How Bill Belichick Explained Patriots’ Puzzling First-Round Draft Pick

Why did the New England Patriots draft Cole Strange with the 29th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft? Because Bill Belichick didn’t believe they could get him later.

That’s the explanation the Patriots head coach gave Thursday night after his team made the most surprising selection of the first round, grabbing an interior offensive lineman from FCS program Chattanooga that most analysts had pegged as a third-rounder.

“Yeah, he wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” Belichick said in his virtual draft-night news conference.

At least one other NFL team disagreed. Rams head coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead laughed when they saw the Patriots’ selection, with McVay saying Los Angeles saw Strange as a potential option at pick No. 104.

The Patriots drafted Strange, a 2022 Senior Bowl standout who also impressed at the NFL Scouting Combine, after trading down from No. 21 overall, adding third- and fourth-round picks from the Kansas City Chiefs in the process. Belichick said there was a “good chance” Strange would have been the pick even if the Patriots had stayed in their original slot.

“If we had stayed at 21, then we would have obviously picked somebody,” he said. “Probably a good chance it would have been him. I don’t know. There were several teams that we talked to prior to when we made the trade. There were some other conversations going on there, but ultimately, that’s the one we chose.

“Glad Cole was there when we picked, and as I said, feel like we made the best decision that we could at 21.”

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After the Patriots traded down, a number of defensive prospects who were viewed as New England fits came off the board in quick succession: cornerback Trent McDuffie to Kansas City at No. 21, linebacker Quay Walker to Green Bay at No. 22, cornerback Kaiir Elam to Buffalo at No. 23, linebacker Devin Lloyd to Jacksonville at No. 27.

When the Patriots selected Strange, they chose him over defensive back Dax Hill, cornerbacks Andrew Booth and Kyler Gordon, edge rusher George Karlaftis and linebacker Nakobe Dean, all of whom were available at No. 29.

Strange, though an apparent reach, does fill a glaring need for New England, which entered the draft without an obvious starter at left guard. Strange started 42 games there in college, plus one at center and one at left tackle, and offers a compelling blend of athleticism, intelligence and toughness. He allowed just one sack, one quarterback hit in three hurries in 11 games last season, per Pro Football Focus.

During his introductory conference call, Strange described his playing style as “aggressive and relentless.”

“He’s long. He’s athletic. He’s physically tough. He’s an aggressive player,” Belichick said. “I think he has a good combination of skills, run and pass, movement, length, strength, again, all of which will hopefully get better, like they will with any player coming from college to the National Football League. But I think he has a good skill set, and he’s a smart player that makes a lot of good decisions on the interior line there, timing, when to come off, and combo blocks, things like that. …

“Cole fits well into our team and our system, and we obviously think he’s a good player.”

Belichick downplayed the positional need, however, saying the Patriots’ vacancy at left guard after losing Ted Karras in free agency was not a major factor in Thursday’s pick.

“No, not really,” he said. “I don’t think we ever intentionally go into a draft trying to say, ‘Well, we have to get this position or that position.’ Sometimes it works out that way, which it did last year (with quarterback Mac Jones), and it did this year. But it wasn’t like there weren’t other positions and other players that we would have considered.”

The Patriots currently own three picks on Day 2 (Nos. 54, 85 and 94) and six more on Day 3.