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This was from the thing I wrote this morning, with some bits from the most recent Next Pats Podcast by Phil Perry, who had Jim Nagy on there to talk about the 2024 Patriots draft picks.
Nagy gave some good insight on Polk, but more importantly pointed out that the team actually targeted guys who could get open, which is a change from the type of guys they've drafted in the past:
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One of the more interesting comments came with Nagy talking about the selections of both Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, who he said are quite different than the guys New England has looked at previously when it comes to the receiver position.
He believes they hit on two guys who can open up their offense, which is an improvement from the type of players they had targeted in the past.
“I think they drafted two guys that can separate,” said Nagy. “I’ve said this before, I think Polk and Baker can both separate, and they haven’t been drafting separators up there for a while. It’s been a while since they’ve drafted guys that can get open, and I think both these guys can and they both have great ball skills.”
Nagy also noted that when it came to Polk, he was a player who was quietly rated highly by quite a few teams around the league, and he feels that Polk flew under the radar a bit behind Washington teammate Rome Odunze. Odunze was a higher-rated prospect and ended up being taken 9th overall by the Bears.
However, Nagy believes the Patriots got good value for him, and he feels Polk likely wouldn’t have been around much longer from where he was selected (Round 2, 37th overall by the Patriots).
“We did a lot of work on Polk too, and I think that he was a guy that the league was much higher than the media,” said Nagy. “I think maybe the media kind of lost him in the Rome Odunze talk and everything, I don’t know. But Polk was a guy that a lot of teams were high on. They probably had to take Polk there where they took him.”
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Sort of hoping that should these guys pan out, it starts to open things up in terms of at least feeling more optimistic about them continuing to add to that position in the future.
In the past, save most recently for maybe Malcolm Mitchell - who helped them win a ring but only lasted that season - it felt like the best hope was from late-round longshots who may/may not have made the team or had an impact. Now, it might end up being a position we can feel good about them targeting earlier if necessary and potentially finding an impact player, which is something that obviously never happened previously.
Nagy gave some good insight on Polk, but more importantly pointed out that the team actually targeted guys who could get open, which is a change from the type of guys they've drafted in the past:
---
One of the more interesting comments came with Nagy talking about the selections of both Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, who he said are quite different than the guys New England has looked at previously when it comes to the receiver position.
He believes they hit on two guys who can open up their offense, which is an improvement from the type of players they had targeted in the past.
“I think they drafted two guys that can separate,” said Nagy. “I’ve said this before, I think Polk and Baker can both separate, and they haven’t been drafting separators up there for a while. It’s been a while since they’ve drafted guys that can get open, and I think both these guys can and they both have great ball skills.”
Nagy also noted that when it came to Polk, he was a player who was quietly rated highly by quite a few teams around the league, and he feels that Polk flew under the radar a bit behind Washington teammate Rome Odunze. Odunze was a higher-rated prospect and ended up being taken 9th overall by the Bears.
However, Nagy believes the Patriots got good value for him, and he feels Polk likely wouldn’t have been around much longer from where he was selected (Round 2, 37th overall by the Patriots).
“We did a lot of work on Polk too, and I think that he was a guy that the league was much higher than the media,” said Nagy. “I think maybe the media kind of lost him in the Rome Odunze talk and everything, I don’t know. But Polk was a guy that a lot of teams were high on. They probably had to take Polk there where they took him.”
--
Sort of hoping that should these guys pan out, it starts to open things up in terms of at least feeling more optimistic about them continuing to add to that position in the future.
In the past, save most recently for maybe Malcolm Mitchell - who helped them win a ring but only lasted that season - it felt like the best hope was from late-round longshots who may/may not have made the team or had an impact. Now, it might end up being a position we can feel good about them targeting earlier if necessary and potentially finding an impact player, which is something that obviously never happened previously.
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