New England

Patriots

The Vikings front office, in other words, did everything it could to move up and land Drake Maye. Instead, they stayed at pick 11 and took J.J. McCarthy. Minnesota’s aggressive offer undercuts the team’s insistence that McCarthy — who draft stock spiked in April — was their guy all along. “There were different points throughout the process where there were [offers],” said Elliott Wolf, New England’s director of scouting who has operated as the team’s de facto GM. “All along, we knew we were in a unique opportunity to get a quarterback that we liked.” The Patriots felt comfortable taking the somewhat unpolished Maye after offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt met with Maye and discussed the “outside zone scheme” he plans to run in New England. Maye’s questionable footwork, according to Fowler’s report, did not concern the Patriots.

McDermott signed a two-year, $3.6 million contract last offseason but was released in September before being re-signed to the team’s practice squad. He would eventually be signed to the active roster and wound up appearing in six games while making five starts. A seven-year veteran of the league, McDermott has spent most of his career as a backup but has made 17 starts over that span. He’s spent his entire career in the AFC East, splitting time with the Bills, Jets, and Patriots. Now a free agent at 31 years old, it’s possible McDermott latches on with another team before camp.

Barmore was heading into the final year of his deal and set to hear just over $2.71 million. Now, the former second-round pick who totaled a career-high 8.5 sacks and 13 TFLs last season will be under contract through 2028 and can earn up to $41.8 million in guaranteed money on his deal. Barmore has been a staple along the Patriots’ defensive line since being drafted in 2021, appearing in 44 of a possible 51 regular season games while consistently grading as one of the best interior pass rushers per PFF.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport were first on the report, stating that the Cowboys and Elliott have agreed to terms on a deal pending a physical. The two sides parted ways last offseason as part of a cap-saving move that cleared $11 million for the Cowboys last offseason. Zeke would eventually land in New England, where he served as a lightly-used backup before turning into a PPR merchant Week 14 after Rhamondre Stevenson was sidelined with a high-ankle injury. Over the final five weeks of the season, Zeke rushed for 72-213-1, while adding another 27-159-2 through the air. He averaged a mere 3.5 YPC on the season, and at almost 29 years old, continues to look like a player who has hit the proverbial wall. Opportunities will be easy to come by in a Dallas backfield that currently features Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, and Royce Freeman, but Zeke shouldn’t be viewed as a permanent solution to this backfield’s problems. With that said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jerry Jones and Mike McCarthy stubbornly deploy him in a lead role early on.

Bell (6'2/241) is arguably the most unique tight end prospect in the class. He began his career at South Carolina and broke out in his second season with 30 catches for 497 yards and five scores. Then, in 2022, the Gamecocks split his reps evenly between running back and tight end, slashing his receiving output to 231 yards and two scores. He added 261 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. After transferring to Florida State for his final season, Bell picked up where he left off as a tight end, totaling 503 yards and two touchdowns on 39 grabs. He posted an 8.43 RAS at the combine, highlighted by a 4.61-second 40. Bell doesn’t have the size take on defensive linemen as a blocker and even improvements in his technique can’t change that simple fact. His uncanny ability to turn short catches into long gains makes him a great weapon out of the slot and he is a Swiss Army Knife out of the backfield. The Patriots will need to be creative if they want to get the most out of him.

Milton (6’5/235) may have the strongest arm of any prospect to recently come through the draft, but his erratic throwing will keep him off of several team’s boards. Milton had six seasons in college to iron out his accuracy issues and was at his best in 2023 when he threw for 2809-20-5 while completing 64.7 percent of his passes. Milton lost the starting job at Michigan in 2020 which led to his transfer to Tennessee for 2021, and promptly lost his starting job to Hendon Hooker just three weeks into that season. NFL Network’s Lance Zierlein also points out that Milton completed only 38.6 percent of his throws beyond 10 yards in 2023. Teams will like Milton’s physical tools, but a six-year player who deals with accuracy concerns, and has lost two starting jobs in college seems like a bad player to bet on as far as long-term NFL success goes.

