Patriots Nail First Draft of the Mike Vrabel Era

After a few extra nights of sleep on it, I still feel really, really good about this New England Patriots draft class. They succeeded in acquiring several instant-impact players who'll be contributors in a starting or rotational capacity, and they got a few tremendous value gets in the middle portion of the week.

Will Campbell, the largely presumed No. 4 pick for weeks, wasn't a shock selection by any stretch, and more or less solidifies this offensive line, but I cannot stress enough how much I liked just about everything else they did here. Here's what I have on their first seven selections, plus their pair of special teams adds.

Round 1, Pick 4 - Will Campbell, OT (LSU) (Prospect No. 7 on the Gaffney Big Board, OT2)

I won't spend too much time on Campbell (you can check out my scouting report on him here), but they made it clear to just about any insider who would listen that they loved him for months. With that said, they only penciled him in after a final visit with him in Louisiana the week before the draft, in which Campbell may or may not have shoved Mike Vrabel out of the club during a drill.

I was ultimately one of about five people on the planet who liked Kelvin Banks as this class' top tackle option, but the bottom line is the Patriots were not bluffing or putting up a fake smokescreen for the LSU product, and at the end of the day, if he was there guy, I can't fault them for making the pick. You've added a left tackle with elite character and leadership qualities, and notably upgraded the worst spot on your roster from a year ago. I wouldn't worry too much about the arm length/wingspan, but I hope Doug Marone can try to get Campbell to get his habit of over-setting in pass protection out of his system pretty quickly. If so, I'd feel even better about him.

Pick Grade: A-

Round 2, Pick 38 - TreVeyon Henderson, RB (Ohio State) (Prospect No. 41 on the Gaffney Big Board, RB3)

I wasn't expecting the Patriots to go running back as early as they did, but I also wasn't expecting TreVeyon Henderson to be available by this point, either. Either way, he's the exact kind of running back you'd want here if you're a Patriots fan. He is a fantastic running and pass-catching threat whose pass-protection ability has been lauded as top-tier for running back prospects, as in ever, with the explosiveness to be a house call any time he has the ball. Just ask the University of Texas about him.

The other part of this pick that I like is that not only will Henderson likely be a key player in this year's offense, but this also feels like an obvious message to Rhamondre Stevenson, who has a career-low four scrimmage yards per touch and a whopping seven fumbles, which equaled his career total before 2024. The way Stevenson's contract is set up, they can get out of his deal next year while only taking a relatively small 3.25 million dollar deal cap hit, so that's why this feels the way it does. Ideally, this tandem can turn into a Kamara-Ingram or Gibbs-Montgomery duo from a production standpoint. Still, independent of Stevenson, Henderson is the type of playmaker any team would kill to add to an ascending offense. I wouldn't have blamed them for going with Donovan Ezeiruaku here, but I'm expecting good things from the Ohio State product immediately.

Pick Grade: A

Round 3, Pick 69 - Kyle Williams, WR (Washington State)

Kyle Williams was someone Patriots fans naturally got interested in after his top-30 visit in late March, if they hadn't been already, and sure enough, they liked him enough to take him in the top 70. He missed the cut on my Top 75 but would've almost certainly been in that next group of 10, landing himself as my WR10 (excluding Travis Hunter) in this class.

While Williams isn't your typical X-Receiver at 5'10.5" and 190 lbs, he spent three out of every four snaps out wide in college and has the speed and separation ability you'd ideally be looking for. Williams can also help out with the alarming lack of YAC ability, as the Patriots showed off last year. His 590 yards after the catch were fourth among FBS receivers, more than Pop Douglas and Kayshon Boutte combined last year.

I don't blame anyone who's will has been broken due to past receiver draft picks, but outside of the fact he's unlikely to be a full-time X option at his size right away, I don't know how you couldn't be at least a little excited about a guy who has excellent hands, along with really good separation, YAC, and deep ball tracking ability. I had Iowa State pass-catcher Jaylin Noel, and then Utah State's Jalen Royals ranked higher than Williams. Still, I think he was ultimately a better fit than the former, whom they did visit with, and more interested in Williams than the latter. Call me cautiously optimistic here since this is the Patriots, after all, new regime or not.

