Why was this year's draft so much better than last's?

[40yrpatsfan]

You don’t know.
How people feel about a draft is irrelevant and doesn’t correlate to how it plays out.
You can’t say it’s a good draft before anyone plays. Every team thinks they drafted well.

Then how do you know last year sucked? takes 2 years minimum to judge a draft.

 

[Ring 6]

Then how do you know last year sucked? takes 2 years minimum to judge a draft.

You were just arguing the exact opposite.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I still think that Bob Kraft had a hand in the 2024 draft. That would explain some of the picks and it would explain why Wolf was not fired. This year Vrabel put his foot down and told Bob to back off and let Wolf do his job.....but this is just another one of my crackpot theories. The same guy cannot be responsible for a horrific 2024 draft and and brilliant 2025 draft. I think we saw the real Eliot Wolf this year....

 

[patman52]

Huh? Wolfs draft last year was terrible. His free agency was terrible. His ability to evaluate talent is a huge concern.
I dont buy that not fired means you are great.
I doubt Vrabel had the ability to demand wolf be fired. Bringing in cowden speaks volumes though. If they love wolf why bring in cowden.

I don’t think “not fired after sucking” is proof of being a great talent evaluator.

Wolf's 2nd day was terrible, can't complain about the 1st or 3rd day. I dont think anyone who was a Fa wanted to play for the pats last year. No QB, 1srt year head coach, Dline coach and an OC that was not highly thought of.

I think Vrabel could have made it a condition of his acceptance. The pats ranked 100 players last year as always. Vrabel looked at that wolfs list and most have thought that the browns and lions list were in some kind of sync with wolf's.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Vrabel also had a ton of unused cap space and lesser restrictions .

I am not defending Mayo.

If you are not defending Mayo, what are the lesser restrictions that Vrable had versus Mayo?

If you are not defending Mayo, how much unused cap space did Vrabel have versus Mayo?

 

[PatMan]

Why was this years draft so much better? Was it because Elliot Wolf was able to install his grading system? Was it because of Vrabel (instead of Mayo who probably had no say in the draft)? Was it because Bob Kraft was not meddling? Was it Cowden? Of course they are not going to tell us, so we can only speculate.....

Thank you for asking this question. I think the difference might be that they brought in a new offensive coordinator who spent the last year studying college football.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I still think that Bob Kraft had a hand in the 2024 draft. That would explain some of the picks and it would explain why Wolf was not fired. This year Vrabel put his foot down and told Bob to back off and let Wolf do his job.....but this is just another one of my crackpot theories. The same guy cannot be responsible for a horrific 2024 draft and and brilliant 2025 draft. I think we saw the real Eliot Wolf this year....

Or we saw the real Wolf in 2024 and the person making the decisions in 2025 was Cowden, appointed by Vrabel. It is highly unlikely that Wolf could approach the draft so differently from 2024 than 2025. The reason Wolf did not change his approach from 2024 to 2025 is because Wolf was in charge in 2024, but Vrabel (Cowden) was in charge in 2025.

 

[Toofy]

If you are not defending Mayo, what are the lesser restrictions that Vrable had versus Mayo?

If you are not defending Mayo, how much unused cap space did Vrabel have versus Mayo?

I feel Vrabel had more unfettered access to sign free agents as I believe Kraft might have restricted Mayo considering everyone is young and Maye was unproven.

2024 cap space - 68 million

2025 cap space - 130 million

All I am saying is Mayo was not intelligent enough to realize that he was digging his grave . Kraft deemed it a bridge year to evaluate Mayo and team and did not open up purse strings and even if they wanted to nobody wanted to join pats.

Vrabel was just in a better position because of his record, his connects , contacts, personality and the fact that He had a quarterback in Maye which helped many free agents more confident with the pats..and the free agency class was much better in 2025 than 2024. NFL also increased cap space significantly in 2024 allowing everyone to retain their own free agents diminishing pool and cap space advantage of pats.


Mayo is probably at fault for 70% , rest 30% was just fate or unlucky circumstances.


Again , I am happy that we have Vrabel and Mayo is out, just pointing out the variables here .

 

[Ring 6]

Wolf's 2nd day was terrible, can't complain about the 1st or 3rd day. I dont think anyone who was a Fa wanted to play for the pats last year. No QB, 1srt year head coach, Dline coach and an OC that was not highly thought of.

I think Vrabel could have made it a condition of his acceptance. The pats ranked 100 players last year as always. Vrabel looked at that wolfs list and most have thought that the browns and lions list were in some kind of sync with wolf's.

He drafted the QB which every one in the world would have.

