2025 Patriots Draft Round-Up

Going pick by pick through the Patriots Draft, that some are giving an A+

If we learned anything from this weekend, it is what a Mike Vrabel guy is. After 7 rounds of the NFL’s annual draft, there was a common thread amongst all the picks and that is they all really love football. Like really love football. They took guys who block as a hobby, not as a job. They took guys who lug footballs around with them off the field and play defense on it. They took guys who are viewed by their peers as leaders. If the Patriots are to be recreated in the image of their new head coach, then this weekend we got a clearer picture of just what that means. And I think I like it. (Just kidding, I love it and I knew that I would now!)

Your class of 2025 (Photo credit to New England Patriots social media)

1^st round- Will Campbell LT- LSU

I wrote about the Campbell pick in Friday’s Notebook, but one thing I forgot to comment on: this kid has a spectacular head of hair. How good? If he was born in 1960, I would wager the farm that he would have been a JC Penney (not a sponsor) catalog model. I can’t think of a higher compliment to pay the folliclely blessed.

2^nd round- TreVeyon Henderson RB-Ohio St.

Love this pick and I didn’t think I would say that about a running back in the second round, but Henderson projects to be exactly the type of player I would have gifted to Drake Maye (you know, if I could afford to give my quarterback multi-million dollar running backs as presents. I guess that’s what NIL is, now that I think about it.) How many times has this happened to you, you’re watching the Patriots and say “this offense is missing something.” That something is a pass catching running back, and it’s not your fault, for more than 2-decades you’ve been conditioned by the New England Patriots to watch offense where you have a 3^rd down back who can catch the ball out of the back field and act as that safety valve for the quarterback. But since James White retired, we haven’t had that “quarterback’s best friend” type of player. I think Henderson can be that guy. The term home run hitter is often used to describe TreVeyon Henderson (did you know he has 17-letter in his first and last name? Stats that Notebook writers keep) who is capable of breaking a big play any time he touches the ball. (Watch his tape from the Rose Bowl against Oregon last year if you don’t believe me.)

Hitting home runs is great, (someone tell the Red Sox) but what excites me is his ability as a pass catcher and in an embarrassment of riches type of deal, Henderson is an excellent blocker. There is a term that is used to describe running backs blocking in pass protection and it is called “dying a slow death.” This means the running back just kind of gets in the way of the rusher and essentially acts as a speed bump in the linebacker’s way to the quarterback. Henderson is no speed bump, he takes pride in his blocking and that will make a tremendous weapon for Drake Maye. 3^rd down, Henderson will be in there and teams won’t know if it’s to take a carry, protect against the rush or go out as a pass catcher. The Patriots offense has been so predictable the last few years, but with the return of Josh McDaniels and the addition of dynamic pieces like TreVeyon Henderson, you can see the path forward for this offense to mature in its complexity.

3^rd Round Kyle Williams WR- Washington St.

Every time the Patriots draft a wide receiver, you sort of take a deep breath and hope for the best. So take this entire section with a grain of salt, but it sounds like there is a lot to like about Kyle Williams. He is 5’10”, 190lbs and ran a 4.4 40-yard dash. What I like about how scouts described Williams is that he is an elite separator, who can use his speed and route running to create space and get open. During this latest era of the Patriots Pupu Platter of Receivers, it always feels like nobody can get open. Williams has the best release of any receiver in the draft, but the one knock I’ve heard is that his hands are on the smaller side and had some “concentration drops” in college. (Meaning he dropped some passes due to lack of concentration, now that his concentration waivers…..actually I guess that phrase works both ways.) He has primarily played as an outside WR, but has also moved into the slot at times. In McDaniels’ system, could Williams become a Deion Branch type? Trying to project these guys to pieces of the past, you love to imagine Henderson as Kevin Faulk, Williams as Branch, Pop Douglas as Wes Welker and Stefon Diggs as the Big Bad Wolf.

Rumors were last week that the Patriots might trade out one or two from their receiver room, you would have to think they will, if only because of lack of space. There’s a lot of guys in that room right now.

Also for this pick, what was John Cena doing? I thought he was going to announce the pick, instead he cut a short “promo”, then threw it to Idris Elba? Who talked about being in London, for a second I thought he was about to announce that for the second year in a row that the Patriots were going back to Jolly Old England, instead sort of meandered around making a point and then inexplicably threw it back to John Cena, who then threw it back to the main stage in Green Bay, so that someone else could announce the Patriots draft pick. This all made about as much sense as anything else John Cena did last week, but apparently this is his new gimmick: appear at a big event and have an out of place celebrity make a confusing cameo.

Why couldn’t we just have a giggling Rob Gronkowski announce the 69^th pick? This stuff writes itself people, let’s not overthink it!

3^rd Round Jared Wilson C- Georgia

A center in the 3^rd round seems a bit high at first blush, but they have Garrett Bradbury for maybe only one year, so having someone waiting in the wings to replace him is probably a good idea. His line coach at Georgia said he’s the best center he’s worked with and he’s been around a lot of top programs. Wilson is 6’3”, 310lbs and ran a 4.84 40-yard dash, the fastest of any offensive lineman at the combine. Seems like a good thing, we might not see a lot of Wilson in 2025, but could be very important after 2025.

