Patriots Fans Will Love Draft Pick Cole Strange’s Self-Scouting Report

Patriots fans might not have agreed with the Cole Strange pick. But they’ll likely appreciate the way the offensive lineman introduced himself to New England.

Shortly after the Patriots selected him Thursday night with the 29th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Strange was asked to explain his playing style.

“My playing style is aggressive and relentless,” the Chattanooga product replied during his introductory conference call. “… I have always wanted to play my own game and make it to where people are saying ‘I’d love to play like Cole Strange.’ I have never really looked at anyone else and wanted to emulate what they were doing.

“I wanted to create my own way of playing which is aggressive and trying to play nasty, which is the way I think the game of football is supposed to be played.”

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Great answer.

Head coach Bill Belichick, who said he believed Strange “wouldn’t have lasted much longer” had the Patriots not picked him where they did, used one of those same adjectives — “aggressive” — to describe his top 2022 draftee.

“He’s long, he’s athletic. He’s physically tough. He’s an aggressive player,” Belichick said in a Zoom conference. “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.”

Belichick said Strange “fits well into our team and our system.”

“Obviously, we think he’s a good player,” he said.

Strange’s athleticism, intelligence, toughness, experience (44 collegiate starts, including 42 at left guard) and intangibles (team captain, Senior Bowl standout) made him an obvious fit for a Patriots team that needed a new starting guard. But he was widely viewed as a Day 2 prospect entering the draft, with most experts projecting he’d be selected in the third round.

The Patriots’ decision to take him with the fourth-to-last pick of Round 1 — after trading down eight spots from No. 21 and passing on several highly touted defensive players — made him Thursday night’s most surprising selection.