What did you think was good about day 3?None of those players did anything good last year and it’s realistic that none may be on the roster this year.

He signed every free agent he pursued except Ridley. Those were the guys he wanted. They were not good moves.

 

[patman52]

He drafted the QB which every one in the world would have.

What did you think was good about day 3?None of those players did anything good last year and it’s realistic that none may be on the roster this year.

He signed every free agent he pursued except Ridley. Those were the guys he wanted. They were not good moves.

I though Dial showed well. I still say Milton was a great pick. Now Vrabel didnt want competition at that spot, but that has nothing to do with the pick.. I think Bell is exactly the type of player that McDaniels wants. I see him as a fullback/Hback role in camp this summer. Layden Robinson may well be out swing guard on game days this year.

Now Baker is questionable for sure. But I have no problem with taking a flyer on a talent that drops to the 3rd day due to character concerns. For instance I think sanders was a great pick for the browns in the 5th.

 

[203Pat]

Speaking of last year's draft, this video is shades of N'Keal Harry in camp his rookie year. I remember him running through drills and being amazed at how slow he looked.



Deja vu all over again.

 

[Ring 6]

When did Dial “show well”. He played 60 snaps all season 55 in week 18 when we were trying to lose.
Milton was a great pick? Wow.
Bell wasn’t drafted for McDaniels and isn’t likely to make the team.
Layden Robinson stunk when he played.

Amazing that you think that was a great day 3

 

[Vindicate]

Drafting with an idea in mind to the identity of your team with a coaching staff working together is probablyz. the first step in "How to Draft 101"

Doesn't matter how "right" they got the draft last year in terms of players, it would've been the same result, OR even worse, we would've lucked into a few more wins and probably would've kept Mayo.

We had Bill as a foil to this: was so determined in establishing identity, we often made the absolute best out of head scratching picks or castaways from other teams, and had wild lower round/UDFA success.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Speaking of last year's draft, this video is shades of N'Keal Harry in camp his rookie year. I remember him running through drills and being amazed at how slow he looked.



Deja vu all over again.

The guy coaching him in the video says, "Not bad". LOL

 

[VJCPatriot]

There's some revisionist history here.

JaLynn Polk had a terrible rookie year, but saying he "had bust written all over him the minute he was drafted" is ridiculous. It's fair to say he was over-drafted at 37, and fair to say there were concerns about his ability to separate. But Jeremiah had him at 58, Brugler at 74 (above Xavier Legette).

Polk was not in the explosive Kyle Williams mold, but he had plenty of athleticism to compete. Virtually identical 40 and 10-yard split times as Emeka Egbuka, good vertical and BJ, tough, good work ethic, team leader. A day 2 pick all the way, whether you liked him or not.

I wonder how Ladd McConkey would have fared on the 2024 Patriots. I suspect not nearly as well as he did with San Diego.

Maybe not as good as in SD who has a better OL. But he would have been a welcome addition to the arsenal for Maye and a chain mover.

 

[Ian]

I don’t care how many phone calls he made, I care about who he acquired. He got the player he pursued at every position.
He brought in QB, RB, TE, T, G, C. He resigned Bourne and went after Ridley, didn’t get him and drafted 2, and they were both awful.
He brought in DL, LB, CB, S
He filled every single need almost all with his first target. Why would he be making more calls if he thought he got his guy.
That’s literally the problem. He brought in bad players to fill the holes instead of good ones, and drafted poorly.

He chose Orkarafor as his LT before even pursuing anyone. He drafted Wallace to compete with him or back up. He paid Onwenu a boat load of money evidently to be a T. He brought in Leverrett and Jordan. He drafted Robinson and Wallace. That’s 6 OL acquisitions and a very said list.

I don’t call him out for defending players. I called him out for believing he had a talented OL that would be fine. You said he was lying to protect them. You don’t seem to hold him accountable for assembling it either way.

I never said he didn’t try. He tried. He signed all of his targets but 1.

He went to camp with his choice Okorafor as his LT with Wallace either backing him up or playing RT. Lowe in the mix. Andrews at C. Robinson, Leverrete, Sow and Jordan as Gs.
If you can show me any other OL that we were connected to (since the rumors fly rampant) I’d consider that he thought his OL was weak, but I saw none.

Other than making up things you think he might have done, or saying his comments were lies, what are you listing as the examples that prove he is a good evaluator?

You're killing me. We'll agree to disagree on him only targeting those guys because I highly doubt they were his first choice.

I will say trading back last year instead of taking Maye would have been disastrous, given how this year played out. So while many people say that was a "no-brainer," I don't know if I feel that way. He could have overthought it and moved back and squandered a guy who has shown the ability to be elite. That's all I could think about while looking at this year's draft class that weekend.

