With the 2020 NFL Draft now over, let’s look back and grade each day of the draft for the New England Patriots during the seven rounds.
The offseason leading up to the 2020 NFL season surely has been one of transition for the New England Patriots organization and the future of the franchise.
With legendary quarterback Tom Brady and other key veterans on both sides of the ball leaving in free agency and head to other teams for the upcoming season, the 2020 NFL Draft from April 23-25 would be viewed as a crucial piece for the Patriots to be able to bring in and inject some much-needed youth and talent to the team before the 2020 campaign can begin.
The biggest question mark for New England going into the draft over the weekend was if Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization would end up drafting a quarterback to replace Brady or if they will ultimately take a chance on either Jerrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer — or perhaps a free agent — under center to begin the post-Brady era.
New England didn’t draft a quarterback with any of the picks it held in the seven-round draft, but rather address key holes on the team mainly on the offensive side of the ball. The Patriots were able to bring in some players that will have the potential to help an offense that struggled to some extent in 2019 while also selecting prospects that will help their defense continue to thrive this year.
New England came into the draft sitting near the top of the teams in the NFL as far as total pick selections, holding a total of 12 picks before the opening round of the draft kicked off on Thursday night in a new virtual format.
By the end of the day on Saturday and in the third and final day of the draft, the Patriots ended up making 10 total picks while bringing in players to help bolster the offensive and defensive lines, the passing game and to anchor the middle of the defense in Foxborough.
Now with the 2020 draft over and done with, let’s look back at each day of the draft and grade New England’s performance during the draft.
Day 1
Entering the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots came into the opening night on Thursday holding one pick at the end of the round.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
New England, which entered the draft initially with a dozen selections, had the No. 23 overall pick in the first round, had a decent amount of options to choose from at the end of that round, but Bill Belichick and company made the ultimate decision to trade away the pick and move out of the first round.
As the pick got closer on Thursday, the Patriots sent their pick to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a pair of selections later on in the 2020 draft. New England sent that No. 23 overall pick to Los Angeles in exchange for the No. 37 pick (second round) and the No. 71 overall pick (third round).
With the Patriots having multiple holes to fill on both sides of the ball, moving out of the first round to grab another pick made sense on multiple levels, although it’s a decision that often isn’t popular with the fan base.
Although New England didn’t ultimately end up taking a player in the first round of the seven-round draft, the Patriots get a grade of C for their opening-round performance based solely on the fact they didn’t take a player but also gained another piece going into the final two days.
Day 2
On the second day of the draft, which included rounds two and three, the New England Patriots looked poised to make more noise on Day 2 than they were able to do in Day 1.
After gaining another pick following trading back out of the first round on Thursday night, Bill Belichick and the Patriots had a total of five picks during the second and third rounds on Friday.
During Day 2, New England ended up picking at No. 37 overall, No. 60 overall, No. 87 overall, No. 81 overall and No. 101 overall.
To kick things off with their first selection of the draft this year, Belichick and the Patriots made a Belichick-type surprise pick at No. 37, drafting safety Kyle Dugger out of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Dugger is a player who can be used in multiple forms while being a versatile performer that will be valuable on the back end of the defense while replacing some veteran players New England lost this offseason. He’s a hard-nosed, quick player that could vie for a starting role in 2020 for the Patriots.
At No. 60, the Patriots made their first move to actually move up in the draft, going up to select linebacker Josh Uche out of Michigan. Uche offers New England a player who is an athletic rusher and linebacker in the middle of the defense while filling a large hole among a defensive unit that was one of the tops in the NFL in 2019.
Later on in the draft, the Patriots selected another linebacker at No. 87, going out and taking linebacker Anfernee Jennings from Alabama. A product under Nick Sabin in Alabama, Jennings is a big versatile prospect who could counter Uche while providing New England with an intriguing young group to build on into the future.
With their final two picks in the third round, the Patriots surprised some people while going with back-to-back tight end selections to round out Day 2. At No. 91, New England took UCLA’s Devin Asaisi, rounding out its handful of picks by taking Dalton Keene out of Virginia Tech.
Grabbing the pair of tight end prospects marked the first time the Patriots drafted two tight ends in the same draft since they took Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez in the 2010 NFL Draft.
Overall, New England filled multiple holes and address various needs on both sides of the ball in Day 2 on Friday, which gives them the heading into Day 3 on Saturday.
Day 3
After a busy second day of the 2020 NFL Draft on Friday night, the New England Patriots got back to action on the third and final day of the draft on Saturday with a decent amount of picks taking place as well.
In the round, the Patriots ended up holding five picks once again in the last day of the draft, including three of those selections coming in the sixth round.
On Day 3, New England didn’t have a fourth-round selection but held overall pick No. 159 (5th round), No. 182 (6th round), No. 195 (6th round) No. 204 (6th round) and No. 230 (7th round).
Included in those selections were players primarily on the offensive side of the ball, which was an area of focus for the Patriots throughout the course of the entire draft.
Starting things off on Day 3 on Saturday for the Patriots was a surprising selection of a kicker in the fifth round, taking Justin Rohrwasser out of Marshall. After Rohrwasser, New England went on to select guard Michael Onwenu of Michigan, guard Justin Herron of Wake Forest, linebacker Cassh Maluia of Wyoming and center Dustin Woodard of Memphis in the last two rounds.
On the final day of the draft, the Patriots did add some depth in a few different areas on their depth chart, most notably within the offense that needs it. But along with possibly reaching to take a kicker in the fifth round and getting players that are fringy backup players for the 2020 campaign and beyond, New England gets a final day grade of C with its five picks to round out the draft.