Lots of excellent in-depth draft analysis has been and will continue to be done by technical experts but this will be an overview of the Patriots’ draft and its ultimate value. This space had advocated strongly for Trevor Penning or Jameson Williams as the team’s top pick. Williams went far too early for them. Penning, however, only went two picks above their pick at No. 21. They absolutely should have traded up to snag this immediate and likely 10-year starter.
Penning would have immediately transformed their offensive line into the team’s most important unit. He’s big, strong, tough, and mean. Those are characteristics the team is lacking on both lines. They whiffed on it.
After that poor decision, the Patriots actually went in the right direction and traded down to pick up a later first and two additional picks. That’s sound business. In fact, had they traded down once again out of the first, that would have been applauded, too. But they didn’t and things went downhill from there.
Where the Patriots went wrong in the 2022 NFL Draft
A term in boxing to describe a solid attribute of a fighter is reach. Having long arms to hit your opponent before he hits you is a real attribute. Reach in boxing is good. Reaching in the NFL draft for players is not so good. For their first two picks, the Patriots reached way too far for players who would very likely have been available much later.
That’s a major flaw they have been prone to in the past 22 years, and they went back to the future in 2022. In so doing, they proved that the great 2021 draft may be an aberration, as Patriots owner Robert Kraft and fans had hoped it wouldn’t be.
Patriots finish with the #1 (Thornton), #5 (Strange), and #15 (J Jones) biggest reaches in the draft, comparing actual pick vs consensus pick rank. https://t.co/EOD2JmPX8h
— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) May 1, 2022
All the excuses that the team makes about the player maybe not being available later is smoke screening for the obvious. The Patriots’ first two picks were huge reaches. When the consensus of draft-savvy experts is that these players — Cole Strange, the guard/center from Chattanooga in the first round and speedy wide receiver Tyquan Thornton from Baylor — could have been had significantly later in the draft, it’s an issue and it costs the team’s overall effort and grade substantially.
These players may turn out fine, but the opportunity cost is still great. There were much better players available at those lofty picks, and the players they did take could quite likely have been drafted by the Patriots later on. That’s a big issue and it’s not going away. As they have on numerous occasions in the past, they overvalued these players and it cost them and their draft capital big time.
Another major issue is what the team didn’t do. They didn’t address offensive tackle until the seventh round. That was also a huge miscue. The tackle they finally took then, Michigan’s Andrew Stueber, may be a solid player (as may be their sixth-round pick, guard Chasen Hines of LSU). Yet they needed a top-quality offensive tackle earlier and they punted (sorry, bad pun).
The Patriots’ failure to select any linebackers in 2022 NFL Draft will be costly
Another major issue was the Patriots’ failure to draft any linebackers whatsoever. The team’s linebacking crew in 2021 was slow, vulnerable, and underperforming, with the exception of Kyle Van Noy. Van Noy had a solid, if unspectacular season, and yet was inexplicably released in another head-scratching personnel move.
The Patriots have had chances to draft every one of this year's top linebacker prospects. They've taken none.
— NESN (@NESN) April 30, 2022
Why? Because they're "really excited" about their current group, including one particular 2021 draftee. https://t.co/BqkI1Gwy2N
Director of Player Personnel Matt Groh thinks the linebacking crew is just fine as it is. It’s not. They whiffed completely in not adding any of the top-quality linebackers who were available to them in the draft on a couple of occasions. They went elsewhere and failed to address that need at all.
That was a strategic error, and they will pay the price in the 2022 season because of it.
Others have covered different aspects of the draft in detail in fine fettle. This highlighted just a few overarching issues that derailed the Patriots’ draft in a situation where they had a real opportunity to improve the team. They may have improved somewhat, but not enough to close the chasm that exists between them and the Division-winning and high-flying Buffalo Bills.
2022 New England Patriots’ Final Draft Grade
The Patriots had an opportunity to close that chasm with a home run draft. While they didn’t strike out by any means, their singles failed to narrow the gap in any truly significant way.
They did add a speedy wide receiver and running back, and drafted two smaller cornerbacks. These were solid but not gap-closing additions (and, it should be noted that CB Jack Jones comes with several classic Patriots red flags, including minor criminal mischief, leaving USC after being ruled academically ineligible, and spending time at a JUCO before excelling at ASU).
Yet the Patriots also spent (or wasted) picks on a fourth-round backup quarterback and a second running back, picks that could have been better utilized on positions of more critical need.
For these reasons, they get an overall C- grade for the 2022 NFL Draft. How do you feel the team graded out?
Sean McVay, Les Snead reaction to Patriots’ Cole Strange pick says it all
Rams head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead's reaction to the Patriots' Cole Strange pick at No. 29 overall said it all.