T
he New England Patriots selection of Cole Strange in the first round of the NFL Draft had fans questioning the move but an NFL Executive believes it was symbolic of this year’s draft.
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The offensive lineman out of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga was projected to be a Day 2 selection but New England selected him with the 29th overall selection.
But The Athletic’s Mike Sando heard from an executive that the pick epitomized how the draft was viewed this year.
“Cole Strange is really symbolic of the way people viewed this draft,” an NFL executive told Sando. “It really was such an eye-of-the-beholder draft. ‘We are taking guys we like, we don’t care where people have them mocked, we don’t care if people think it’s a reach.’ In the past, I feel like teams were more like, ‘We like him, but we can get him later.’ “
The Patriots Like Strange
Clearly, New England liked Strange. There’s a reason he was selected in the first round.
“Cole fits well into our team and our system,” Belichick said. “Obviously, think he’s a good player.”
Belichick later added: “He’s long, he’s athletic. He’s physically tough. He’s an aggressive player. I think he has a good combination of skills, run and pass, movement, length, strength, again, all of which will hopefully get better. Like they will with any player coming from college to the National Football League. But I think he has a good skill set, and he’s a smart player that makes a lot of good decisions on the interior line there, timing, when to come off, and combo blocks, things like that.”
The head coach also stated that Strange’s performance in the Senior Bowl played a part in the offensive lineman coming to New England.
“Senior Bowl was part of it,” Belichick said. “That was definitely a move up competitively. They played a couple SEC teams and his workout was pretty good, as well. He’s a pretty athletic guy with good size, smart.”
Strange Can Make an Impact Right Away
At 23 years old, Strange has the opportunity to start right away. Along with spending six years in college, the Patriots need to fill some holes on the offensive line.
New England traded away Shaq Mason and also lost Ted Karras. While Trent Brown and David Andrews are returning, Strange has the potential to be a starting left guard.
The duties of the offensive line will only be heightened in the 2022 regular season. With Mac Jones entering his second NFL season, he has the potential to take an important step in his NFL career.
While there have been some changes that Jones will need to adjust to, such as the loss of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, New England reloaded at wide receiver by adding DeVante Parker to a quality group of receivers including Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers.
But it seems that the Strange selection indicated a change in philosophy when it comes to the draft and teams will start caring more about players that they like compared to where they are projected to be selected.
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Patriots 1st-Round Pick ‘Symbolic’ of 2022 NFL Draft