It sure seems like Matt Groh wanted to make a statement Friday night.
The New England Patriots haven’t exactly received high marks for their performance in the 2022 NFL Draft. The selection of guard/center Cole Strange with the 29th pick was viewed by some as a major reach, as was New England’s decision to trade up in the second round for receiver Tyquan Thornton, a player whom some believed could’ve been available in Round 5. All the while, some Patriots rivals have been aggressive in pursuing players with Round 1 grades (New York Jets), with others receiving praise for perceived mastery of the draft board (Baltimore Ravens).
And some of the criticism probably is fair. Strange and Thornton both could turn into great players, but the draft also is about using resources to maneuver around the board and maximize value. Many would argue that using a first-round pick on an interior offensive lineman with a Day 2 grade is an example of poor draft management.
However, there also is something to be said for going into a draft with a clear idea of which players you want and ensuring you end the day with them on your roster. The Patriots, under pressure to replicate the success they enjoyed in last year’s draft, simply might prefer to land the exact players they covet and avoid any risk of them going elsewhere.
Groh, in his first year as New England’s director of player personnel, clearly has heard some of the criticism. If you doubt that, you need only listen to Les Snead revealing that Sean McVay contacted Bill Belichick and the Patriots to clear the air about the video of him laughing over the selection of Strange.
While speaking with reporters early Saturday morning, Groh was asked about the notion that New England might’ve over-drafted with Strange and Thornton. His answer was telling.
“Yeah, I think that’s really easy for people to say,” Groh said. “Nobody knows what the teams are going to do behind you. When you come back up you don’t want to miss out on a player. I think it’s very easy. Sometimes you hear why — and not just in football — why did they trade for this guy? This team gave a second. Why didn’t we give a second? If they had just given it — well, if the other team’s second is better than your second, then you’re having to give up a one. It’s not all so cut and dry with where you think a guy is going to go, and you’ve got to look at what the rest of the board is telling you. If you value a player high enough, then you want that player to be a part of your team.
“That’s certainly how we feel about Cole. We’re really excited to have Cole aboard. You want to talk about value, the guy started at three positions on the offensive line. I think it’s kind of easy to pigeonhole him as a guard. He does a lot. This guy is really tough. He’s really smart. He’s almost 6-5, 300 pounds, and runs sub-5 seconds in the 40. There’s not a lot of humans out there that are doing that, benched 225, 31 times. This is a really big, strong, tough, athletic guy. If you value toughness, which we do, you value guys like Cole Strange.”
The transcript doesn’t do Groh justice. When you watch and listen to him, you can tell he entered the news conference ready to make a point and defend the Patriots.
Groh was similarly direct while talking about Thornton and Patriots third-round pick Marcus Jones. He also further underscored the point that New England eyed the draft as an opportunity to get tougher and more explosive on both sides of the ball.
“We take it all in and we consider it all,” Groh said when asked about Thornton’s uneven combine performance. “No. 1 thing is you’ve got to consider what the player does and how the player is going to help you. You want to get faster. Just like if you want to get tougher, you’d better get tough guys. You want to get faster, you’d better get fast guys. I don’t know how many guys out there are faster than Tyquan.
“So, we’re really excited to be able to add him and his explosive playmaking. He is fast. To be able to get some toughness and some athleticism on the first night, and I think these other two guys, Tyquan and Marcus Jones, they’re certainly tough guys, too, but at their positions, at the skill positions, they are fast.”
You can’t blame Groh for pushing back against his critics in such a passionate manner. He recently was promoted to a dream job, and this is his first time working a draft while in that role. Groh, viewed by some as a surprise, strange hire, has a lot to prove.
Moreover, many Patriots coaches, executives and scouts have been working tirelessly throughout the draft process. It can’t be fun to put in that much work, only to see the top newspaper in Boston call the franchise a “laughingstock.”
Hyperbolic headlines aside, the Patriots, though still deserving the benefit of the doubt, have created an opening for valid criticism. And while they obviously hear the chatter, they’re not letting it affect how they want to approach this draft.
Time will tell whether their convictions still produce championship football.