The first four picks in the draft are all about helping Drake Maye: blind side protector, running back/blocker, pass target and first line of defense. All of these picks make a ton of sense. So did trading back twice in the third round to stock up on future picks.

“I love what the New England Patriots are doing.” Daniel Jeremiah, NFL Network.

4^th round- Craig Woodson S- California

Positionally makes sense to bring in a piece that could potentially play opposite Kyle Dugger, given the uncertain nature of Jabrill Peppers’ future. Never a fun position to draft for, but drafting a player to play in the secondary with the last name Woodson seems like a great idea! (No relation to Charles or Rod, but still!)

4^th round- Joshua Farmer DT- Florida St

Farmer projects to be your classic interior, two gapping defensive tackle, a wall used to shut down the run. With the uncertainty of Christian Barmore’s future, having depth along-side highest paid player, Milton Williams, is the responsible thing to do.

5^th Round- Bradyn Swinson Edge- LSU

The Patriots clearly had a plan in this draft: load up on offense in the early rounds and then go hog wild on defense in what Eliot Wolf called “the meat of the draft.” I always like bringing in two guys from the same program in the same draft class, especially if one is your 4^th pick overall. No idea if Swinson and Campbell are buddies or ever spoke off of the practice field, but I like the idea of them going through rookie year together.

Also, Swinson often carries a football with him in public, as a reminder to take his dreams with him. A practice that LSU teammate Jayden Daniels started in Baton Rogue and Daniels won the rookie of the year last season. So why not!?!

6^th Round- Andres Borreagales K- Miami

Because when you think of the Miami Hurricanes, you think about kickers. (Though as I say that, you usually think of opposing kickers missing kicks against them, but as long as you think of them!) The Patriots need a kicker after letting Joey Slye walk away. Mike Vrabel had the worst luck with kickers at Tennessee, let’s hope that this 6^th rounder gets him off on a good foot in Foxborough. Borregales is known to have a big leg, which is nice, if he could be accurate and clutch as well, then we’d be getting somewhere.

7^th Round- Marcus Bryant OT- Missouri

Because taking a tackle out of Missouri is something I can always get behind. They always have mountainous offensive linemen (or at least their uniforms make them look as such) but if Virginia is for lovers, then the 7^th round is for developmental tackles!

7^th Round- Julian Ashby LS- Vanderbilt

The 7^th round is also for long snappers, what does this mean for the future of Joe Cardona? Vrabel mentioned Cardona by name in the first team meeting, as the only remaining Patriot that has won a Super Bowl. Could be something to monitor in camp.

7^th Round- Mr. Irrelevant Kobee Minor CB- Memphis

I’ve always said, if you’re going to pick in the 7^th round, you might as well have the last pick. It just feels like you have a better chance of success if you are getting a player who is battling against the nickname “Mr. Irrelevant.”

Other Draft Notes:

- We’ve never seen anything like the fall of Shedeur Sanders. You can compare it to Aaron Rodgers in 2005, but he only dangled on the board for 3 hours, Sanders was floating on the Island of Elba for 3 days. Jesus died and came back in the time it took for Shedeur Sanders to get picked. (For the record, that’s two separate and individual and different mentions of Elba in one Notebook. For those keeping track.) Pundits had Sanders getting picked anywhere between #2 overall and the top of the second round. For him to fall to the 5^th round is unbelievable.

- I always thought if the Browns took Sanders, it would work out about how most Browns quarterbacks do. Now I never dared dream that:

1. They’d take him in the 5^th round

2. He’d be the 2^nd quarterback they drafted (They grabbed Dillon Gabriel in the 3^rd round)

3. He’d be their 5^th quarterback under contract. (Preceeded by Kenny Pickett, DaShaun Watson, Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and now Shedeur Sanders.) Somewhere Baker Mayfield has to be laughing himself sick and those Cleveland fans with the jersey’s that have all the names of their quarterbacks since Tim Couch on the back, are going to have to start putting names in their arm pits.

- Team whose Draft I’m secretly envious of: The New York Football Giants. They only took 6 players and I think the Jaxson Dart pick is an absolute miss, but I think Abdul Carter is going to be an All-Pro type player and Arizona St. running back Cam Skattebo was my draft crush. (I knew when we took TreVeyon Henderson, the dream of Skattebo was in life support, but still, I dreamed!) Shouts out to Giants correspondent Brian Donahue!

- As a WWE fan, I enjoyed the cameos of their superstars during the draft. The Cena recorded video was just odd, but United States women’s champion Chelsea Green did well announcing the Seahawks pick, but the MVP was Seth Rollins. Rollins is an excellent heel and being a Bears fan in Lambeau made him the ultimate bad guy. His promo before announcing the selection of BC OL Ozzy Trapilo (someone I wanted in New England) was shooting fish in a barrel for your classic heel wrestler. He couldn’t have generated more heat if he made fun of Bruno Sammartino in Little Italy.

- Green Bay was a great location for the draft. Lambeau and the surrounding area is like going back in time. But how crazy is it, that there were twice as many people in the parking lot outside of the stadium on Thursday night (estimated 205,000) than live in the entire city of Green Bay, Wisconsin (105,744).

Football man, football.