Almost one month after the 2022 NFL Draft, I have had enough time to reflect on the Patriots selections. The ten picks made by Bill Belichick and the New England front office came as a surprise to numbers of fans, including myself. Although many analysts have given the Patriots poor post-draft rankings, including many C’s and D’s, I have more confidence in this draft class than in any other class since 2000, and you should too. 

PSA

Going into draft night, I had no confidence in the front office to draft a linebacker in the first round. Even though every single mock draft I looked at had the Patriots taking Nakobe Dean or Devin Lloyd, there was no reason to believe them. The linebacker play in 2021 for New England was poor, but the depth at the position is not. Unfortunately (and fortunately), Donta Hightower, one of the best Patriots in the 2010s, won’t be returning after a lackluster season. Behind him are linebackers that were hidden on the IR last year for none of the league to see. These players, including Anfernee Jennings, Cameron McGrone, and Raekwon McMillan are all explosive and fast to the ball, a trait that New England backers have lacked. While many of you may have been disappointed that no linebackers were drafted, there is no reason to be. Linebacker was not a position that needed to be addressed in the draft. 

Round 1

Our new starting guard out of University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is my favorite pick because he pisses the entire fanbase off. Seeing casual Patriots fans post a five-paragraph-long rant on Instagram is the highlight of draft night. I only enjoy it because I expect Belichick to make a controversial selection. Very few people had Cole Strange going in the first round, but he wasn’t going to last much longer. If we hadn’t pulled the trigger early, I firmly believe that the 2022 season would be a failure. In the offseason, Belichick traded away a guard who was top five in the league (Shaq Mason) for just a fifth-round pick. After that, an offensive guard had been on my wish list. While my dream wasn’t to pick someone out of an FCS (Football Conference Subdivision) school, it will have to do. At 6’5” and 307 pounds, Strange is laterally agile and has deceiving power that allows him to stun defenders who are both run defending and pass rushing. He may not look big, but he plays double his size and had great success in the southern conference of the FCS. Without a proven guard like Strange, the Patriots’s success in their run-heavy scheme would plummet, and good production from running backs would be an issue. 

Round 2

Bill Belichick did something that he never does: getting what the majority of his fanbase wanted. Former Baylor Bear Tyquan Thornton is a tall, skinny, and twitchy receiver with track-level speed. Over the past five years, us fans have complained about a lack of speed on the offensive side of the ball. With the game getting faster, this was a legit concern after the 2021 season. New England is known to bring in route technicians and possession catchers, but never someone with the burners Thornton has. His 4.28 40-yard dash (fastest WR time) is eye candy to fans who longed for a speedy receiver, myself included. My only issues are Thornton’s history of drops and the fact that he is known to have small hands. He commonly tries to catch the ball with his chest leading to big-time drops down the field. If that concerns the Patriots coaches as well, it may lead to them trying to make him into a slot receiver, something that they have done and failed at many times. I hope whoever is running the offense allows Thornton to achieve his full potential, which is making cornerbacks burnt toast, not catching checkdowns over the middle. 

Round 3

With the departure of J.C. Jackson, the Patriots definitely should have addressed the cornerback issue much earlier in the draft, either by trading up or selecting someone at twenty-one. There were plenty of outside corners available in the first and second round, yet Belichick decided to hold off. However, this may have been a blessing in disguise, as New England ended up with one of the most exciting players in college football. Marcus Jones out of UHouston is quick on his feet and has incredible downfield speed. Despite being undersized at 5’8” and 174 pounds, he can match up well with the majority of receivers. But the real reason that the Patriots drafted Jones was because of his tenacious and fundamental tackling ability. If you haven’t noticed, the Patriots’ tackling in the secondary has been one of the most frustrating things to watch in the past ten years. I have always complained about our cornerbacks not being able to bring the ball carrier to the ground, allowing for three to five extra yards. Jones can hopefully put an end to this, as he is known to attack the ball and gain great leverage on his tackles. Not to mention, Jones also racked up over 2,000 return yards between his four seasons at Houston and Troy. He will be able to contribute right away on special teams, as former all-pro return man Gunner Olszewski signed with the Steelers in the offseason. Jones’s small frame should not scare you; instead, we should be grateful that we ended up with him in the 3rd round. 

