MORSE: Draft Recap and Additional Patriots UDFAs
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The Patriots Front Office (Eliot Wolf, Alonzo Highsmith, Ryan Cowden, Cam Williams and Matt Groh) deserves credit and some criticism over what everyone is calling it a “knock it out of the park” draft. They needed to beef up the offensive line and draft explosive playmakers. They accomplished that in the 1st two days by making 4 straight picks on Offensive players. I will also add that the Patriots emphasized character and leadership with the players they selected.
I have read some of the National pundits and here are some grades they gave out.
CBS Sports A-
Bleacher Report A+
Fantasy Pros A-
NFL.com B+
The Patriots selected 5 players in Dane Brugler’s Top 100, and that doesn’t include pick 106 where they reached a bit. I have to give them an A “on paper”. I’m excited to see how they work out.
Round 1 (No. 4): OL Will Campbell, LSU – Everyone knows about Will Campbell. He was the #1 Tackle available, and we desperately needed a Left Tackle. I find Campbell refreshing as he is articulate with that down-home country charm. Reports are that he has an extremely high football IQ and is a leader despite his young age. If he can’t handle Left Tackle because of the short arms, he will end up at Guard and will excel there because is just so fundamentally strong and has that nasty finisher approach to every snap.
Round 2 (No. 38): RB TreVeyon Henderson, Ohio State – I wanted TE Mason Taylor here. The Jets took him right after us, and we will have to see him twice a year now. There was a heated discussion on another player to take at #38. Eliot Wolf stated that the player was taken ahead of the Pats making the discussion moot. That player must have been WR Jayden Higgins. I like Henderson but I thought the position scarcity at TE and the Patriots need with two 30-year-old TEs would override taking RB given the outstanding depth in the draft class at RB. Four TE’s were taken before the Pats next pick, essentially locking them out of the TE market. Eliot Wolf stated that this was a deep TE Draft class. I disagree. In hindsight, Wolf didn’t draft a TE at all and got lucky that CJ Dippre TE Alabama didn’t get selected, and the Pats were able to sign him as a UDFA. Dippre had a draftable draft grade.
Henderson is a terrific runningback so I wasn’t upset that they took him (not like trading away Ladd McConkey last year). You don’t take a RB in the 2nd round to sit him on the bench. I believe he will split time with Rhamondre Stevenson and will be utilized as a pass catcher out of the backfield. He also is an excellent pass blocker already and should be able to pick up the blitz very well. This move will make Antonio Gibson the 3rd down pass specialist.
Round 3 (No. 69): WR Kyle Williams, Washington State – I was thrilled with the selection of Williams. He has the speed (4.44) but also possesses extreme quickness to get off the line of scrimmage against press man coverage. He is immediately Drake Maye’s deep threat. You want to press Williams and Maye sees single coverage, I guarantee that Williams will burn them.
TRADE 3-77 to CAR for 3-85 and 5-146. That’s a good deal and the Matt Judon trade has legs.
TRADE 3-85 to Kansas City for 3-95 and 2025 4th Rd pick Another good trade to drop just 10 spots and get a 4th next year.
Round 3 (No. 95): IOL Jared Wilson, Georgia – Another outstanding pick. Wilson was the 57th ranked player by Dane Brugler’s Top 100. PFF gave him an 89.2 Pass Blocking grade, the best of all Centers in College Football. If Garrett Bradbury struggles with pass protect like he did last year, Wilson may see the field sooner than expected. Eliot Wolf said that Wilson, with his great 4.84 (#1) speed at the Combine means he will get an opportunity to work at OG.
Round 4 (No. 106): S Craig Woodson, California – This pick was a head scratcher. He was ranked as the #167th player by PFF and 17th by Dane Brugler at the Safety position. A classic reach player. The scouts and coaching staff saw something they liked in Woodson. His speed was 4.45 (T5) at the combine. In Ryan Cowden’s press conference he said that Woodson impressed them with his communications skills, something the team did very poorly last year. Woodson is very experienced having started 40 games between the PAC-12 and ACC. The Patriots met Woodson at the East-West Shrine game and that’s where they made the communications observation and then went back and followed up on him. Why did they take him so high? Was there another team that was just as interested? I have this tidbit from NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah. He said this on the show “Move the Sticks” prior to the draft. “[Woodson] is a great leader and is a 2nd round projection. He could complete for a stating job as a rookie”. I am glad the Front Office finally addressed what I thought was one of the biggest needs on Defense, Free Safety. Marcus Epps signed as a Free Agent but is coming off an ACL surgery.
