The Patriots were not expected to be among the teams to make any shocking moves during the 2025 NFL Draft, especially after the Jaguars seemed to accomplish that early by trading up with the Browns for the No. 2 pick to take Travis Hunter. For the most part, that remained true until New England made a surprising move with pick No. 38, bypassing wide receivers for a game-changing running back.
After being in line to take the best backfield weapon in Round 1 with Ashton Jeanty, the Patriots decided not to wait much longer to take their own running back by selecting Ohio State's TreVeyon Henderson.
The pick was initially met with excitement, lined with skepticism, given how deep the running back class is said to be this year, and it not being a position the Patriots needed to address as soon as the second round. However, Henderson's resume speaks for itself, and he will inevitably be an impressive addition to the offense for Drake Maye to work with.
Despite that, adding a running back in such a high round still has some scratching their heads. Oddly enough, though, Patriots fans weren't the only ones surprised about the pick. It goes beyond analysts who didn't have them taking a running back until much later.
The Patriots didn't show much interest in TreVeyon Henderson prior to drafting him
Although the Patriots were expected to address the running back room at some point during the draft, taking one of the best of the class in the second round was not on anyone's radar. In fact, the Patriots showed so little interest in Henderson that even he was surprised that they chose him at No. 38, as he shared with New England reporters shortly after hearing his name called.
Henderson: “I was shocked. I was definitely shocked.” https://t.co/UrhM9wAW3V
— Andrew Callahan (@_AndrewCallahan) April 26, 2025
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It is interesting to hear that there wasn't more work done on Henderson and could mean that the new regime decided to go with their new draft philosophy that they seemed to abandon in the first round which was taking the best player available.
There's a fair argument to suggest that Henderson fits that bill, which could explain why they hadn't interacted with him much during the pre-draft process. Some analysts felt he would have gone higher in the draft, maybe even in the first round, so it makes sense that the Patriots didn't have him entirely on their radar.
No matter what, he is a fantastic addition to the roster, and he shared his excitement to join the team, which is all that matters, even if the Patriots were not a team he expected to be a part of.