Dial (6’0/190) was a zero-star recruit who was totally off the recruiting radar, enrolling at Georgia Military Academy for two seasons before signing with the Gamecocks as a three-star JUCO. He carved out a starting role in short order at South Carolina, holding opponents to a 56% completion rate or less in all three of his SEC campaigns. Dial engages in hand to hand combat at the line of scrimmage making the receiver work to get off and disrupting timing. The Woodruff, SC product reads his wide receiver assignments well, making 25 pass breakups and three interceptions over the past two seasons, culminating with a commendable 79th% PFF defensive grade this year. He checked the speed and explosion testing boxes with 90th+ percentile tests in those areas, including a 4.46s 40-yard dash that ranked in the 91st%. However his agility testing was brutal with a 4.42s shuttle (28th%) and 7.29s 3-Cone drill (21st%) for a still respectable 7.18 RAS. Dial will likely be sought after to occupy a rotational role in a zone scheme NFL defense.

After adding Ja’Lynn Polk with the 34th pick, the Patriots continue to rework their wideout room with the pick of Baker. The 6-foot-1, 202-pound wideout has the prototypical size for an outside receiver, and he lined up wide on 80.7 percent of his career snaps per PFF while going for a career-best 52-1139-7 in his senior season. A former four-star recruit who initially committed to Alabama, Baker joined UCF ahead of the 2022 season and made an immediate impact. The 56.4 percent contested catch rate he posted for his career ranks amongst the best of any receiver in this year’s class and in 2023 he caught the third-most deep targets (15) of any FBS receiver. There’s plenty of reason to believe Baker can compete for playing time in 2024.

Robinson (6'4/302) had one of the most remarkable 2021 campaigns of any offensive lineman in the country. However, being ineligible for the draft, he returned to school and was quite disappointing in 2022, posting a troubling 41st percentile pass block grade. Thus, he took a fourth year in College Station and, while productive, didn’t quite return to his 2021 form. A squat interior offensive lineman with a mean streak, Robinson has a vicious down-block that seems to knock over the defensive trench like bowling pins. When engaged with a defender, Robinson is vicious with vice-like grip strength and does well when driving his man out of the play. The problems arise when he is asked to move from his spot. As a puller, Robinson does well enough to get to the hole but often struggles to find work due to the effort it took to get there. On an island in pass protection, Robinson is more of a catch-blocker as he completely opens up rush lanes when he goes out to the defender. At the next level, Robinson should be able to adjust to playing on either side of the Center, even though he only played right guard for Texas A&M. Teams that run more gap scheme run concepts and have a rush-heavy neutral script will want Robinson as a potential plug-and-play piece, if not a backup that is more than capable of spelling injured players. It would behoove whichever team that drafts him to pair him next to a smart and capable pass-blocker, as his immobility will hinder his ceiling in the pros.

This same time last year, Wallace (6'5/314) was considered one of the top 10 tackles in the 2024 draft class. While his 2023 season was a letdown compared to the buzz he was generating in an injury-shortened 2022 season, he quietly played himself into all-conference honors. Wallace’s calling card is his heavy boxer hands that stunt rush progress and redirect defenders at will. This is especially helpful when diagnosing and addressing stunts and games from defensive lines. The issues for Wallace arise when he gets out of control. This often happens against speed rushers when he loses control of his momentum on a vertical set. Wallace handles power rushers with his heavy hands and is able to knock away a defender’s hands when he attempts to convert speed to power. He is probably not the best option to lead the charge on a run play, though he has shown a mean streak propensity that needs to be curbed to avoid penalties. He has a good understanding of the angles that he is assigned in creating, but needs to have the awareness to see how he can contribute beyond the man in front of him. Although every single college snap came at RT, Wallace may fit best on the interior to avoid such drastic vertical sets and instead utilize his ability to pass off defenders.