Missteps from last year explain how the Patriots attacked the draft the way they did - The Boston Globe (2025)

Mike Vrabel, Eliot Wolf, and their attendants broke out the brooms, the mops, and the bleach for the 2025 NFL Draft because this draft was all about cleaning up the messy roster missteps that Wolf presided over in 2024. The draft theme was cleanup in Aisle 2024 with Vrabel starring as the Brawny paper towels guy.

Don’t be naive. This remains a multi-year rebuild for the Patriots, but instead of building on last year’s foundation the team had to raze it and raise the roster’s talent level.

After reinforcing the roster in free agency with the biggest splashes and paychecks addressing a disappointing defense — $104-million man Milton Williams at defensive tackle, Vrabel loyalist Harold Landry on the edge, cornerback Carlton Davis, and linebacker Robert Spillane — the Patriots went on the offensive. The team selected left tackle (maybe) Will Campbell fourth overall, took speedy running back TreVeyon Henderson in the second round, and nabbed wide receiver Kyle Williams and center Jared Wilson in the third round — four picks headlining an 11-member draft class.

But each of those picks was rooted as much in remedying major mistakes from last season as boosting Drake Maye’s support system. In his first stint overseeing personnel, the well-respected Wolf whiffed on all those positions. That backed the team into a corner. Some of their draft choices were really no choice at all.

Wolf had no answer for left tackle after the disastrous experiment of Chukwuma Okorafor, who lasted 12 snaps. The decision to re-sign or extend more than a dozen players from 2023’s 4-13 club backfired. One of the most disappointing ROIs was paying Rhamondre Stevenson an average of $9 million per year for four years to lead all NFL running backs in fumbles with seven and average just 3.9 yards per carry.

Wolf passed on wide receiver Ladd McConkey, trading the Chargers the second-round pick they used to select the 1,100-yard rookie, and drafted Ja’Lynn Polk, who no-showed the season. Polk and 2024 fourth-round pick Javon Baker combined for less than 100 yards receiving on the season. Unimaginable.

With David Andrews out, Ben Brown started at center three days and two practices after the Patriots plucked him from the Raiders’ practice squad.

What’s past is prologue. This context explains why the Patriots attacked the draft the way they did.

They boxed themselves into taking Campbell with the fourth pick because their other left tackle options were slim and none. Henderson is the three-down threat Stevenson was supposed to be. Williams is a major mulligan for Polk and Baker. Wilson is a plausible long-term answer at center where free-agent Garrett Bradbury is the stopgap.

The highest reaches of the Patriots organization buy into Wolf’s draft acumen. But he admitted that having Vrabel and his acolytes, vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden and vice president of football operations and strategy John Streicher, aboard boosted the process.

“It was just a really good process ... and, this is on me, last year we just didn’t have an organized enough process,” said Wolf.

Applaud the Patriots for what they did with a promising draft class. They made the right moves, but those moves were the result of making so many wrong ones in 2024.

Here are a few other thoughts on a pivotal pick-a-palooza for the Patriots:

Riskiest pick: This might surprise you, but it’s Henderson. With all their needs and with a surfeit of running backs available in a deep class, taking the Ohio State runner at No. 38 overall represents a gamble. He better be the Patriots’ version of Buffalo’s James Cook or an electric backfield committee component a la Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs or he was overdrafted. There will also be a forever comparison with wide receiver Luther Burden III, taken the next pick by the Chicago Bears, another team aiming to assist a young quarterback.

Best value: I loved the selection of Campbell’s LSU teammate, edge rusher Bradyn Swinson, in the fifth round. Vrabel stated one of his core tenets is affecting the quarterback, and the Patriots require more pass rush. Swinson was fifth in FBS in pressures with 59 and boasts untapped potential.

Worst value: Bill Belichick is gone, but that didn’t stop the Patriots from employing draft picks on a kicker, Andres Borregales (sixth round), and a long-snapper, Julian Ashby (seventh), in Belichickian fashion. As Belichick used to say, that’s not what we’re looking for. The Patriots feature too many other areas of the roster in need of immediate and significant amelioration to expend picks on niche roles that can be filled otherwise. Every draft pick represents a lottery ticket and this team needs as many chances as it can get at striking gold.

Player(s) the Patriots might rue passing on: Subjectivity rules in the draft. But the Patriots selection of Cal safety Craig Woodson in the fourth round elicited some raised eyebrows and evoked pick PTSD from past suspect safety selections Jordan Richards and Tavon Wilson. They passed on some interesting players to take Woodson at No. 106. Linebacker Danny Stutsman went six picks later to the Saints. Stutsman looks right up Vrabel’s alley, is a ball magnet, and ran a 4.52 40-yard dash.

Linebacker is a sneaky need for the Patriots. Christian Ellis and fan favorite Jahlani “Just a Guy” Tavai don’t exactly inspire confidence alongside Spillane. If the Patriots were committed to safety, then Stutsman’s Oklahoma teammate Billy Bowman, taken by Atlanta at 118, could’ve been a consideration. Atlanta selected another ball-hawk safety, Notre Dame’s Xavier Watts, in the third round, one pick after the Patriots selected Jared Wilson.

Culture Club: Vrabel instituted a clear culture cleansing, jettisoning team leaders such as Andrews and Ja’Whaun Bentley. Despite what Vrabel said in his pre-draft press conference about not being able to win with “just a bunch of good dudes,” character is a crucial component of this rebuild.

“I think we’ve been trying to be very intentional about the people … to build the foundation that Coach Vrabel and his vision has here for this football team,” said Cowden. “That started in free agency and that’s been a major emphasis for us as we’ve gotten into this draft process.”

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.