And we'll find out this year what kind of draft class last year was. Right now, it looks pretty bad, but it's tough to make a full judgment after just one season. But at the end of the day, he'll be judged by the job he ultimately does, and if Vrabel wants him gone, he'll be gone. However, the fact that things are at least trending in the right direction is promising, which is a good thing if they want to have any hope of getting back into contention.

 

[Ring 6]

You're killing me. We'll agree to disagree on him only targeting those guys because I highly doubt they were his first choice.

I will say trading back last year instead of taking Maye would have been disastrous, given how this year played out. So while many people say that was a "no-brainer," I don't know if I feel that way. He could have overthought it and moved back and squandered a guy who has shown the ability to be elite. That's all I could think about while looking at this year's draft class that weekend.

And we'll find out this year what kind of draft class last year was. Right now, it looks pretty bad, but it's tough to make a full judgment after just one season. But at the end of the day, he'll be judged by the job he ultimately does, and if Vrabel wants him gone, he'll be gone. However, the fact that things are at least trending in the right direction is promising, which is a good thing if they want to have any hope of getting back into contention.

How am I killing you by saying he wasn’t tied to any other free agents, it’s a fact. He got who he wanted. His evaluation skills aren’t improved by you imagining he wanted different guys. Bring a fact before you act shocked.

No one was saying trade back.

One season is what we have to judge. That one season gives the impression he isn’t a good evaluator.
One season doesn’t close the book on assessing him, but it’s hard to honestly say he didn’t suck.

 

[Ian]

How am I killing you by saying he wasn’t tied to any other free agents, it’s a fact. He got who he wanted. His evaluation skills aren’t improved by you imagining he wanted different guys. Bring a fact before you act shocked.

No one was saying trade back.

One season is what we have to judge. That one season gives the impression he isn’t a good evaluator.
One season doesn’t close the book on assessing him, but it’s hard to honestly say he didn’t suck.

I don't agree that he didn't explore other options, and everyone he signed was his top choice. Again, we'll have to disagree there.

But I think it's hard not to argue that a year later, it's no coincidence why they ended up with a better crop of players. That just wasn't a viable option last year, given the mess they were in. I know you feel otherwise, but had Belichick been here, maybe I'd agree with you.

Again, you could be right that he'll be gone after this year. But there's at least a reason to understand why they ended up striking out on anyone of quality last March. And we saw the difference this year with better circumstances.

 

[Ian]

How am I killing you by saying he wasn’t tied to any other free agents, it’s a fact. He got who he wanted. His evaluation skills aren’t improved by you imagining he wanted different guys. Bring a fact before you act shocked.

No one was saying trade back.

One season is what we have to judge. That one season gives the impression he isn’t a good evaluator.
One season doesn’t close the book on assessing him, but it’s hard to honestly say he didn’t suck.

Letting Okorafor convince him he'd be a viable player at all is a strike against him - in my opinion. Still can't believe that went down, but it is what it is. The guy likely sat across from him and lied, and then quit. Unreal. Should have put a red flag on him after what happened in Pittsburgh, and hopefully, that never happens again.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't agree that he didn't explore other options, and everyone he signed was his top choice. Again, we'll have to disagree there.

But I think it's hard not to argue that a year later, it's no coincidence why they ended up with a better crop of players. That just wasn't a viable option last year, given the mess they were in. I know you feel otherwise, but had Belichick been here, maybe I'd agree with you.

Again, you could be right that he'll be gone after this year. But there's at least a reason to understand why they ended up striking out on anyone of quality last March. And we saw the difference this year with better circumstances.

Well, you don’t like that belief, but there is nothing to support it. Don’t you find it odd that when during free agency all the teams pursuing players are reporter, yet the Patriots, in 2024, are the only exception?

Here you are arguing they are the only team ever that free agents refuse to sign with. Every bad team with a lot of cap space signs big money free agents. Again there is nothing to back this up other than you saying you think it.

There could be any number of reasons for the change in the approach to free agency. The obvious is that Vrabel demanded it and took over. Kraft could have been unwilling to spend last year because he didn’t want to pay to find out about his Mayo experiment. It could have been a limited budget and signing the teams own free agents (not the best use of limited dollars if so) used it up and he was told not to pursue costly players. (Ridley kind of squashes that)
Ultimately I think Wolf believed he put a good team together and believed in the players he signed and was just wrong because he’s not a good evaluator.
You can make up a reason with nothing to support it in order to dismiss him from accountability for the job he did, but in the end that’s an admission he did a bad job, but you created a story to take blame off of him.