INDIANAPOLIS — The Patriots are working on a truncated schedule this offseason, which is an easier pill to swallow when you actually win the Super Bowl.
But after playing into the second week of February, head coach Mike Vrabel is doing some catching up on the 2026 NFL Draft class.
This week at the NFL Scouting Combine will help. Vrabel and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf identified two strengths of the draft early in the week, and both happen to be areas of need for the Patriots.
“I think this draft offers a lot of different depth at varying areas, edge being one of them,” Wolf said of outside linebackers/defensive ends on Tuesday. “I think it’s a fairly deep class at that position that’s obviously an area of need for our team, so it matches up nicely.”
“I think there’s volume at the tight end class,” Vrabel chimed in Wednesday. “Whether they’re premium players or what people would say are first-round picks, I just know that when you go and you evaluate other teams and you get ready to play for them, there’s a bunch of fourth- and fifth-round tight ends that end up starting, playing and contributing. So, wherever that value is, I just think that there are some names there. I, myself, personally, have to do a better job of evaluating that position that I can then give input to the rest of the personnel staff and kind of the vision that we have for that position.”
The Patriots pick 31st overall in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft and 63rd overall in the second round.
There are roughly eight edge defenders who could go in the first round of the draft in Texas Tech’s David Bailey, Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Ahkeem Mesidor, Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, Texas A&M’s Cashius Howell, Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas, Clemson’s T.J. Parker and Missouri’s Zion Young.
Among those, Bailey and Faulk will likely be gone by the time the Patriots are picking 31st overall.
Bain and Howell are currently ranked out of range of the Patriots’ pick, but their length could scare teams away. Yes, it’s another year when arm length is going to be a topic of conversation in the draft, just like last year with left tackle Will Campbell.
Howell’s arms measure just 30 1/4 inches. Bain’s arms measure in at 30 7/8 inches.
Bain ranked first with 83 total pressures last season among FBS edge rushers, per PFF. Howell registered 10.5 sacks.
Mesidor could also fall due to his age. He’ll already be 25 years old by the draft.
But the Patriots will have plenty of intel on both players due to the connections they have to the University of Miami in their front office.
Wolf, personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith, pro personnel director A.J. Highsmith and scouting assistant Cam McCormick are all University of Miami alums. Alonzo Highsmith was Miami’s general manager of football operations in 2022 and 2023 before joining Wolf with the Patriots.
“Keep building that Hurricane pipeline,” Mesidor said, via The Boston Globe.
Patriots starting outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson is an impending free agent. The team has four outside linebackers under contract in Harold Landry, Anfernee Jennings, Elijah Ponder and Bradyn Swinson.
Tight end Austin Hooper is also a free agent. Hunter Henry and CJ Dippre are under contract, and fullback/tight end Jack Westover is an exclusive-rights free agent.
Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq is the only tight end expected to be drafted in the first round. There are four other tight ends ranked in Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s Top 100 prospects list: Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers (No. 48), Ohio State’s Max Klare (No. 54), North Carolina State’s Justin Joly (No. 87) and Baylor’s Michael Trigg (No. 91).
Sadiq said Thursday that he met with the Patriots but will likely go before they select at 31st, so barring a trade up, they seem likely to take a young, developmental tight end on Day 2 or 3 of the draft.
Stowers led FBS tight ends with 769 receiving yards. Klare was less productive, but the Patriots selected another Ohio State skill player last year when they selected running back TreVeyon Henderson in the second round.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Vrabel, an Ohio State alum, went back to that well this spring.