The Tight End Dilemma

[OldEngland]

Per a Wolf press conference, they had a debate when selecting Raridon because they had more than one player with the same rating. In the end went with the need position.

So in the same vein, who was the other player(s)?

The Pats didn't pick again until 171 after Raridon 95, so it makes narrowing it down a bit harder than normal. If you take the prospects the Pats had contact with (which is far from infallible, but a good frame of reference), the following prospects went in that range:

102 Jude Bowry OT, 104 Kaleb Proctor DT, 107 Gracen Halton DT, 109 Jadon Canady CB, 113 Jalen Farmer IOL, 116 Kionte Scott CB, 117 Travis Burke OT, 118 Jimmy Rolder LB, 120 Dani Dennis Sutton DE, 122 Michael Washington RB, 132 Jeremiah Wright IOL, 151 Zakee Wheatley S, 156 George Gumbs DE, 157 Keith Abney.

If they had a similar ranked player as Raridon taken at 95, you could assume there would be a point they would consider trading up from 171 for them. 171+191 gets you to roughly 137 on the trade chart, and there were also rumours of the Pats trying to trade up to get DE Trey Moore, who went to the Dolphins at 130. If you were to have a guess, I'd probably start with those players, but there were also some good WRs, CBs and LBs not on the contact list.

 

[Huckleberry1]

There were question marks about Simmons’ maturity.

Which turned out to be completely untrue, as the steal of the draft ended up never missing a practice or a game, and could be counted upon to always be there for his teammates. He even became the only rookie to be featured on a milk carton.

 

[manxman2601]

Which turned out to be completely untrue, as the steal of the draft ended up never missing a practice or a game, and could be counted upon to always be there for his teammates. He even became the only rookie to be featured on a milk carton.

You had me until the bolded. I was going to go full keyboard warrior on your ass!

 

[mayoclinic]

Good read:

How the Rams taught the entire NFL to count to 13

Sean McVay has set the tone for another NFL offensive trend, and this time, it’s all about the tight ends. The 2026 NFL draft told the whole story.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[manxman2601]

Good read:

How the Rams taught the entire NFL to count to 13

Sean McVay has set the tone for another NFL offensive trend, and this time, it’s all about the tight ends. The 2026 NFL draft told the whole story.

sports.yahoo.com

I watched this a week or so ago and wondered about posting it. In light of your post, I will. It's very good.



I think the more interesting question from a Patriots prospective about the 13 personnel dilemma is less how you implement it and more about how you defend it. Basically bigger safeties or more athletic linebackers who can defend the run when the 13 personnel offense goes big on the LoS, or can drop into coverage when the offense spreads out.