Drama Aside, Did the Patriots Nail the 2026 Draft?

What a difference a year makes. For the first time in three years, the Patriots didn't have a top five pick.

It wasn't as easy, as the last two years, for media draftniks to agree on which player the Patriots were going to take in the first round.

But nobody in New England is complaining.

The Patriots had the 31st pick overall thanks to a surprise Super Bowl run that no one saw coming.

The last two years were obvious rebuild years. Especially last year. Mike Vrabel entered his first year as head coach and he was inheriting a mess created by Bill Belichick and flamed by Jerod Mayo.

Vrabel looked around the kitchen and all the cupboards were bare to the bone.

All the Patriots needed to do was pick the best player available. Needs? Every position was a need. They even drafted a kicker and a long snapper.

So did Vrabel and Wolf consider last year an aberration? Did their success last year change their long-term plans? Do they still consider this season as Year Two of a "rebuild" or do they shift gears and switch to "win-now" mode?

Round 1, Pick 28: Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah

Size: 6-foot-6, 313 pounds

Key note: Did not give up a sack in the 2025 season and has started every game the last two years at left tackle.

My reaction: The Patriots traded up three picks in order to not miss out on the run of offensive tackles. Lomu was the seventh and final offensive tackle taken in the first round. Starting right tackle Morgan Moses has two years left on his contract, but it is 35 years old. It is incumbent on the Patriots developing someone now in order to take over for Moses when the time comes.

My question: Will Lomu be taking over for Moses—or might he challenge for the left tackle starting job if Will Campbell struggles again like he did during the playoffs?

There—I said it.

I have taken heat—and abuse—on social media every time I even hint at moving Campbell to left guard. I stand by my opinion that Campbell has the potential to be a Hall-of-Fame left guard, ala John Hannah. I think is ceiling at left tackle might be borderline All-Pro. That's nothing to sneeze at, but it's also not dominant.

Lomu is still a bit developmental. He might benefit from a "red shirt" year to work on his strength and get meaner (and stop dancing). He will be starting at one of the tackle positions in 2027, if not sooner.

Grade: A

Round 2, Pick 55: Gabe Jacas, EDGE, Illinois

Size: 6-foot-4, 261 pounds

Career stats: 183 tackles, 27 sacks, 35.5 tackles for loss, 7 forced fumbles in 50 games.

My reaction: Jacas is my favorite pick of the draft for New England. The Patriots had one of the weakest pass rushes in the NFL last year. Then they lost one of their best pass rushers, K'Lavon Chaisson, to free agency.

Getting someone who can rush the quarterback was a must. Scouts rave about his "motor" and his tenacity. He has a wrestling background so he understands the importance of leverage and hand-fighting. And he is a competitor.

Grade: A

Round 3, Pick 95: Eli Raridon, TE, Notre Dame

Size: 6-foot-6, 245 pounds

Key note: Tore his left ACL in both 2021 and 2022.

My reaction: The situation here was very similar to the first round. Drafting an athletic pass-catching tight end was the final major need the Patriots had left to address.

New England again found themselves—following a run on tight ends—with one last player left at the position before a dramatic drop off to the next tier.

The Patriots were, again, fortunate that the final top tier player they had to pick was one who should have gone ahead of two or three others from his position that had been drafted.

Like Lomu, Raridon needs to add more strength and weight. He also needs to attend some Gronkowski "bouncer" classes, get a mean streak, and learn to kick guys "out of the club."

But he has a huge catch radius and will be a nice, big target for Drake Maye over the middle. I'm not worried about the ACL injuries. He has played every game the last two seasons. Notre Dame has a reputation for producing productive tight ends.

Grade: B

Round 5, Pick 171: Karon Prunty, CB, Wake Forest

Size: 6'2", 192 pounds

Career stats: 166 tackles, 7 interceptions, 30 passes defensed in 55 starts.

My reaction: This is the exact same spot I was critical of in last year's Patriots' draft. In 2025, New England's fourth pick after three predictable picks was safety Craig Woodson. It had people scratching their heads. The belief was Woodson was taken about two rounds too soon. He ended up being New England's most productive rookie.

If people thought Woodson was taken one or two rounds too early, Prunty was #512 on the consensus draft board.

Do the math. 512 divided by 32 teams—that would be about eleven rounds too soon.

You'll be hard-pressed to find Punty's name on many scouting sites. NFL.com has nothing on him.

But there is a lot there to like here. Prunty has a rare combination of size, speed, and football IQ. He stands at 6'2" and runs a 4.45 second forty-yard dash (he wasn't invited to the Combine).

