Here it is, the Steelers have selected Pitt’s quarterback Kenny Pickett with the 20th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft and the Patriots are on the clock!
Washington CB Trent McDuffie is out there. So is Utah’s Devin Lloyd. Not to mention Daniel Jeremiah’s top available, FSU edge rusher Jermaine Johnson. This has played out pretty well for the Patriots all things considered. This is a byproduct of 6 receivers going in the first 18 picks. After all the gushing about Pickett and his tiny hands only having to go across the hall to join his new team, the Patriots’ logo doesn’t even make the screen. They’ve traded out with Kansas City and get the #29 (plus the 94th and 121st picks).
That’s good value, but cornerback is a need for this team, Trent McDuffie, who was my CB pick for the Patriots ends up going at 21 but to the Chiefs. More bites of the apple is a good thing in this draft that is allegedly deep in that 3rd-4th-5th round range. From an entertainment standpoint, this just draws out the excitement a bit, plus the top LB in the draft, Devin Lloyd from Utah, may still be there at 29.
While we have a moment, let’s go back to the 2019 Draft. The Patriots take N’Keal Harry in the first round, in front of studs like AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel and DK Metcalf. Harry has been a bust of epic proportions but in the next 48 hours, he may be the only one still with the team that drafted him. AJ Brown and Hollywood Brown, (who was the only other WR taken in the 1st round in 2019) were traded during tonight’s first round. Deebo has asked for a trade this week. DK has been rumored to be headed out of Seattle at different points this offseason. So maybe it’s a silver lining that the Patriots didn’t hit with one of those stud pass catchers three years ago, because they’d have to go to all the trouble of trading them during this week, of all weeks, when they should be focusing on the draft. It’s much easier and less time consuming to just cut Harry. (Though with the hauls that these teams are getting for WR from the class of ’19, maybe we could get a 6th rounder and some new pylons for Harry? A fella can dream.)
After dodging the Jets trade up bullet (they took Johnson), the Jags trade up and grab Devin Lloyd. Even though there are apparently several quality linebackers in the later rounds, I still wanted Lloyd. (Or Nakobe Dean in the 2nd round.)
The pick is in, I’m predicting they take a corner back here. Andrew Booth of Clemson is out there, but the Patriots never take Clemson guys. Kyler Gordon, CB from Washington, is on the board — seems too obvious, but I’ll go with that. Bill traded out of 21 because he knew he could get one of the Washington CBs at 29.
And with the 29th pick, in the 2022 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots select: Cole Strange, Guard, Chattanooga. Daniel Jeremiah said he had a mid-round grade on Strange. NFL Network was so unprepared that they didn’t even have tape on Cole Strange or a camera crew at his house. This is the highest drafted player ever to come out of Chattanooga, people! (Did you know Terrell Owens went to Chattanooga?)
I know this isn’t a sexy pick. It is rarely fun to take a guard, let alone in the first round. But something about this pick feels like a throwback to mid-2000’s Bill Belichick, back when the Patriots were impossible to predict. I remember the 2005 Draft, the Patriots selected Logan Mankins with the 32nd pick and Mel Kiper Jr said that he had a 2nd or 3rd round grade on Mankins. Of course Mankins will take up residence in Canton in the near future.
A very active first round, lots of trades, a few surprises and surprisingly a lot of smart, competent picks. In the end, it was a Strange night. To the first of many!