Report: The Patriots are Scheduled to Meet With Most of the Top WR Prospects at the Combine

Today is Day 1 of the 2022 NFL Combine. Not so much Draft Geek Christmas, as it is the first day of the semester of a new class that's going to be a real bitch to pass, but you need it to graduate. Today is the equivalent of the professor writing his/her name on the board, handing out the syllabus and telling you what your assigned reading is going to be. The coaches are arriving in Indy. Some will take questions. Others will get right to the more important business of spending their expense account money in the hotel bar. But regardless, the first step in the draft process that will culminate with the final pick exactly two months from today is being taken. 

I'd make the point that this draft is crucial to the direction of the Patriots, but that's like calling Game 5 of a seven game series "pivotal" or an Academy Award win "historic." It's said so often as to be meaningless as well as just fucking lazy writing. While admittedly, in the case of this particular franchise and this particular draft, it is factually accurate. To put it in Combine workout terms, the Patriots did a 20-yard backpedal in 2020 as they were forced to clear cap space. Then took a huge broad jump forward last year as Bill Belichick won himself the Executive of the Year thanks to spending like a RHOBH in free agency and one of the best drafts of his career. But with nowhere near the money on hand they had last year, with the 2022 draft, they're going to have to out-high jump everyone, do more heavy lifting than the competition, and run 3-cone circles around the rest of the league if they're going to close the gap between themselves and the top-tier Super Bowl contenders. And, Belichick willin', surpass them. 

And while I'm spewing cliches I normally try to avoid, one of New England's priorities in this draft has to be the wideout position. A lot of people say that every year. In fact, I've been hearing it since the annual outcry to get Drew Bledsoe "some weapons" and young Tom Brady someone "who can take the top off the defense." While the decision to take Terry Glenn in 1996 cost them Bill Parcells and Brady won a half dozen Super Bowls throwing to late rounders and UDFAs. 

Still, wide receiver remains one of the sexiest positions in the draft. Even if it's among the hardest to scout and develop. No fan base ever complains when they're given a young, tall, rangy, athletic freak with blazing speed and Memory Foam-soft hands. Even if they don't always make for the ideal long term relationship, wideouts will always be more alluring than say, a dependable guard or loyal defensive tackle who'll bring you faithfulness and devotion. 

And yet, as someone who has long argued that a team is better off not falling for the sexy picks and building a winner from the inside-out, I'm beginning to come around somewhat. It was hard to watch the teams that have gone deep in the postseason these last couple of years and not conclude that we might finally have arrived at the Brave New World that Bill Polian envisioned when he got the Rules Committee to outlaw defense beginning in 2003. That maybe teams built like the 2018 Patriots are incapable of making postseason runs any more. That maybe, just maybe, you now need a Ja'Marr Chase in order to succeed in this day and age. 

If you're a Patriots fan and that's your way of thinking, I have good news for you:

Source - [A]s the 2022 NFL Combine begins Tuesday, a significant portion of Bill Belichick’s strategy is already clear.

It involves wide receivers.

Because the Patriots need talent there and are going to be doing their homework to get it.

The Patriots have set up combine meetings with a handful of receivers in Indianapolis, per a source familiar with plans.

The Patriots will be meeting with Chris Olave of Ohio State, Treylon Burks of Arkansas and Jameson Williams of Alabama among others, according to the source. And the club will be conducting these interviews back-to-back-to-back so as to directly compare the players one against another.

The source would not say whether the Patriots will meet with other receivers, although that is likely.

I say this with the caveat that meeting with a highly regarded prospect and drafting a highly regarded prospect are very, very different things entirely. The Patriots have a history of kicking the tires on players that are way out of their reach. In 2020, there was a lot made about Josh McDaniels working out Justin Herbert, whom they would've had to either given up their next two drafts to get or done a Jeff Gillooly on him. This is a franchise that has always done their due diligence on the top-of-the-draft prospects, even while drafting in the late 20s and, in the best of times, 32nd. 

But the fact they are already scheduled to meet with these three is significant, to say the least. Chris Olave, Treylon Burks and Jameson Williams are universally considered first rounders. NFL.com's Bucky Brooks has Williams as his No. 2 wideout and Burks his No. 5. According to NFL Mock Draft Database's Consensus Big Board, Burks is projected to be the 15th overall pick, Williams the 18th, and Olave the 24th. So all are right in the neighborhood of the Patriots first pick, the 21st. That's an awfully big cloud of smoke for their not to be at least some fire.

Again, this is just the first day of the semester, and there's a lot of studying ahead. But if you're hoping to see Mac Jones develop chemistry with another young, emerging superstar the way Joe Burrow got to with Chase, it's impossible not to fantasize about these names in what is considered an A+ WR class. Receivers work out on Thursday. Belichick and his staff will be watching closely, as will the rest of the world. And it can't come soon enough.