Grading The 2024 New England Patriots Draft

Coming into this weekend, what the Patriots were able to do this weekend would play a heavy hand in dictating the future of the franchise - for better or for worse.

The post-Tom Brady era has been pretty ugly. The Patriots have missed the playoffs in three of the last four seasons. The Bill Belichick regime has been toppled, and only the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals have a worse record than New England over the past two seasons. Would the Patriots be able to turn things around? Or are New England fans destined for things to get worse before they get better?

It was also the first draft of the post-Bill Belichick era, with many lingering questions about how de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and the new brain trust would approach the draft. The team held their highest draft pick in over three decades, and were in dire need of resetting the quarterback position. Would we see JUCO long snappers, or would the names read on-stage in Detroit perhaps be a slightly more familiar to the fanbase?

Entering the draft, there were a lot of questions. Would New England trade down from the third overall pick? What would that trade package look like? What quarterback were they most enamored with? Did the needs that the front office identified match the upgrades that the fanbase also desired? All of those questions have been answered. The question that hasn't been answered: Are these kids any good? Only time will tell.

Across the three days of the 2024 NFL Draft, New England made eight selections. Here are the eight new Patriots after the conclusion of the 2024 NFL Draft, and the grades for each respective pick.

Overall Draft Grade: B+

1. First Round (3rd Overall): Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina

The headliner of New England's 2024 draft class, the Patriots identified their quarterback of the future when they selected Drake Maye with the third overall pick.

Grade: A

The Patriots were in desperate need of a franchise quarterback after whiffing on Mac Jones with the 15th overall pick in 2020. Jones was shipped to the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason for only a sixth-round pick, leaving New England with veteran Jacoby Brissett, Bailey Zappe, and Nathan Rourke as the quarterbacks on the roster. It was not exactly a murderer's row of a quarterback room going forward.

Quarterback is the most important position in sports, and checking the box at that position is essential to the Patriots' rebuild. Drafting a position other than quarterback in the first round should have been a fireable offense for Eliot Wolf.

Maye is a prime candidate to redshirt for a season and develop behind the scenes, which will likely be the case after New England reunited with Brissett in free agency.

Ultimately, the Patriots didn't overthink the pick and tried to get cute (i.e. over-drafting J.J. McCarthy at three). They set a firm trade value for the third overall pick and held their ground when no team met that value. They got a promising prospect and arguably the second-best QB in the draft, while also having the infrastructure in place to allow Maye to sit for a season after signing Brissett. It's an A.

2. Second Round (37th Overall): Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, Washington

Wide receiver was a position of desperate need for the New England Patriots heading into the offseason, and New England continues to supplement the position through the draft. The entire Patriots 2023 receiving room combined for 175 receptions, 1,909 yards, and 5 touchdowns.

Grade: B+

The Patriots drafted Polk after trading down with the Los Angeles Chargers in the second round. Looking back on how the trade down with the Chargers ultimately played out, Patriots fans should have a pretty good feeling about how things unfolded.

Many Patriots fans were eyeing a wide receiver at 34 heading into the draft, but a record-tying seven wideouts went in the first round of the draft, diluting the WR draft board when it was New England's turn to pick. Before the draft kicked off, it seemed like the Patriots would feasibly have their choice of one of the bigger wide receiver names (i.e. Ladd McConkey, Adonai Mitchell, Xavier Worthy, Xavier Legette, or Keon Coleman) at the top of the second, but they opted to go with Polk when all of those names but Mitchell were off the board.

Polk started his collegiate career at Texas Tech before transferring to Washington, where he thrived in Kalen DeBoer's air raid offense. In his 2023 season with the Huskies, Polk hauled in 69 passes for 1,159 yards and 9 touchdowns. Polk will be reunited with New England wide receiver coach Tyler Hughes, who was an offensive analyst with Washington last season.

