Patriots top-30 visits continue beyond quarterbacks
The New England Patriots’ continued research on the top quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft class continues over the next few days. North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye spent time at Gillette Stadium on Friday, and LSU’s Jayden Daniels is expected to make his trip to Foxboro on Monday.
As they meet with the top quarterbacks though, the Patriots keep doing their due diligence at other positions. Over the last two days, five more Patriots top-30 visits were reported – two with tackles, one with a tight end, and two with edge rushers.
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Along with Maye, Notre Dame tackle Blake Fisher was at Gillette Stadium on Friday according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Fisher, a projected late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick, has been the starting right tackle for the last two years at Notre Dame. The 6-foot-6, 310 pound tackle began his career on the left side, but has been playing opposite consensus top tackle Joe Alt. That positional flexibility, plus his athleticism, are traits the Patriots may be looking for at the tackle position.
The Patriots are also set to meet with Penn State tackle Caedan Wallace, according to Justin Melo of The Draft Network. Wallace, a projected later Day 3 pick, has 40 college starts at right tackle under his belt. At 6-foot-5, 314 pounds he could see some snaps at guard in the NFL as well.
At tight end, the Patriots are set to meet with Jared Wiley from TCU per Ryan Fowler of Bleacher Report. A projected late-round pick, Wiley had a career year in 2023 with 47 catches for 520 yards and eight touchdowns. At 6-foot-6, 249 pounds Wiley is a very fluid mover, especially for his size. He can be effective lining up from multiple spots in a formation, and projects as a pure receiving tight end in the NFL. The Patriots could take him late, and develop him behind Hunter Henry.
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On defense, Kansas edge rusher Austin Booker already visited Gillette Stadium on Thursday. Projected to be a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick, Booker had eight sacks in 12 games for the Jayhawks last year after playing sparingly over his first two years at Minnesota. Booker’s pass rush toolbox is already very expansive for a player as inexperienced as he is.
Finally according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero the Patriots hosted Houston Christian (formerly Houston Baptist) edge rusher Jalyx Hunt on Wednesday. Another projected Day 3 pick, Hunt comes into the NFL with tremendous size (6-foot-4, 252 pounds) and athleticism but is very raw as a prosect. He just started playing outside linebacker two years ago. His college career began at Cornell, where he was a safety but mostly played on special teams.
That’s just the Patriots top-30 visits from the last few days. The team has been busy getting to know prospects since the showcase games in January. Here’s a full list of all of the prospects they’ve talked to…
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.