Jayden Daniels wasn’t the Patriots’ only meeting at the LSU pro day
The New England Patriots have a major presence at the LSU pro day on Wednesday. According to SI’s Albert Breer, there are nine representatives from the team in attendance for the workout.
That group is highlighted by head coach Jerod Mayo, de facto general manager Eliot Wolf, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, and quarterback coach T.C. McCartney. Others in attendance include front office staffers Matt Groh, Pat Stewart, Cam Williams, and Brian Smith, as well as general offensive assistant coach Ben McAddo. Personnel assistant Alonzo Highsmith was also spotted.
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For the most part the spotlight of the LSU pro day was on quarterback Jayden Daniels – a projected top three pick in this year’s NFL Draft. The Patriots have had a big presence at many of the top quarterback pro days so far, so it’s not surprising to see their top decision-makers lead a large contingent to Baton Rouge. The Patriots are expected to meet with Daniels after the workout.
Prior to his workout Daniels did check one box, which was one of the biggest moments of the LSU pro day – his weigh-in. There’s been some concern about Daniels’ size, but he did not get measured at the Combine. At the pro day, he came in at 6-foot-3, 210 pounds.
However, Daniels isn’t the only player the Patriots were focused on at the LSU pro day. They also met with his top receiver, Malik Nabers according to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe.
Nabers had a very strong showing at the pro day. His 40 was clocked between 4.35 and 4.40 seconds, and he had a 42-inch vertical after measuring in at 6-foot,199 pounds.
While Marvin Harrison Jr. has gotten most of the attention as the top receiver in this draft, there’s been some who view Nabers as being the higher-upside player given his athleticism and ball skills. His production is also off the charts – he caught 89 passes in 13 games last year for 1,569 yards and 14 touchdowns.
How would he fit into the Patriots’ draft plans? Taking him third overall wouldn’t be a major stretch, if they rate him higher than Harrison. That would – of course – mean passing on a quarterback though.
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There’s also been discussion that the Patriots could trade down. Nabers may make more sense in that scenario, but they wouldn’t be able to move too far down without missing him.
Of course, the Patriots may just be doing due diligence on one of the top players in the draft. They could also be looking for more information on Daniels, hoping to get a unique perspective from a player that caught 161 passes from him over the last two years.
Coming away from the LSU pro day, the Patriots have now met with over 50 players already ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft. Here’s a look at the full list…
2024 Patriots pre-draft meeting tracker
Throughout the pre-draft process, NFL teams meet with prospects sometimes on multiple occasions. These meets can occur at showcase games like the Senior Bowl and Shrine Bowl, the NFL Combine, can be organized officially (top-30 visits), or be arranged in a number of other ways.
While these meetings aren’t always a perfect indication of who a team will draft, they often provide a general guide of the kinds of players a team is considering drafting. Tracking meetings can also come to fruition later on when a draft class hits free agency.
Last year the Patriots only had an official pre-draft meeting with one of their draft picks (Christian Gonzalez) and signed another as a UDFA (Malik Cunningham). In 2022 they met with two draft picks (Jack Jones and Marcus Jones) and another UDFA (D’Eriq King). Make of that what you will – the more pessimistic fans can use meetings as a guide to players the Patriots won’t be drafting.
Who have the Patriots met with in 2024? Here’s a running list. Be sure to check back throughout the offseason as the list is updated.
This list doesn’t include the players who were at the Patriots’ local pro day. That group can be found here.