Round 4

The Patriots went cornerback again with their first pick of the fourth round. Immediately after the draft, Jack Jones out of Arizona State was quickly overshadowed by the flashy highlight tape of Marcus Jones. Despite not being on Sportscenter for his 100+ yard kickoff returns, Jack Jones is a solid and aggressive football player. Slightly bigger than Marcus at 5’10” and 175 lbs, Jones has the ability to play the outside corner position as well as play in the slot. With quick feet and loose hips, Jack Jones runs effortlessly with receivers, something that the New England secondary couldn’t do, considering that they couldn’t touch Bills backup receiver Isaiah McKenzie (11-125-1) in week 16. Not only can Jones keep pace with receivers, but he has elite skill when high-pointing the ball in the air, which the Patriots defense longs for without J.C. Jackson. While Jones may not have the best school smarts (he was dismissed from USC for bad grades) or even the best knowledge off the field (he was arrested and charged with commercial burglary and felony conspiracy to commit a crime after breaking into a Panda Express in June 2018), his on-field intelligence is impressive, as he makes quick reads—and good ones too. Jack Jones is a name I’m rooting for this year, and he has a good shot to make the 53-man roster. Not to mention, he completes the Jones Trilogy in the secondary (Jack, Jonathan, and Marcus).

Six picks later, New England made another unpopular choice by picking South Dakota State running back Pierre Strong. But before you all go on a rant about how our depth at running back is great and we don’t need another, let me list some of Strong’s accomplishments in college:

• First Team FCS All-American (2021)

• 3 Time First Team All-MVFC (2019-2021)

• MVFC Freshman of the Year (2018)

• Led All of College Football in rushing yards since 2018 (4,525)

• 7.2 yards per carry over 4 years

Change your mind yet? If not, then you should. While the Pats may have great running backs right now, that can change over the course of a year. The RB position is the least durable of them all, so it is never bad to have enough of them. With Damien Harris’s contract year coming up, it is necessary to build for the future. Also, Strong ran the fastest 40 yard dash for his position, clocking in at 4.37 seconds. Another great value pick for New England. 

At pick 137, the Patriots shocked whoever was watching the draft at that point (me) and took Bailey Zappe, the greatest quarterback ever from Western Kentucky. While you may think that isn’t impressive, Zappe led all of college football with 5967 yards and 62 touchdowns. When the pick was announced, I hollered (not exaggerating). Even though Zappe won’t play behind Mac Jones, NE was lacking another QB. After recently trading away future superstar Jarrett Stidham (joke), the pick makes perfect sense: the ancient Brian Hoyer is now more of a QB coach than backup, and Zappe has lots of talent for the job. With great accuracy throwing short, medium, and long balls, Zappe will flourish in New England’s system and hopefully will get opportunities elsewhere later in his career. Who knows, maybe he will come in and replace Mac Jones like Tom Brady replaced Bledsoe. 

Round 6 

Kevin Harris out of South Carolina is a hard-nosed running back who fights for every inch. He also led the SEC in rushing touchdowns in 2020 with fifteen of them. At 5’11” and 221 pounds, Harris is surprisingly elusive and has great lateral quickness. That being said, I was and still am unsure of this pick. While I did say previously that it’s not bad to have a lot of running backs, there were many other options to fill positions in need. One issue that sticks out to me is Harris’s lack of ball-catching skill, which is a key component of New England's system. He dropped seven out of forty-eight catchable passes in his career. And yes, bringing in players to compete at training camp isn’t horrible, but why not bring in a linebacker or another position with little depth? Harris may have been the best player available, but Belichick made a questionable decision.

The Pats went into the depths of college football to nab Sam Roberts, a defensive tackle from Northwest Missouri State University. Personally, I didn’t know that was a real college and I’m assuming you didn’t either. However, Roberts won the defensive player of the year for both division two and three schools. At 6’5” and 292 pounds, he can play down the defensive line whether that is in a 1, 3, or 5 tech (nose tackle, defensive tackle, or end). He has a quick first step and can fill gaps fast. When rushing the passer, Roberts uses power moves to his advantage with an effective rip move. His only outstanding issue is playing too high and getting stood up by linemen. If Roberts can find a lower position of attack, he may be able to translate his game to the NFL. Always trust Belichick in division two; we know what happened last time (Kyle Dugger). 

At pick 210 (round 6) and 245 (round 7), the Patriots took two developmental offensive linemen to fill the roster. Both Chasen Hines (IOL) out of LSU and Andrew Stueber (T) from Michigan are pure power offensive linemen with great strengths in the run game. With limited lateral speed due to their size, both have flaws in pass protection against speed rushers. Stueber could look to move to guard in the NFL to avoid getting beaten on the outside. 6th- and 7th-round picks aren’t usually exciting, but both Hines and Stueber had great success in college, and could possibly be sleeper picks that we look back on in the future. 

Outlook

The 2022 draft class should bring nothing but excitement for us Patriots fans. Yes, some of the picks were a bit strange (pun intended), but many of Bill Belichick’s most unpopular picks panned out well. With ten rookies on the roster along with some undrafted signees, there will be lots of competition in the offseason between the younger guys and the veterans. For the first time in a while, New England took a lot of risks with their first couple of picks. All we can do is hope that they don’t turn out like N’Keal Harry.