“The New England Patriots to be willing to move up in the first-round if necessary to secure an offensive lineman. They’re going to be aggressive, one general manager said. They’ll move up if they have to.” – Jason LaCanfora
LaCanfora was an NFL Insider with NFL Network but was replaced years ago. His career has fallen on tough times as he was recently dismissed from his Radio gig in Baltimore for being overly critical of the Orioles and Ravens General Managers. He has never been correct on anything relating to the Patriots.
This makes me think about all of the misinformation and smokescreens that are being put out there by NFL teams leading up to the draft. It feels like someone in the Patriots organization gave information out to a media source (LaCanfora), that they would be interested in moving up and taking an offensive lineman in the Draft if their guy was there.
Do you really feel that if they are sold on a right tackle to eventually replace Morgan Moses, that they would let that information out? Are they trying to force other teams to jump ahead of them to take tackles, leaving the Patriots with a better EDGE rushing prospect at #31? This is not a great draft for offensive tackles, especially left tackles. Nick Cattles pointed out that there are only 5 tackles rated in the top 50 per PFF. A couple of them project at guard rather than tackle because of arm length.
Miami is expected to take a tackle and wide receiver with their two first round selections. If they take OT Spencer Fano or Francis Mauigoa at Pick #11, then they might go wide receiver at Pick #30. However, I have done multiple PFF Mock Drafts that have Miami taking Max Iheanachor right before the Patriots at #31. I would jump ahead of Miami to insure they don’t trade that pick to a team wanting Iheanachor to keep him away from the Patriots.
I strongly believe Max Iheanachor RT Arizona State is the Patriots target and he has been selected as high as #23 in recent Mock Drafts. I have taken Iheanachor is 3 of my 4 Mock Drafts. The 1st in early January had him as a 4th Round pick. The 2nd Draft I chose Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama in the 1st round so I didn’t take Iheanachor. In the 3rd Mock it was Iheanachor again after two trade backs, Iheanachor was my 1st selection at #48 of the 2nd round. In my most recent mock draft, Iheanachor was my 1st round pick at #31.
Mike Vrabel Attends Arizona State Pro Day
On his way to the League Meetings in Phoenix, Vrabel stopped in Tempe to attend the Arizona State Pro Day. The player he was there to see was right tackle Max Iheanachor. The Vrabel video of going one-on-one with Iheanachor isn’t going to play well if another team had interest in him. I recently saw a video of his game against Texas Tech with two EDGE rushers that are going to be drafted high this year, David Bailey and Romello Height. He stoned both of them, in fact he didn’t give up a sack all year. He is raw but has a tremendous ceiling. He is very athletic and has very good feet for pass protection.
Iheanachor has only been playing football for 5 years and needs a lot of coaching, especially in the run game. He is not a plug and play kind of guy and needs that year of Professional coaching to get up to the NFL level. I hope they just didn’t blow their chance of drafting my Draft binkie. After everyone left, Vrabel reportedly went back on the field with the now shirtless Iheanachor to work on a few more things with his hand placement. In a TV interview with a local reporter, Iheanachor confirmed that he met with the Patriots at the Combine and had a 30 Visit with them, stating “I am very familiar with their organization”. When asked about working with Head Coach Mike Vrabel, he stated “It was fun … It was a blessing getting to work with him”.
Patriots Draft Needs versus Draft Strengths and Weaknesses
The two biggest needs are EDGE and Right Tackle. Harold Landry, soon to be 30, has a history of injuries and is no longer the player he used to be. Landry mentioned Post Super Bowl that he needed a procedure on his knee this off-season. Can the Patriots rely on Landry on Day one to be their starting EDGE player? Elijah Ponder shows promise off of his rookie season with 4 sacks. That is the same production #3 Overall Draft Pick Abdul Carter had. EDGE rushers go early in the draft and if the Patriots wait until the end of the second round, they might get shutout of the quality EDGE rushers.
Luckily this is a very good year for Right Tackles. That being said, the good ones usually go pretty quickly. I don’t know what Mike Vrabel was doing by working out Max Iheanachor in front of scouts and allowing himself to be videotaped.
I did one Mock Draft where I traded up for Iheanachor and got shut out from drafting any EDGE players. They went quickly and the cupboard was bare when it came the Patriots selection in Round 2 at #63.
Morgan Moses will be 34 years-old this season and you can’t expect that he will play every game this year like he did last season. Taking a future starter and giving that player time to learn I believe is the right strategy. If you draft an EDGE player, they will play less than 50% of the snaps. Injuries to both older players could play a role, but you do have Ponder as a Pass Rush specialist and last Years 5th Round selection Bradyn Swinson to back up.
