Thursday night was somewhat anticlimactic after Patriots head coach Bill Belichick opted to trade out of the #23 overall spot during round one of the 2020 NFL Draft, ending the evening for fans in New England who were looking forward to seeing who the team might be adding to their roster.
New England made a fairly good deal with the Chargers in the trade, acquiring a 2nd (#37) and 3rd round selection (#71). Having used their 2nd round pick during the 2019 season to acquire Mohammed Sanu, the move allowed them to get one back and they’ll now head into night two with one 2nd-round and four 3rd-round picks.
Seeing them trade back was disappointing, but certainly not surprising. The biggest takeaway is simply the fact that whoever might have been on their radar obviously came off the board and looking at how things played out, most potential players of need were gone.
Most of the top quarterbacks came off the board early. As predicted, quarterback Joe Burrow went to Cincinnati at #1 overall, while fellow signal-callers Tua Taqovailoa and Justin Herbert were each taken by the Dolphins and Chargers respectively at #5 and #6.
Offensive linemen Jedrick Wills (#10 – Cleveland), Mekhi Becton (#11 – Jets), Tristan Wirfs (#13 – Tampa Bay) and Austin Jackson (#18 – Miami) were each long gone by the time the Patriots were on the clock, while Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray was still there but obviously not the player they wanted. Murray went to the Chargers at #23 overall following the trade.
The most interesting move of the night came three picks later at #26 when Green Bay selected Utah State quarterback Jordan Love, who some believed could have been a player on New England’s radar. Instead, he’ll now join Aaron Rodgers on the Packers’ depth chart and given Rodgers’ fragile ego, one would have to believe an ugly situation will be unfolding out in Wisconsin in the months ahead.
But the fact they passed on Love is interesting because it may indicate that Belichick is comfortable enough with Jarrett Stidham at quarterback that he wasn’t willing to use a first-round pick to add one to their roster. Obviously, it’s still early and drafting one at some point still makes sense since they currently only have Brian Hoyer on the depth chart with the second-year QB. But clearly, it wasn’t a big enough priority to do it in round one.
According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Belichick spent his evening following the draft from Nantucket, with WCVB posting a photo of the head coach keeping it simple and working from the comfort of his dining room table.
Your home office is better than #Patriots head coach Bill Belichick's #PatsNation. #NFLDraft @OnWCVB https://t.co/h2MhRUqZ0F pic.twitter.com/VyZm0pQzLS
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) April 24, 2020
Just business as usual.
So with five picks at their disposal in night two, we’ll see how it plays out. Following last night’s move, the Patriots currently have 13 selections total:
2020 PATRIOTS DRAFT PICKS:
Round 2: #37 Overall
Round 3: #71 Overall
Round 3: #87 Overall
Round 3: #98 Overall
Round 3: #100 Overall
Round 4: #125 Overall
Round 4: #139 Overall
Round 5: #172 Overall
Round 6: #195 Overall
Round 6: #204 Overall
Round 6: #212 Overall
Round 6: #213 Overall
Round 7: #230 Overall
Night two kicks off tonight at 7pm ET, with Rounds 2 and 3 up next.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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