In an effort to learn more about the New England Patriots’ 2023 NFL Draft class, we took a by-the-numbers deep dive into each of their 12 new draftees.
All measurables and testing numbers were taken from the NFL Scouting Combine unless otherwise specified. Ages listed as of the start of the 2023 season. Percentiles courtesy of Mockdraftable. Other data via Pro Football Focus and The Athletic’s draft guide.
Let’s jump in:
CB CHRISTIAN GONZALEZ, OREGON
First round, 17th overall
Age: 21
2022 stats: 50 tackles, one tackle for loss, 11 passes defended, four interceptions in 12 games (all starts)
Career stats: 123 tackles, 6 1/2 TFLs, 20 passes defended, four interceptions in 30 games (all starts)
Measurables:
— Gonzalez is a freak athlete regardless of position. His 40-yard dash, broad jump and vertical jump all ranked in the 96th percentile or better among the 7,744 total players in Mockdraftable’s database.
— Gonzalez ended a streak of 30 consecutive starts when he opted out of Oregon’s bowl game last season. He did not miss a game due to injury in his three-year college career.
— The primary critiques about Gonzalez’s game are his tackling ability and relative lack of aggression and intensity. Pro Football Focus credited him with just three missed tackles last season, though, and a solid missed tackle rate of 6%.
— Gonzalez mostly played as a wide cornerback for the Ducks (501 snaps, per PFF) but also logged 137 snaps in the slot and 73 in the box.
— All four of Gonzalez’s collegiate interceptions came in 2022, after he transferred to Oregon from Colorado. He averaged 29.5 yards per return on those picks.
— Gonzalez blocked one field goal last season.
DE KEION WHITE, GEORGIA TECH
Second round, 46th overall
Age: 24
2022 stats: 54 tackles, 14 TFLs, 7 1/2 sacks, one pass defended in 12 games (all starts)
Career stats: 120 tackles, 33 1/2 TFLs, 11 sacks, one forced fumble, three passes defended, one interception in 36 games (33 starts)
Measurables:
— After only participating in jumps and the bench press at the combine, White ran a 4.76-second 40 at his pro day. Only three players at the last 10 combines ran that fast or faster at 285 pounds or heavier, per Pro-Football-Reference: Khalil Davis, John Cominsky and Aaron Donald.
— White lined out outside the tackle on 446 snaps last season, over the tackle on 96, in the B-gap on 39 and in the A-gap on eight, per PFF.
— White began his college career as a tight end at Old Dominion. He switched to defense ahead of the 2019 season but had his 2020 campaign wiped out by the pandemic and played just four games in 2021 after suffering a serious ankle injury in a pickup basketball game. In his two full seasons on defense, White totaled 11 sacks and 33 TFLs.
LB/S MARTE MAPU, SACRAMENTO STATE
Third round, 76th overall
Age: 23
2022 stats: 76 tackles, 6 1/2 TFLs, one sack, six passes defended, two interceptions in 13 games (all starts)
Career stats: 165 tackles, 13 TFLs, one sack, one forced fumble, 22 passes defended, seven interceptions in 41 games (27 starts)
Measurables: 6-foot-3, 221 pounds, 33 1/2-inch arms, 9 3/8-inch hands, 78 3/4-inch wing span at pro day; did not test due to pectoral injury (not invited to combine)
— Playing a position called “rover”, Mapu lined up all over Sacramento State’s defense: linebacker, strong safety, slot defender, free safety and even on the edge at times. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was cagey about what role he’ll play in the NFL but said it could change “week to week.”
— Mapu was the Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference last season but had better pass defense stats in 2021, intercepting four passes and breaking up 10 more.
— The Patriots list Mapu as a 217-pound linebacker. If he does work with that position group — and not with the defensive backs like fellow hybrids Kyle Dugger, Adrian Phillips and Jabrill Peppers — he’d be by far New England’s lightest ‘backer. Practice squaders Terez Hall and Calvin Munson are tied for second-smallest at 235 pounds each, and nearly every other is above 240.
— Mapu is one of two players from the Football Championship Subdivision in this Patriots draft class (along with seventh-round receiver Isaiah Bolden). New England also drafted two FCS players last year in Cole Strange (Chattanooga) and Pierre Strong (South Dakota State).