TRADE Patriots with Seattle to acquire 4-137. They give up 4-144 and 7-238 Another good trade to get the player they wanted Joshua Farmer.
Round 4 (No. 137): DL Joshua Farmer, Florida State – The Patriots traded up with SEA , giving up 4 -144 and 7-238 to select Farmer. He was rated at the #76 player in Dane Brugler’s Top 100. Farmer came to Foxboro for a pre-draft 30 visit. His physical size is imposing, with his 10 1/2-inch hands, 35-inch arms and 83 3/8-inch wingspan land in the 85th, 94th and 87th percentile, respectively, among defensive tackle prospects in the Mock Draftable database dating back to 1987. A leader and team Captain he has already worked with Patriots DL coach Clint McMillan.
Round 5 (No. 146): EDGE Bradyn Swinson, LSU –Inherited from the Carolina Panthers as part of the third round’s initial trade down, No. 146 overall became pass rusher. Swinson checked in as the No. 68 overall prospect on Arif Hasan’s Consensus Big Board and headlined Pats Pulpit’s best players available entering Saturday’s flurry.
After three seasons at Oregon, Swinson transferred to LSU in 2023 and led the Tigers with 8.5 sacks and 13 tackles for loss under head coach Brian Kelly last fall. The final campaign included a dozen starts for a fifth-year senior standing 55 games into his journey.
It also included 60 combined quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus, and a 90.3 grade in pass rush.
Swinson, listed at 6-foot-3, 255 pounds, provides bend and closing quickness around the tackles and into the backfield. The 22-year-old ran the three-cone drill in 7.13 seconds and the short shuttle in 4.33 seconds at Lucas Oil Stadium. Known for carrying a football under his arm, he now heads to a defense that ranked last around the NFL in sacks and within earshot with 12 takeaways last campaign.
TRADE 5-171 to SEA for 6-182 and 7-228 Another good trade, especially if there was no one they wanted at this spot.
Round 6 (No. 182): K Andres Borregales, Miami – The Patriots need a kicker and Borregales was at the top of the list. He was the most accurate kicker in college football. They felt there was competition for Borregales and they were correct in taking Borregales in this spot as Baltimore took Tyler Loop three picks later. The only concern is that Borregales played in Miami and has limited experience of kicking in bad weather. He has a relationship with Alonzo Highsmith from Highsmith’s days with the Miami staff.
Round 7 (No. 220): OT Marcus Bryant, Missouri – Bryant was a surprise pick but you can’t deny his size and athletic ability. He is a project, a player you take a flyer on in the 7th round. He may not make the team out of camp, but give him Doug Marrone and Dante Scarnecchia coaching, we have something in Bryant.
TRADE of pick 238 to Kansas City for 251 and 257 – I didn’t like this trade. I would rather have taken RB Brashard Smith, the player the Chiefs selected. Smith is a former wideout with superb receiving skills out of the backfield. He also has 4.3 speed which could have been used in the Return game. I think this trade was more the result that the player they expected to be available here (Thomas Fidone TE Nebraska), was taken a few picks ahead of #228.
Round 7 (No. 251): LS Julian Ashby, Vanderbilt – I never like using a draft pick on a Longsnapper. Ashby was ranked as the #5 Lonsnapper in Dane Brugler’s rankings of Longsnappers. The 6’1’ 220-pound snapper doesn’t have ideal size but has good speed. Joe Cardona is 33, so getting a player to challenge him is a smart move. Lance Zurlein called him the best Longsnapper in College. They felt that if Ashby went undrafted there was going to be bidding war. Remember that Joe Cardona was a 5th Round draft pick.
