Patriots surprise NFL insiders by not addressing offense early in 2023 draft

Perry: Patriots' draft approach 'bewildered' some NFL insiders originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Patriots couldn't have had the first round work out better for them, taking a corner who was widely viewed as one of the best non-quarterbacks in the draft.

They might make the argument that the same was true about the second round, where they landed a player they'd been considering in the middle of the first.

But from there, if you're scratching your head about how the rest of the draft played out, know you're not the only one.

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Multiple league sources relayed a bewildered response to the Patriots' approach after the draft finished up. There was considerable focus placed on A) the fact that no offensive skill position players were taken until the sixth round and B) that the team loaded up on special-teamers on Day 3. Tackle and receiver -- viewed by evaluators both in Foxboro and in rival front offices as two of the team's top three needs -- were not prioritized.

"Let's be honest," said one league source. "They still don't have a player you have to game plan for. Other than maybe (Rhamondre) Stevenson."

Unless fourth-round pick Sidy Sow out of Eastern Michigan is able to play some tackle as a pro (the vast majority of his playing time in college was spent at guard), that spot went unaddressed. There were no pass-catchers selected until LSU's Kayshon Boutte came off the board in the sixth.

For an offense that was for long stretches of the 2022 season one of the worst in critical situations on third down and in the red zone, spending significant draft-day capital on that side of the ball would have made sense. Even after replacing Jonnu Smith with Mike Gesicki and Jakobi Meyers with JuJu Smith-Schuster. Even after adding Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator.

But scouts for multiple franchises explained that this year's group of draftees both at receiver and tackle was unimpressive. And that may have been the key in Bill Belichick taking the approach he did.

"Stick to the board," this draft seemed to scream.

A kicker available in the fourth round whose grade can't be ignored? With an aging-though-dependable Nick Folk on the roster? Don't just go get the younger leg. Trade up to get him.

A guard available in the fourth whose grade says he could start someday? Versus a promising tackle who has an injury history and some questions about his personality fit in the locker room? Go with the safer option.

Clearly Belichick and chief personnel assistant Matt Groh didn't like the talent at those offensive positions of need when it came time for them to pick in the third and fourth rounds. Even with apparent Patriots fits on the board like Stanford receiver Michael Wilson (a Senior Bowl star who visited the Patriots prior to the draft but carried injury concerns), Old Dominion tackle Nick Saldiveri (deemed by coaches to be a high-IQ player with versatility), BYU tackle Blake Freeland (one of the top athletic testers at his position) and Pitt tackle Carter Warren (hurt in 2022, but who one NFC team believed had better tape than either of the first-round SEC tackles taken this year).

Curran: Patriots' draft suggests they didn't love late-round talent

Still, a go-for-need approach may have given the Patriots more upside at two of the game's most highly-valued (and expensive) positions. Plus, those risks at premium positions may have been mitigated by the fact an apparently-safer path did not seem to yield Belichick a bundle of surefire impact players in 2023.

Third-round pick Marte Mapu, a safety from Sacramento State, is a movable weapon who can play in the secondary or at the linebacker level. One coach who worked with him at the Senior Bowl and hoped his team would draft Mapu called him "really smart... big hitter... versatile." But he's now Belichick's fourth strong safety, and a torn pec could limit his availability.

Fourth-rounder Jake Andrews, an interior lineman out of Troy, looks like a versatile super-sub that the team could use. But then Belichick and Groh doubled-up on contingency plans on the interior, in Sow and fifth-rounder Antonio Mafi, without adding a clear tackle option.

Maryland kicker Chad Ryland may make the biggest impact from the Day 3 group of draft picks. He'll likely replace Folk, based on his draft position. But if he runs cold in training camp, would he become a kickoff specialist since Folk isn't built for those duties at this stage of his career? And would Belichick be comfortable keeping two kickers on the game-day roster -- one for kickoffs, one for field goals? It would seem like an unusually heavy investment in the kicking game, but indications are that shouldn't be ruled out.

Belichick left no doubt over the weekend that, in his mind, the kicking game still matters to him. And perhaps the way last season ended -- by allowing two kick returns for touchdowns in Buffalo -- only encouraged the former special-teams coordinator to pour more resources into that phase.

Not only did Belichick take Ryland with a higher draft pick than he's ever used on a specialist before (Stephen Gostkowski went six picks later in the fourth round in 2006), but he drafted Michigan State punter Bryce Baringer and core special-teamer Ameer Speed in the sixth round. Then came return man Isaiah Bolden from Jackson State in the seventh.

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And those picks came after the team brought back Matthew Slater and Cody Davis and signed special-teams ace Chris Board in free agency. With Brenden Schooler, DaMarcus Mitchell and Raleigh Webb also under contract, the team is loaded up with fourth-down specialists.

The Patriots appeared to nail their first-round choice. NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah ranked Gonzalez as his No. 10 player in the class. Sports Info Solutions and The 33rd Team ranked him No. 8.

Their second-round choice, Keion White, I'm told, was among a group of non-corners the Patriots were considering at No. 14 along with Gonzalez. They passed and still had the opportunity to nab him -- a versatile, tough and physically-gifted edge defender -- at No. 46 overall the following night.

Both Gonzalez and White should help the Patriots defense slow down potent offenses in their division and throughout the rest of the conference.

But their draft-weekend approach from there led to questions from league insiders who still view Belichick's roster as in need of real reinforcements on the other side of the ball.