New England had reportedly explored trading into the back end of the first round to get one of those aforementioned receivers, and passed on Ladd McConkey due to injury concerns and Adonai Mitchell likely due to the same character concerns expressed by other teams. Will that prove to have been the right move, should they have been more aggressive in trying to trade up? Well, time will tell. That's the beauty of the draft.

3. Third Round (68th Overall): Caedan Wallace, OT, Penn State

The Patriots addressed a glaring need in the third round, adding a young offensive tackle to their o-line unit that was rightfully much maligned in 2023.

With the 68th overall pick, New England selected Caedan Wallace, an OT from Penn State.

Grade: B

New England's intentionality in building the offensive side of the ball through the first four rounds is a welcome development, as that side of the ball largely held the team back in 2023 while the defense put in some impressive performances. Putting Drake Maye in a position to succeed is also pivotal, especially in light of the failed Mac Jones experiment.

Wallace made all 40 of his starts for the Nittany Lions at right tackle, including the 2023 season where he was tabbed as an honorable mention All-Big Ten. He only allowed one sack in his 13 starts last season.

Michael Onwenu just got paid and is almost assuredly the Week 1 starter at right tackle, so it is reasonable to suggest that New England might be looking to shift Wallace to the blindside. The Patriots also signed Chukwuma Okorafor from the Pittsburgh Steelers in the offseason, and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf has been on record saying that Okorafor would be the starting left tackle if the season started tomorrow. Okorafor has not appeared in a single NFL game at LT.

If New England landed a natural left tackle here, it would definitely grade higher. Maybe Wallace does make a seamless transition to the position (if that is even the Patriots' goal), but a player like Patrick Paul, who went 55th, would've been a great get.

4. Fourth Round (103rd Overall): Layden Robinson, G, Texas A&M

With their own pick at the top of the fourth round, the Patriots took their second straight offensive lineman, this time moving to the interior with guard Layden Robinson out of Texas A&M.

Grade: B-

This grade is less of a reflection on Layden Robinson and more of a frustration that the Patriots have to continue to return to the well at the position despite drafting two offensive guards in last year's draft and using a first-rounder on guard Cole Strange in the 2022 draft. New England's decision to draft Robinson insinuates that the team doesn't have a ton of faith in that trio (more specifically, their picks of Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sow in 2023). Albeit this is a new regime in the post-Belichick, how many guards do you have to draft to get it right?

CBS Sports had Robinson ranked as their 142-best prospect (14th IOL), while ESPN had the lineman as their 197th-best (12th IOL).

There are legitimate reasons to like Robinson's game. He earned two All-SEC nods during his time in College Station and was a three-year starter for the Aggies. In 401 pass block snaps in 2023, Robinson only allowed one sack. That's impressive stuff.

5. Fourth Round (110th Overall): Javon Baker, WR, UCF

The Patriots doubled up on the wide receiver position here in the fourth round after selecting Ja'Lynn Polk in the second. Receiver was a primary position of need coming into the draft, and many Pats fans were looking for the team to double up on wideouts. Well, luckily the front office appears to be in agreement.

Grade: A

A 6'2", 208-pound receiver, Baker began his career at Alabama before transferring to UCF, where his production absolutely exploded. In his two years with the Knights, Baker caught 108 passes for 1,935 yards and 12 touchdowns He was named first-team All-Big 12 during UCF's first season in the conference.

Ranked as ESPN's 16th-best receiver and 87th overall prospect, New England got themselves a little bit of a steal in the fourth round. Interestingly, new quarterback Drake Maye and Javon Baker have history, as Maye was initially committed to Alabama out of high school before flipping to UNC. During that time, Maye and Baker worked together.

"When Drake Maye was committed to ‘Bama at first, we always used to practice and throw around. Me and Drake Maye got a connection going on. Drake Maye… in my opinion, the best quarterback in this draft."

Javon Baker

Maye reached out when Baker was drafted, and the pair are apparently already ready to get to work. Baker has also not exactly shown a lack of self-confidence since being drafted by New England, dropping one of the more memorable quotes in recent draft memory.

