Sunday Patriots Notes: 30 visits can hint towards potential draft plans

Notes and thoughts on the Patriots and the rest of the NFL.

The New England Patriots are full steam ahead on the final steps of their pre-draft process with the NFL Draft later this month.

Make sure to check out our Sunday Patriots Notes to stay up to date with all things not covered elsewhere on Pats Pulpit.

1. 30 visits: With the NFL Draft officially less than three weeks away, the New England Patriots are wrapping up their pre-draft process by hosting prospects on 30 visits. These visits allow teams to bring up to 30 players to the facility for in-person meetings in a more formal setting than the NFL Combine or All-Star games.

New England has been busy in that regard, already hosting double digit visits with more on the radar. That has included meeting with top quarterback prospect Drake Maye on Friday, while visits with LSU’s Jayden Daniels and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy are already scheduled in the following two weeks.

“Look, let me tell you, when I first started watching [the quarterbacks] it was that three-man race,” Jerod Mayo explained. “Now, as you continue to go to the pro days and bringing guys in on the ‘30’ visits and having time to spend with those guys and really get to know what makes them tick, it’s about five guys, honestly, that could come in and be a solid quarterback in the future.”

Beyond the quarterback position, the Patriots concluded visits have included UCF wide receiver Javon Baker, BYU offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia and four other offensive tackle prospects. While the Patriots can’t draft all 30 prospects they host on visits, these visits have led to plenty of draft selections in years past weeks later.

Last season, New England’s first-round pick Christian Gonzalez made a pre-draft visit to Foxboro along with four other members of the team’s 2023 draft class. That included safety Marte Mapu and offensive lineman Jake Andrews, Sidy Sow, and Atonio Mafi.

The group of five followed a 2022 group of 30 visits that produced three draft selections: wide receiver Tyquan Thornton and cornerbacks Jack Jones and Marcus Jones.

The hit rate is not always that high, however. Prior to 2022, New England went back-to-back drafts with prospects they reportedly interviewed virtually (due to the Covid-19 pandemic). But, the 2019 draft saw wide receiver N’Keal Harry, cornerback Joejuan Williams, and quarterback Jarrett Stidham in Foxboro for 30 visits.

While the draft ultimately is decided by who is available when the Patriots are on the clock, 30 visits have correlated into many of New England’s draft selections in recent years. But, time will tell how the Patriots new brass values these visits as they uncover new information in the weeks before draft night.

“There is no new film. Sometimes when people do all their reviews of players — I’m saying in the media — there is really no new information. But we continue to move guys all over the mock drafts and things like that,” Mayo shared. “From a coaches’ perspective, there is new information. We have spent hours and hours with these guys by the time we get to the draft. So I don’t want to say the hay is in the barn. I think we still have a lot of work to do on all the quarterbacks in the draft, and really Eliot and his team will lead that effort.”

2. Back in the building: Beyond potential Patriots coming to Gillette Stadium for visits, New England’s current players will be back in the building Monday, April 8 for the start of their offseason workout programs. The Patriots could have began last week as they hired a new head coach, but getting the new coaching staff on the same page before the players return took preference for Jerod Mayo.

“There’s still going to be time to put this team together,” he said. “I think as the staff continues to gel — not only on the coaching side but also on the scouting side; as the team continues to gel, I just want to make sure that we as coaches are all on the same page before we go to the players. We’ve been a part of situations where you bring these different coaches in, and this guy has one philosophy, and this guy has another philosophy.

“I just wanted to make sure that the coaches, and the staff, that we’re all on the same page going forward. And look, once again, you don’t win games in the spring. But you can lose them. I don’t want to fall into that trap. I want to make sure we’re all pulling in the same direction.”

3. Commanders’ Choice: The Patriots selection at No. 3 in the NFL Draft may largely be decided by what the Washington Commanders do with their No. 2 overall selection. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that may reside with the Commanders selecting LSU’s quarterback Jayden Daniels — setting the Patriots up to potentially take UNC’s Drake Maye.

“I now we’re not supposed to spoil picks and we’ll see how the Commanders decide to move forward with the number two overall selection, but a little over a few weeks out to me I think the signs continue to point to Jayden Daniels being the second overall pick,” Schefter said on the Adam Schefter Podcast. “It seems like he would bring a lot of the attributes that the Commanders like.”

4. Bourne’s choice: Wide receiver Kendrick Bourne projects to be a key pass catcher for whatever rookie quarterback is potentially under center next season. Like many, Bourne is split on which option he’d prefer for New England.

“I’ve been big Jayden [Daniels], but after watching Drake [Maye], they giving him the Josh Allen comparison,” the receiver said on James White’s Money Down podcast. “He is 6’4”, 225. He got that build, he got that structure. He got something to him… I’m in between bro. J.J. [McCarthy] dope too. He got that winning mentality.”

5. Captain KB: As Jerod Mayo shared at the NFL Annual Meetings, the Patriots’ jerseys are expected to feature captain patches moving forward. Donning that patch and being elected a team captain is one of Bourne’s goals for next season.

“I want them to know you can always rely on KB,” he said. “I’m a real leader bro. My teammates know and the organization knows, so that’s why I came back too because the opportunity’s there for me to be somebody that I’ve always dreamed of being.”

6. Visit itinerary: When prospects travel to team’s facilities for their 30 visits, they are prohibited from going through any on-field workout. Teams can perform medical tests and players can tour the facility while meeting the owner, general manager, head coach, veteran players, etc.

If Drake Maye got the chance to sit down with Robert Kraft during his trip to Foxboro, he’ll check off one of the top individuals he was looking forward to meeting in the pre-draft process.

“I think one of the best stories people talk about is Robert Kraft and how he got to his place,” Maye said in February on The Adam Schefter Podcast last week when asked who he’d like to meet throughout the pre-draft process. “So sitting there and asking him how he got there and stuff like that.”

7. Agent Zero: Despite players being allowed to wear No. 0 for the first time last season, nobody was given the number on New England’s roster. That may change this year, as cornerback Christian Gonzalez, who wore No. 0 at the University of Oregon, hinted at a potential switch.

On Thursday night, Gonzalez shared a photo on his Instagram story of him in his old No. 0 jersey with a winking emoji in the corner.

8. Marcus hits the links: Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones spent his past week on the golf course as he made his Pro-Am debut at the Club Car Championship in Savannah, Georgia. Jones, who has golfed since he was just four years old, was part of a group called Fore Athletes, which is for football players who also golf.

“They ended up talking to me about Fore Athletes,” Jones told WSAV3. “I was like, ‘I love what you guys are putting together and I definitely want to be a part of it. We’ve just been grinding ever since trying to get athletes into the game of golf.”

9. Belichick in Washington: Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick joined the Washington Huskies — where his son Steve now coaches — this past week for their football coaches clinic. Huskies head coach, and former Patriots assistant, Jedd Fisch said Belichick will be around the team for five days.

10. Setting up the week ahead: As mentioned above, Patriots players are set to return to Gillette Stadium on Monday for the start of their offseason workout programs. Phase one of the program is limited to just meetings, strength and conditioning work, and physical rehabilitation only.

New England’s personnel department will also remain busy hosting prospects on 30 visits as they put the finishing touches on their draft boards.