PatsFans.com Menu
PatsFans.com - The Hub For New England Patriots Fans

New England Patriots > Patriots Blog

Patriots Came Away Winners on Night One of the 2023 NFL Draft, and Hurt a Rival in the Process

Ian Logue
Ian Logue on Twitter
April 28, 2023 at 11:48 am ET

Patriots Came Away Winners on Night One of the 2023 NFL Draft, and Hurt a Rival in the Process(PHOTO: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

🕑 Read Time: 3 minutes

Heading into the first round of Thursday night’s NFL Draft, the hope was that the Patriots would be able to come away with an impact player, especially for a team that needed to bounce back from a disappointing 2022 season.

They ended up doing just that, as well as adding some additional currency that will potentially even help them in the coming days as they continue building their roster.

After making a deal with the Steelers to trade back three spots from #14 to #17, the Patriots also came away with a fourth-round pick (#120 overall) while still being able to select Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who was one of the top prospects at the positions and a player who will hopefully contribute to their defense right away.

That roll of the dice worked out in their favor, and they managed to hurt a division rival in the process.  The move allowed Pittsburgh to jump in front of the Jets, who were sitting at #15, and take Georgia tackle, Broderick Jones.  With tackle being an area of need for the Jets, it seemingly cost them a player who may have been on their radar.

Player of Personnel Director Matt Groh was asked about that in his post-draft press conference, and the mention of it brought quite the smile to his face, which may have revealed there was some thought that went into the move to help ensure it worked out in more ways than one.

“We keep tabs on all the teams, not just our division rivals,” said Groh when asked about the move. “With the trade that transpired here this week [the Jets acquiring Aaron Rodgers], the Jets going from right in front of us to right behind us certainly shifted things. And then for us to kind of jump right behind them and give Pittsburgh the opportunity to come up and select the player who they selected, which when you make these trades, you don’t know who the other team is coming up for but again we try and do our research and try and have a feeling as far as positionally what a team might be looking for.”

“That’s Steve Cargile and his team really working hard on the team needs,” continued Groh. “We’ve got all that posted in the draft room, and try and be cognisant of what the teams are looking for. So, maybe had an idea of what maybe Pittsburgh was looking for, certainly didn’t know if that was going to be accurate, and then certainly didn’t know what player it was going to be. But there started to be a bit of a run there on the tackles. That position group was thinning out. If you wanted one of those guys, you have to come up and get them.”

The Jets didn’t and instead ended up taking Iowa State defensive end Will McDonald at #15.

Meanwhile, with Washington opting to take Mississippi State’s Emmanuel Forbes, it opened the door for the Patriots to take Gonzalez one pick later.

Looking at the film, Gonzalez is a terrific athlete who doesn’t shy away from contact and is tremendously athletic,  At 6’1”, 197lbs, he’s also got great size, which is something they’ve been missing and he rounds out a secondary that also has Jonathan Jones, Jack Jones, and Marcus Jones, with Gonzalez adding to what’s quickly becoming a solid nucleus for the future.

As for the selection itself, Groh said his staff and the coaches had a consensus on Gonzalez, which made the process of switching gears after the trade pretty easy.  He explained that the club did have other players on their radar, but when it was clear Gonzalez would be available, everyone was on the same page.

For now, heading into days two and three, Groh believes the remaining pool of players is “well-balanced” and with the extra selection and the other picks they have, they still may move around if the opportunity presents itself.

“I think it’s still fairly well-balanced. I think we’re the 15th pick here in the second round,” said Groh.  “Those fourth-round picks does give us a little bit of currency. We’ll have to take a little more in-depth look here in the morning. We’ll regroup, look at some of these players that we’ve got, go through a couple different scenarios as a staff and do our best to plot it out here for the second and third round just like we did in the lead-up here for the first round.”

READ NEXT:
MORSE: Patriots Get the Steal of the Draft in Gonzalez

About Ian Logue

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.


Posted Under: 2023 Patriots Draft
Tags: 2023 Patriots Draft Christian Gonzalez Matt Groh

  • Subscribe
    Notify of
    guest

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    0 Comments
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments

  • More Patriots News Headlines:

    MORSE: NFL Adopts New Rules for 2024

    MORSE: NFL Adopts New Rules for 2024

    By: Mark Morse
    At the League meetings this week in Orlando, the NFL adopted several new rule changes.  The two most controversial changes were the new kickoff rule…
    14 hours ago
    Thursday Patriots Notebook 3/28: News and Notes

    Thursday Patriots Notebook 3/28: News and Notes

    By: Ian Logue
    As the Patriots continue pondering what to do with the #3 pick, if history is any indication, should they trade out of that spot, they're…
    14 hours ago
    Wednesday Patriots Notebook 3/27: News and Notes

    Wednesday Patriots Notebook 3/27: News and Notes

    By: Ian Logue
    New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said on Tuesday that 'we're going to be open to whatever can come our way,' heading into next month's…
    2 days ago
    Tuesday Patriots Notebook 3/26: News and Notes

    Tuesday Patriots Notebook 3/26: News and Notes

    By: Ian Logue
    It's been interesting to hear the reactions following Jerod Mayo's press conference on Monday, and at the rate things are going, it's likely that he'll…
    3 days ago
    TRANSCRIPT: Patriots Owner Robert Kraft at the Owner’s Meetings 3/26

    TRANSCRIPT: Patriots Owner Robert Kraft at the Owner’s Meetings 3/26

    By: Ian Logue
    Here's the full transcript of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft's meeting with the media on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
    3 days ago

    Share via
    Copy link
    Powered by Social Snap
    Search For Links: - CLOSE
    For searches with multiple players
    add commas (Ex: "Bill Belichick, Devin McCourty")