6. Sixth Round (180th Overall): Marcellas Dial, CB, South Carolina

After the Patriots took a cornerback in the first round last season, they wait until the sixth round this year to bring in more young talent at the position.

Grade: C+

Not an overwhelmingly familiar name heading into the draft, Dial spent two years at JUCO Georgia Military College, including a COVID-canceled 2020 season, before transferring to South Carolina, where he spent three seasons.

Dial was the 44th-ranked cornerback and 320th-ranked overall prospect, per ESPN. The South Carolina native had pre-draft visits with three different teams, including the Patriots. Apparently, New England liked what they saw during that visit.

Dial (23) will join a Patriots cornerback group that is incredibly young. Veteran Jonathan Jones (30) is the only current corner over the age of 25, as the group is rounded out by Gonzalez (21), Alex Austin (22), Azizi Hearn (24), Marco Wilson (24), Shaun Wade (25), Isaiah Bolden (24), and Marcus Jones (25).

Jonathan Jones and Gonzalez will command the top of the depth chart at corner, while the rest of the group will hash it out for the remaining reps, with Marcus Jones perhaps having a slight edge. Unless Dial clearly separates himself, it's hard not to feel like the Patriots just added another young body to the cluster at that position.

7. Sixth Round (193rd Overall): Joe Milton III, QB, Tennessee

Drake Maye appears to have gotten a quick "welcome to the NFL" moment where job security is never guaranteed, as the Patriots take Tennessee QB Joe Milton III in the sixth round. New England acquired the 193rd pick when they traded Mac Jones to Jacksonville last month, and they now turn around and use that pick on another quarterback, hedging their bets.

Grade: A

Milton has earned the nickname "Bazooka" due to his incredible arm strength. He began his career with the Michigan Wolverines, appearing in 16 games across three seasons before transferring to Tennessee. He earned the starting role in 2021, but was supplanted by Hendon Hooker after Milton was injured during their second game of the season. Hooker remained the starter in 2022 after the Vols went 11-2, so the 2023 campaign was the only true evaluation of Milton.

In 2023, Milton completed 64.5% of his passes for 2.769 yards and 20 touchdowns, while throwing 5 interceptions. He also added 292 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground.

Some have tried to frame the drafting of Milton as a slight on Drake Maye. That's nonsense. The Patriots drafted Zappe only a year after Mac Jones, and they drafted quarterbacks consistently throughout Tom Brady's tenure. You don't want to be caught in a vulnerable spot at the most important position in sports, and that's all that the Patriots are doing here.

But whatever way you slice it, things aren't looking good for Bailey Zappe.

8. Seventh Round (231st Overall): Jaheim Bell, TE, Florida State

A position that many thought the Patriots would address earlier in the draft, New England waited until the seventh round to select a tight end - Jaheim Bell out of Florida State.

Grade: B-

Bell began his collegiate career at South Carolina, where he played the first three seasons of his career before transferring to FSU for his senior season. In 2023, Bell caught 39 passes for 503 yards and 2 touchdowns.

At 6'3", 239 pounds. Bell isn't your traditional tight end and is pretty one-dimensional. He has a smaller TE frame and won't line up consistently at the end of the line of scrimmage and will likely be forced to flex out in most formations. Heck, he had 73 carries in 2022. New England could even be looking to use him as a fullback (Kyle Juszczyk-esque?).

With Bleacher Report's Scouting Department stressing that he "cannot be a Y in the NFL" and defining him as a "very poor blocker", either New England is comfortable using him in a more athletic, versatile role, or they believe that with the right coaching and development he can transform into a traditional tight end.

The Patriots re-signed veteran Hunter Henry to a three-year extension and brought in another veteran in Austin Hooper. They signed Mitchell Wilcox last week as well, so perhaps New England's brass feels that they have the depth to take a chance on a project in the seventh round.

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