Round 7 (No. 257): DB Kobee Minor, Memphis – “Mr Irrelevant” is an appropriate moniker for Minor. I had a difficult time finding any data on him. I have to think this is a case of selecting a player with a late draft pick so that they don’t have to compete with other teams to secure his services as an UDFA. I am concerned with his overall speed (4.56). At under 6’ he doesn’t possess change of direction quickness either (7.23 3 Cone). I was surprised to learn they had him in for a 30 visit. They must have seen something they liked about him. He will have to make the team with outstanding Special Teams play. Daniel Jeremiah at the end of the draft said “I don’t have any idea who he is”.
It was interesting that the Patriots didn’t select any Linebackers or Tight Ends.
Eliot Wolf got bailed out when they were able to sign TE CJ Dippre as an Undrafted Free Agent. He whiffed on TE in the draft. Dippre had a grade that said he should have been drafted. His blocking skills are excellent, something that Henry and Hooper don’t have so Dippre has a very good chance of making the team.
Other UDFA’s that excite me are WR Efton Chism, Lan Larison and Elijah Ponder.
This what I wrote after the East-West Shrine game, “I was very impressed by diminutive wideout Efton Chism. He was fearless out there, catching balls over the middle in traffic. His Punt Return ability was special too. He took a punt inside the 10-yard line and returned it just 7 yards, but he was surrounded by coverage players and didn’t call for the fair catch. He also had another big return called back by a penalty. The 5’10” 195-pound receiver broke all of Cooper Kupp’s receiving records at Eastern Washington. His performance this week was remarkable since he was a late add to the roster.“ His short are quickness is outstanding. He is a Julian Edelman type that doesn’t drop passes. Last season he dropped only 2 passes on 143 targets. He ate up DBs in the East-West Shrine game. Josh McDaniel loves this type of receiver. He didn’t receive an invite to the Combine but his 6.77 3-cone would have been tied for 3rd at the Combine amongst WRs.
Larison, I wrote about in one of my mock drafts. I have not seen a college back with his kind of receiving skills. He had 2,312 all-purpose yards last season and 23 TDs. He had 62 catches for 837 yards (13.7 YPC). He will remind fans of Danny Woodhead. He is also a Bull Rider.
EDGE Elijah Ponder is another interesting prospect. He had 27 sacks, 44 QB hurries and 43.5 Tackles for Loss in his career in the Big Sky conference. His Relative Athletic Score is 9.7 out of 10.
These four UDFAs are going to put pressure on veterans to make the team.
A good athlete, Ponder wrapped up a legendary Cal Poly career this past season and will go down as one of the best defensive players in Cal Poly football history. Ponder finished as the second Mustang to earn at least two First Team All-Big Sky Selections and was a four-time All-Big Sky honoree. He ranks third in program history with 27 sacks, first in quarterback hurries with 44, and fifth in tackles for loss with 43.5. Ponder had a 30 visit with the Colts. FCS Third Team All-American in 2023. Projected as high as 5th round pick, but dropped due to the overall excellence of the EDGE Draft Class.
PFF had this about Ponder in their “Late Round Gems”:
After three straight seasons of good pass-rushing grades at the FCS level, Ponder was able to compete against college all-stars at the East-West Shrine Game. Ponder stood out with an outstanding game performance with one sack, one quarterback hit and two hurries on his 19 pass-rush snaps. Ponder finished with an 88.2 pass-rush grade and a 90.0 overall grade during the game.
Webb had a breakout season in 2024, catching 36 passes for 649 yards with five touchdowns.
In his senior campaign he notched 40 tackles (20 solo) and 6.5 sacks. The highlight of his final season came against Virginia when he recorded his first career interception and returned it for a touchdown. He opened the season with a three-sack performance against Minnesota. His 35.5” VJ was 2nd at the Combine.
The D III star, Johnson’s career accolades include two conference Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Lineman of the Year awards, eight All-Region honors teams. Three All-Conference First Team selections, and one Preseason All-America nod.
Note: If you add up all the players they have signed as UDFA’s (17) and add them to the 71 players they have on the roster the total is 88. The 11 drafted players will not count against the 90-man roster until they actually sign their contracts. Look for numerous transactions over the next few weeks.
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