Tight End is a priority because Hunter Henry is 32 years old and they let Austin Hooper walk in Free Agency. The Patriots overpaid Julian Hill to serve as a blocking TE. That’s would leave a void if Henry was lost for any period of time and looking ahead, you don’t see many 33-year-old TEs in the league. Again, this is a very good year for TEs. Most College TEs are now spilt out in the slot and have no experience blocking. They are just big receivers like Mack Hollins. There is one TE that can do both and that is Sam Roush of Stanford. His numbers in college don’t jump out at you because Stanford was a run 1st offense. His athleticism was on display at the Combine where he put up a 9.93 Relative Athletic Score which was the best amongst TEs at the Combine. Roush has had some drop issues. He lets the ball come into his chest too often and is not a natural hands catcher.
Safety and Linebacker are the next areas of need. This draft is loaded with quality Safeties and some that are Day 3 selections will turn out to be great. Can the Patriots find a replacement this season for Kevin Byard who turns 33 this season? Drafting and development are the key mantras from Eliot Wolf. Give the rookie a year learning from Byard. I like VJ Payne from Kansas State as a possible backup. He is 6’3” and runs a 4.4 40 yard dash. At his pro Day he ran a 6.94 3-cone drill which showed off his excellent change of direction skills.
The Patriots lost Jack Gibbens to Free Agency. That was 77 tackles and 40% of the playing time. Jahlani Tavai was let go after contributing just 231 snaps on Defense. The previous two seasons he was over 1000 each year. Tavai just didn’t fit the new Defense under Zak Kuhr. Don’t be surprised to see the Patriots double dip on Linebackers. Kyle Louis a smaller linebacker out of Pittsburgh is in the mold of Marte Mapu. He is an interesting player in that he is a hybrid Strong Safety / LB. His coverage skill against TEs is spectacular. Bryce Boettcher is a two-sport athlete that plays Minor league baseball for the Angels. The Oregon product is known for his sideline-to-sideline ability as an Inside Linebacker. Owen Heinecke is another unsung hero in the middle. He got absolutely screwed by the NCAA when they denied him an extra year of eligibility because he played 3 Lacrosse games as a freshman at Ohio State. He will be available on Day three when we have 4 – 6th round selections. The last couple of linebackers of note are Jack Kelly of BYU and Logan Fano of Utah
Malichi Lawrence Doesn’t Work Out at Pro Day
The scouts were really ticked off that Lawrence didn’t work out. He didn’t even take off his sweats. Good, then perhaps they will drop him in their evaluation and give the Patriots a better chance of grabbing him. His numbers at the Combine speak for themselves. He had a 9.90 RAS, second only to Dani Dennis-Sutton 9.93. He didn’t have anything to prove by working out. I believe he is the best pure pass rusher in the draft. These are his weaknesses according to NFL Draft Buzz:
- Run defense is a real concern; gets washed out of his gap against power schemes.
- Struggles to anchor when offensive linemen get into his chest on double teams.
- Missed tackle rate is too high; needs to be more reliable as a finisher.
- Light frame raises questions about adding functional mass without losing his speed advantage.
- Assignment discipline lapses show up on tape, particularly against misdirection and play-action.
He is a pass rusher only and can’t be expected to play all three downs.
The Beast Draft Guide
The Athletic (NY Times Subscription) Dane Brugler will drop his epic NFL Draft Guide called “The Beast” on April 9th. I rely on Brugler’s comprehensive evaluations of the players and it’s all in one place. It is worth the Athletic Subscription price just to get this one source of knowledge. When completing my Draft Analysis I will quote his and others evaluations.
Robert Kraft Pumps the Brakes on Season Expectations
Speaking at the Owners meetings before assembled media Kraft acknowledged “In all seriousness. I think actually the team way overachieved what any of us thought would happen”. The Patriots played the easiest schedule ever recorded and won three playoff games, in what proved to be inferior QB play, especially in Denver. Drake Maye got exposed when playing against top Defenses. This season’s schedule will be much more difficult with two west coast trips against the Seahawks and Chargers, two playoff teams. It’s is refreshing to hear an owner be realistic.
Kraft also talked about upcoming negotiations with Christian Gonzalez and Drake Maye. He was pretty evasive but said he hopes both players will be Patriots for the long term. The Gonzalez negotiations are interesting because he has the same agent as the Top CB in the league Devon Witherspoon. I suspect that Witherspoon will let Gonzalez set the market and then top his contract shortly thereafter. Witherspoon is a two-time 1st team All-Pro where Gonzalez was selected as 2nd team All-Pro in 2024.
The question is what is Gonzalez asking for? If he is pushing the market and asking for $40M a year as some have suggested, it could be a long, protracted negotiation. I think something in the range of $32M a year is the market based upon what Trent McDuffie signed for ($31M) with the LA Rams.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
Julian HIll, started most of the year last year in MIA and while he was primarily used as a blocking TE, he clearly can do more and has been on an ascending curve since getting into the NFL. He’s young. I don’t think they overpaid at all. You can’t look back on his #s of catches and declare him a blocking TE only. The media is creating stories daily where there’s no news. “Patriots might trade up!!” they also may trade back or outright trade the picks for an existing player. No story here!!! Vrable and or Wolf always say… Read more »