I have to give Wolf the benefit of the doubt on this one. I still think Wolf could have got this guy much later in the draft, but maybe he had inside information.

I had my sights set on safety VJ Payne with this pick—and the next two picks, as it turned out. Payne was taken in the 7th round by the Jets with the 228th pick.

It is notable that this was the first pick with Vrabel not being present, in person, in the Patriots' draft room. He told the media earlier in the week he would not be present for Day Three of the draft in order to be with his family.

Grade: C

Round 6, Pick 196: Dametrious Crownover, OT, Texas A&M

Size: 6-foot-7, 319 pounds

Key note: Started at right tackle and helped Texas A&M’s run game rank among the better units in the SEC.

My reaction: No offense to Will Campbell, but I love these huge tackles. Campbell may only be a couple inches shorter than Lomu and Crownover, but my eyes tell me different. Crownover is raw, but, damn, there is a lot to work with.

Unlike Campbell, you won't hear any ridiculing the length of Crownover's arms. While Campbell's arms measured in at 32 ⅝." Crownover's arms are almost three inches longer—35 ⅜"!

Grade: B+

Round 6, Pick 212: Namdi Obiazor, LB, TCU

Size: 6-foot-3, 230 pounds

Career stats: 302 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, 3 interceptions.

My reaction: I have to hand it to Eliot Wolf and Mike Vrabel. They have a "type" of player they look for at every position.

The Patriots hope Obiazor becomes what Belichick hoped Marte Mapu would become. It looks like Obiazor may have hit his ceiling as a defensive player, but he could make the team as a special-teamer.

Grade: C+

Round 7, Pick 234: Behren Morton, QB, Texas Tech

Size: 6-foot-2, 210 pounds

2025 stats: 2,780 passing yards, 22 TD, 6 INT, 66.0 completion percentage.

My reaction: Hey, the Patriots need a third quarterback to bring to camp. I have heard Morton compared to Bailey Zappe.

Enough said.

Grade: D

Round 7, Pick 245: Jam Miller, RB, Alabama

Size: 5-foot-10, 209 pounds

2025 stats: 504 rushing yards, 3 TD.

My reaction: Again, Wolf and Vrabel have a "type" when it comes to choosing a running back. Miller is a "bowling ball" type running back who won't get tackled behind the line of scrimmage much. He also won't explode for big runs much. He will be competing for the third running back position, but I am rooting for Lan Larison to win that job.

Grade: C-

Round 7, Pick 247: Quintayvious Hutchins, EDGE/LB, Boston College

Size: 6-foot-3, 233 pounds

Key note: Local kid—played for Bill O'Brien at Boston College.

My reaction: Hutchins is a late seventh-round pick so "it is what it is." He is undersized to compete at the NFL level as an EDGE. He has as much of a chance at making the team as any undrafted player.

Grade: C-

Overall Draft Grade: B

This was widely considered a weak draft, overall. There won't be many teams, if any—except for the Jaguars and Rams—that will look back and say, "Boy, instead of N'Keal Harry we could have had Deebo Samuel, D.K. Metcalf, or A.J. Brown."

Ah, speaking of A.J. Brown.

The biggest news of the draft for Patriots' fans may have been the selection of wide receiver Makai Lemon in the first round by … the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles' pick comes on the heels of Philadelphia trading with the Green Bay Packers for wide receiver Dontayvion Wicks.

The Patriots did not draft a wide receiver.

They had their opportunities. Omar Cooper Jr. and Denzel Boston were still on the board in the first round when the Patriots traded up to draft Lomu.

Connect the dots.

One last note on the look of the future New England wide receiver room.

Although the Patriots did not draft a wide receiver, they did sign an undrafted free agent who is already causing a lot of buzz—similar to the hype UDFA wide receiver Efton Chism did last year at this time.

The player is Kyle Dixon. The Patriots signed him to a $252,000 guaranteed contract—a massive commitment to an undrafted player.

I have heard Dixon compared to Puka Nacua.

I know, I know—I have the same question as you. Why wasn't he drafted, and drafted much earlier, then? 

The biggest reason is he didn't  play for an NCAA school. He played at the NAIA level—an independent governing body for college sports that primarily serves smaller institutions.

Dixon played for Culver-Stockton College. But he has tremendous size (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) to go along with an elite 40.5-inch vertical jump.

Take it for what it's worth, but he led the NAIA, in 2025, with 1,282 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns. And the touchdowns weren't a fluke. He had 12 touchdowns the year before, too.