Patriots select running back Pierre Strong Jr. 127th overall in 2022 NFL Draft
With one of their three fourth-round picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots selected running back Pierre Strong Jr. out of South Dakota State.
Strong led the Football Championship Subdivision as a senior with 1,668 rushing yards. That production earned him a consensus All-America selection and his third straight all-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors. Strong also caught 22 passes for 150 yards in 15 games during his senior year. He was a team captain in his final two seasons.
Here’s what Lance Zierlein had to say about Strong in his draft profile at NFL.com:
Instinctive running back with NFL traits and talent to find a home as a committee back or an eventual RB1. Hyper-focused vision provides him a variety of cut options and rush paths but also causes him to overthink his approach at times. Strong is more reactive than manipulative but is quite impressive with his spatial awareness and ability to slalom around bodies on a smooth, linear pathway without slowing his roll. He struggles when forced to slow his feet and make early cuts. He needs a north/south run scheme where he can square his pads and find his rhythm quickly. Strong lacks third-down value at this time, but has shown enough to believe it could be in his future.
The Patriots made two other selections in the fourth round on day 3 of the 2022 NFL Draft, Arizona State cornerback Jack Jones and Western Kentucky quarterback Bailey Zappe.
PHOTOS: Patriots fourth-round pick Pierre Strong Jr.
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