OL JAKE ANDREWS, TROY
Fourth round, 107th overall
Age: 23
2022 stats: 14 starts at center
Career stats: 15 starts at center, 23 starts at right guard (52 appearances)
Measurables:
— Andrews played 914 of a possible 917 offensive snaps last season, his first as a full-time center. He was the highest-graded offensive lineman in the Sun Belt Conference by PFF.
— Andrews allowed six sacks in 1,653 career pass-blocking snaps.
— Andrews was the first Troy player drafted since 2017, when the Patriots took Antonio Garcia in the third round.
K CHAD RYLAND, MARYLAND
Fourth round, 112th overall
Age: 23
2022 stats: 19-for-23 on field-goal attempts (82.6%) in 13 games
Career stats: 75-for-97 on field-goal attempts (77.3%) in 58 games
Measurables:
— Ryland posted field-goal conversion rates above 82% in each of his last three seasons. He missed just once from inside 50 yards in 2022, going 3-for-6 from 50-plus with a long of 53.
— Ryland delivered touchbacks on 51 of his 73 kickoffs last season (69.9%). The 2022 Patriots struggled in that area following Jake Bailey’s season-ending injury, with Nick Folk and Tristan Vizcaino combining for just three touchbacks on their 39 kickoffs. All of New England’s NFL-high three kick-return touchdowns allowed came on Folk kickoffs.
— Ryland played his first four seasons at Eastern Michigan, where he was teammates and close friends with fellow Patriots fourth-round pick Sidy Sow. He left as the program’s all-time leading scorer.
— Ryland is the Patriots’ highest-drafted specialist of the Bill Belichick era, going six spots ahead of where Stephen Gostkowski was picked in 2006. He also was the only player New England traded up to select in this year’s draft.
OL SIDY SOW, EASTERN MARYLAND
Fourth round, 117th overall
Age: 25
2022 stats: 12 starts at left guard
Career stats: 44 starts at left guard, 11 starts at left tackle (57 appearances)
Measurables:
— Sow allowed just two sacks last season and six in his college career. He played more than 3,600 snaps at Eastern Michigan and surrendered pressures on less than 2% of them (66 total). Sow also committed just one penalty (a false start) in 2022.
— Sow’s 55 starts and 57 appearances were Eastern Michigan records.
— The vast majority of that collegiate action came at left guard, but the Patriots reportedly plan to try Sow out at tackle, where he started 11 games as a redshirt freshman but hasn’t played since 2018. His arms are on the shorter side for that position, but they’re longer than Riley Reiff’s and Calvin Anderson’s.
— Sow, who grew up a diehard Montreal Canadiens fan in Bromont, Quebec, was one of five Canadian-born prospects selected in this year’s draft.
OL ATONIO MAFI, UCLA
Fifth round, 144th overall
Age: 22
2022 stats: 13 starts at left guard
Career stats: 13 starts at left guard, three starts at left guard (56 appearances total, including 24 at defensive tackle)
Measurables: 6-foot-2 1/2, 329 pounds, 32 5/8-inch arms, 10 3/8-inch hands, 79 3/4-inch wingspan, 21 bench press reps at pro day; did not test in other drills due to calf strain (not invited to combine)
— Mafi played his first two seasons at UCLA as a D-tackle before switching to the O-line in 2020. Last season was his first as a full-time starter on offense.
— Mafi shed more than 80 pounds over the course of his college career, reportedly topping out at 411.
— Mafi’s 56 total games played were a UCLA record.
WR KAYSHON BOUTTE, LSU
Sixth round, 187th overall
Age: 21
2022 stats: 48 catches, 538 yards, two touchdowns in 11 games (10 starts)
Career stats: 131 catches, 1,782 yards, 16 touchdowns in 27 games (21 starts)
Measurables:
— Boutte was the No. 2-ranked receiver in the 2020 recruiting class. He capped a promising freshman season with three straight 100-yard games, including a 14-catch, 308-yard, three-touchdown bonanza against Ole Miss, then had 38 catches for 509 yards and nine scores in just six games as a sophomore before going down with a season-ending broken ankle.
Boutte clashed with LSU’s coaches during his recovery from that injury and underwhelmed in 2022, recording career lows in yards per catch (11.2) and touchdowns while dropping seven passes.
— Boutte said an ankle injury influenced his poor combine showing, which featured an especially ugly vertical jump. The 7.14-second three-cone drill he ran at his pro day also ranked among the slowest by any Patriots wideout drafted under Belichick, though it was a few ticks faster than the 7.25 that Tyquan Thornton notched ahead of last year’s draft.
