What we learned about the Patriots
New Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo experienced his first NFL Annual Meeting this week before jetting off to Pro Days to watch more quarterback prospects.
Here’s everything we learned from Mayo and owner Robert Kraft about the future of the Patriots before the league meetings wrapped up Tuesday afternoon.
1. Patriots need ‘conviction’ with QB at No. 3
Mayo said the team will need to feel “convicted” to take a quarterback at No. 3 overall. Executives around the NFL do expect the Patriots to select a quarterback in that spot, and with USC’s Caleb Williams expected to go to the Bears first overall, the top options remaining will be UNC’s Drake Maye and LSU senior Jayden Daniels.
Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy has entered the earlyround mix, as well, recently. One scout told the Herald this week that while there’s a lot to like in McCarthy’s game, he’s a step below the top three.
Mayo also referenced there being five players in this class who could be solid quarterbacks in the future. One scout said Bo Nix was the fifth-best QB in this draft class while another executive told the Herald that there are a couple of different players who could hold that title of fifth QB.
The Patriots met with Williams, Maye, Daniels, McCarthy and Nix at the NFL Scouting Combine.
The team has preached a collaborative approach all offseason. While talking about QB prospects, Mayo referenced something senior personnel executive and longtime scout Alonzo Highsmith told him.
“He’s been doing it for a long time, and he said all the bad picks that he’s seen, it’s really been where everyone wasn’t on the same page,” Mayo said. “And you would hope that you could get everyone on the same page, coaches and also scouts.”
So if Mayo, Highsmith, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and other top executives like Matt Groh and Pat Stewart are all sold on a quarterback, then the Patriots should feel comfortable taking him third overall.
A large contingent — nine overall, per Sports Illustrated — of Patriots staffers were at LSU’s pro day on Wednesday to watch and meet with Daniels. Mayo also attended Michigan’s pro day to watch McCarthy and planned to travel to UNC on Thursday to watch Maye at his pro day, as well.
2. Patriots see value in trading down
The best argument for taking a quarterback third overall is that this is believed to be a good quarterback class, and there’s no guarantee the Patriots will be picking as high as third overall again soon.
But the team has more needs to fill than just at quarterback, and there is significant value in acquiring more first-round picks, including ones in the future.
Mayo and Kraft both know that.
“Honestly, the guaranteed way to win is to accumulate more picks,” Mayo said. “So if we don’t feel convicted at No. 3, to your point, like we are willing