and Jaguars respectively, after they each jumped back up into the fray.
"That could have potentially changed the Patriots’ plans, causing them to switch gears and turn their attention elsewhere."
I believe someone also said well after the draft Strange was high on their board, and after their first preference came off the board, they caught wind of a couple of other teams who were interested in potentially targeting Strange in round two. So they decided it wasn't worth the risk to move back a few spots and given that it was only three spots shy of round two, they felt there was value in the fifth-year option if he panned out the way they believed he might.