INDIANAPOLIS — The Patriots entered the NFL Scouting Combine with the goal to return the team to “respectability” this offseason.
They certainly have people talking in Indianapolis.
Director of scouting Eliot Wolf and head coach Jerod Mayo’s candor in in front of the press this week has caught media members and team and league staffers by surprise. The most notable takeaway from people around the league is Wolf’s willingness to discuss the team’s change to the grading system.
“The previous Patriots system was more, this is what the role is and this is more value-based. I think it makes it a lot easier for scouts to rate guys and put them in a stack of this guy’s the best, this guy’s the worst, and everything in between falls into place, rather than more nuanced approaches,” Wolf said Tuesday. “I just think it accounts for value better.”
The system, which comes from Wolf and senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith’s time with the Packers and Browns, assigns a round grade to a player in what should be a more streamlined approach that’s helped by Wolf’s ability to scout during the season. Reports can be less detailed since they’re not being given to a de facto GM, like Bill Belichick, whose primary responsibility is to coach during the season. It should result in the best players available being taken rather than specific fits to the team.
The Patriots’ old grading system was long effective for a team whose offense and defense remained mostly unchanged during Belichick’s tenure. But new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt said last week that he plans to run a similar offense to the one Kevin Stefanski deploys with the Browns but built around the Patriots’ strengths, of which the team’s offense is currently mostly devoid.
Their needs start at quarterback, and the Patriots have met with all of the top prospects at the position, including USC’s Caleb Williams, UNC’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy and Oregon’s Box Nix.
“Look, everyone wants to big armed and mobility and things like that. But I do think it’s important just to get a good sense of what type of competitor they are, their toughness and things like that,” Mayo said in what he looks for in a QB.
It’s still two months away from the draft, but one league source said he would be shocked if the Patriots don’t take a QB at No. 3 overall. One of their other options at the position is impending free-agent quarterback Baker Mayfield, but he’s expected to come with a hefty pricetag.
The Patriots have the third-most cap space in the NFL to improve its offense, which Wolf said Tuesday he hopes to “weaponize.”
“It looks like putting people on the offensive side of the ball that the defensive side has to prepare for, whether that’s double teaming or anything like that,” Mayo said Wednesday “weaponizing” the offense. “But that’s what he means by that.”
Wolf came up through the Packers’ front office, which was previously run by his father, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Wolf, that historically built through the draft, not free agency.
Eliot Wolf was asked Tuesday if the Patriots plan to be aggressive in free agency since Mayo said earlier this offseason that the team has cash to burn. He would only say that he would “aggressively try to help the team … whether that means spending or saving.”
“It’s hard to build a sustainable team through free agency,” Mayo said. “But you do want those pieces that you can kind of plug in. One thing I would say about free agents, you’ve got to make sure that a good culture fit or culture add, as well. So that’s definitely important for us.”
One way the Patriots could spend their money is to re-sign offensive lineman Mike Onwenu and safety Kyle Dugger rather than adding outside free agents. Both Wolf and Mayo have made it clear that they want both players to stick around.
Onwenu and Dugger will not come cheap, but the Patriots also know they can thrive.
“You develop through the draft. So if those guys stay, obviously, they’ve been raised here and they can help push the culture forward,” Mayo said.
The Patriots have also put an emphasis on getting younger. Mayo and Wolf told reporters separately this week that the Patriots will rely more on inexperienced players under their leadership compared to past years. Wolf highlighted that difference when asked specifically how his roster-building philosophy will differ from Belichick’s.
“I think there’s just going to be a little bit more reliance on playing young players,” Wolf said Tuesday. “I think it’s really important in today’s football to be able to play young players and develop from within.
On Wednesday, Mayo confirmed the Patriots will prioritize playing time for younger players and offered two reasons behind the change.
“You want to play younger players because, I mean, first of all, they’re cheaper,” Mayo said with a smile. “And then second of all, I want to say you want to have a good mix, though. You can’t have all 22-, 23-year-olds out there. You need that 30-year-old that can kind of settle everyone down that has that experience, too.”
During Belichick’s tenure, the Patriots annually fielded one of the oldest rosters in the league, which often provided consistent advantages; fewer penalties, greater game-planning flexibility and the ability to enact in-game adjustments more quickly. Wolf’s comments Tuesday followed an admission that the Patriots’ defense must get faster and more explosive, though Mayo dismissed that as a “pretty general comment” on Wednesday.