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Inside the New England Patriots Draft Room: Who Will Join the Super Bowl Champions

By Shawn Spencer

Dec 18, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks the sidelines in the second half against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 18, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick walks the sidelines in the second half against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports /
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Trey Flowers Patriots draft
Dec 12, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers (98) waits for a snap during the first half of a game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /

Defensive Ends

One area in which the Patriots were often criticized last season was the lack of anything resembling a pass rush. This may be frustrating to watch as a fan, but it’s all a part of Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia’s “bend, don’t break defense.” The pass rush did improve once Trey Flowers was let loose, but the loss of Chandler Jones was evident.

Jabaal Sheard and Barkevious Mingo were disappointments and both have left town. So has Chris Long, who played well in a limited role. Whether it is at the defensive end or outside linebacker position, New England needs to find more players who can get after the quarterback.

Highly-valued skills:

height, hand size, 40-yard dash, vertical, broad jump, three cone, short shuttle (144 graded)

1. Myles Garrett (Texas A&M) – 77.7%

2. Jordan Willis (Kansas State) – 44.4%

3. Daeshon Hall (Texas A&M) – 33.3%

3. Trey Hendrickson (Florida Atlantic) – 33.3%

3. Solomon Thomas (Stanford) – 33.3%

6. Derek Rivers (Youngstown State) – 11.1%

Fell below the minimum threshold in one category, but still finished with a positive score:

1. Cameron Malveaux (Houston) – 27.7%

2. Deatrich Wise, Jr. (Arkansas) – 5.5%

2. Chris Wormley (Michigan) – 5.5%

By far the highest scorer at defensive end is Myles Garrett, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking Cleveland, no matter how desperate for a quarterback they may be, is willing to trade the number one pick for Jimmy Garoppolo. Of the six prospects who scored well and met the minimum thresholds, only Daeshon Hall and Trey Hendrickson are projected to still be on the board by the time New England is on the clock.

Hall is the taller and longer of the two, but Hendrickson has the edge athletically. Hendrickson would also provide the Patriots more flexibility as he can stand up and drop into coverage a la Rob Ninkovich.

Another option would be more of a power player such as Michigan’s Chris Wormley. Wormley scored high as both a defensive end and defensive tackle, but New England signed a similar player, Lawrence Guy, this offseason.

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