— Boutte was the fastest wideout in LSU history — a history that includes names like Odell Beckham Jr. and Justin Jefferson — to reach 100 career catches.
P BRYCE BARINGER, MICHIGAN STATE
Sixth round, 192nd overall
Age: 24
2022 stats: 49.0 yards per punt in 12 games
Career stats: 46.0 yards per punt in 36 games
Measurables:
— Twenty-four of Baringer’s 50 punts last season traveled 50-plus yards, and 12 were fair-caught. Four resulted in touchbacks, down from eight in 2021.
— Baringer’s 49.0 yards-per-punt average as a senior led the nation, and his career mark of 46.0 set a Big Ten record.
— Unlike Bailey, Baringer does not have much kickoff experience. He kicked off just once in four seasons at Michigan State.
WR DEMARIO DOUGLAS, LIBERTY
Sixth round, 210th overall
Age: 22
2022 stats: 79 catches, 993 yards, six touchdowns in 13 games (11 starts)
Career stats: 172 catches, 2,193 yards, 16 touchdowns in 40 games (17 starts)
Measurables:
— Douglas is tiny for a wideout — almost identical in size to Marcus Jones, who was the smallest player on the Patriots’ roster last season. But as those testing numbers show, he’s both fast and explosive, with especially impressive jumps for a player his size.
— Douglas, the first Liberty product ever drafted by New England, almost singlehandedly carried his team’s passing game last season. None of his teammates had more than 25 catches.
— As a punt returner, Douglas averaged 7.1 yards per return on 54 career attempts and scored two touchdowns. He also had a 75-yard rushing touchdown last season on a traditional backfield handoff.
— The Patriots used to look for slot receivers with lightning-quick short shuttle and three-cone times, but they’ve drifted away from that prototype since Julian Edelman’s retirement. Douglas, who ran a 7.05-second three-cone at his pro day, was average to below average in both of those metrics.
— Mockdraftable’s top two athletic comps for Douglas were Tyler Scott and Josh Downs, potential Patriots targets in this year’s draft who went in Round 4 to Chicago and Round 3 to Indianapolis, respectively.
CB AMEER SPEED, MICHIGAN STATE
Sixth round, 214th overall
Age: 23
2022 stats: 62 tackles, one TFL, five passes defended in 12 games (11 starts)
Career stats: 87 tackles, one TFL, six passes defended in 60 games (14 starts)
Measurables: 6-foot-3, 209 pounds, 32 5/8-inch arms, 8 5/8-inch hands, 78 3/4-inch wingspan, 4.33-second 40-yard dash, 1.56-second 10-yard split, 32 1/2-inch vertical jump, 123-inch broad jump, 4.26-second short shuttle, 6.99-second three-cone drill, 14 bench-press reps at pro day (not invited to combine)
— Speed only had a regular defensive role in one of his six collegiate seasons. He spent his first five at Georgia, where he played more snaps on special teams than he did at cornerback. He was recognized as the most outstanding special teams player on the 2021 Bulldogs team that won the national championship.
— Speed’s 4.33-second 40 would have been tied for the fourth-fastest at this year’s combine, and he’s at least four inches taller than the three players who ran faster.
CB ISAIAH BOLDEN, JACKSON STATE
Seventh round, 245th overall
Age: 23
2022 stats: 44 tackles, 2 1/2 TFLs, seven passes defended in 13 games (11 starts)
Career stats: 64 tackles, 2 1/2 TFLs, 11 passes defended, one interception in 40 games (13 starts)
Measurables: 6-foot-2, 201 pounds, 32 3/4-inch arms, 8 3/4-inch hands, 76-inch wingspan, 4.33-second 40-yard dash, 1.54-second 10-yard split, 38-inch vertical jump, 129-inch broad jump, 4.63-second short shuttle at pro day (not invited to combine)
— Like Speed, Bolden also didn’t see much defensive playing time before his senior season. His lone interception came in 2018, when he was playing for Florida State.
— Before he became a starting cornerback in Deion Sanders’ defense last season, Bolden was a superb kick returner for Jackson State. He led all of Division I with 36.9 yards per kick return in 2021 and returned two for touchdowns.
— Bolden’s blazing 40 matched Speed’s, and he tested significantly better in both jumps, though worse in the short shuttle.