Pick Grade: A-

Round 3, Pick 95 - Jared Wilson, IOL (Georgia) (Prospect No. 75 on the Gaffney Big Board, IOL7/OC1)

Ok, THIS was the best pick the Patriots made last week. Trading down twice and still ending up with this draft's best center in Jared Wilson was some great work by Eliot Wolf to get an idea of how things would fall. Based on the rumor that their real target in round two was Jonah Saivainnea, whom the Dolphins jumped them for, I wasn't shocked over the Patriots going with an interior lineman this high. Wilson only has one year of full-time starting experience but is a freak athlete for a center, touting a 99th percentile 40-yard dash time and a 9.84 RAS score, with a similar build to Broncos' All-Pro guard Quinn Meinerz.

The interesting part of this pick is that he's not a lock to start this year with Garrett Bradbury here, but Greg Bedard brought up an interesting idea on Felger and Mazz yesterday, playing him at left guard this year. Given how just about anyone from a year ago is expendable, even Joe Cardona, I could see more crazy things happening than the Patriots opting to cut bait with Cole Strange to facilitate that. Not a finished product by any means, which is why he was still available at 95, but the best football for the 21 (soon to be 22) year-old Bulldog is a way out. Huge fan of this one

Pick Grade: A+

Round 4, Pick 106 - Craig Woodson, SAF (Cal-Berkley)

Woodson was the first pick the Patriots made that I wasn't super familiar with, but exec Ryan Cowden praised his leadership and communications skills after he was selected, and his athletic profile is nothing to scoff at. That said, while Woodson was a multi-purpose safety at Cal with great tackling ability and willingness to play special teams, I don't think he's the prototypical true full-time free/single high safety I would've wanted. It also sounds like he would've been selected this round anyway, so if they wanted him that bad, I can live with the reach here, but this is probably the low point of this draft, and the crazy thing is it's not a terrible pick by any means.

Pick Grade: C-

Round 4, Pick 137 - Joshua Farmer, IDL (Florida State)

Can never have too much DL depth, and adding the consensus 89th prospect in this draft at the tail end of the fourth round was another excellent get for the Patriots. Joshua Farmer is an interior pass rusher with many of the traits you're looking for, in that he gets off the snap very well, can win with both finesse and power, and has a ton of natural leverage to play off of. Pad level has been something brought up that he could be better with, but as someone who's going to be a rotational piece behind Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, I love this pick. Additionally, this is another guy the Patriots brought in on a top-30 visit, and is back with DLine coach Clinton McMillan, who recruited him out of high school, and has a great relationship with him.

Pick Grade: A

Round 4, Pick 146 - Bradyn Swinson, EDGE (LSU)

While not a top 75 guy for me (68th consensus prospect), getting Bradyn Swinson almost outside the top 150 is preposterous value. He was one of the most efficient pass rushers in this class, racking up a 30% pass rush win rate on true pass rush sets, which was just higher than Abdul Carter. He stands to be a bit better against the run, but seeing as you have Anfernee Jennings and Harold Landry, if Swinson is purely a pass rush option right away, I don't see that as any issue. Lots of tools in the bag, rushing the passer, that could make him an immediate threat.

Pick Grade: A+

Special Teamers

With how hit-and-miss Joey Slye was in 2024, my only surprise is that the Patriots didn't go for a kicker sooner than they did. Luckily, they managed to get Andreas "Auroua" Borragales just before the Ravens would've almost certainly nabbed him just a few picks later. In 2024, the Venezuelan's lone miss on 19 field goal tries was a 45-yarder he pushed wide right from the left hash, but was 18/19 for the season, is 74/86 lifetime, 7/10 from 50 plus, and has only one career extra point miss. To be frank, I don't care about the whole "cold weather kicker" thing since Justin Rohrwasser and Chad Ryland did such bang-up jobs, so that'll definitely be something Borragales will have to adapt to, but I don't think it's a massive deal.

Sadly, many people outed themselves as long-snapper non-enjoyers/respecters this draft, and quite frankly, that's shameful. Julian Ashby is now not even the heir apparent, but the present for the Patriots after Joe Cardona's stint with the team ended earlier this week, meaning no players remain from the 2018 Super Bowl team. As far as Ashby goes, it's a very interesting story. As a freshman, he was a high school quarterback who gave long snapping a shot to get on his school's varsity team as a sophomore. Sure enough, he ends up at Vanderbilt and now the Patriots. I for one am reasonable and have zero issue with the Patriots using pick, *checks notes*, 251 to get a long snapper and not risk him going elsewhere as a UDFA.

Grade: B

Total Draft Grade: A

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