Patriots’ Approach To Scouting Top NFL Draft Prospects Feels Odd

It’s a relatively small mistake in the grand scheme of things, but someone probably should have stopped USC, Texas, Alabama and Ohio State from simultaneously hosting their pro days Wednesday.

It’s making life difficult for a ton of NFL teams, as they’re forced to make a decision on which members of the organization they’re sending to each workout.

The Patriots, in particular, just decided to send everyone out to Southern California.

New England will have de facto general manager Eliot Wolf, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney all at USC today to watch Caleb Williams, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo will not be in attendance but will join that same group at Michigan, North Carolina and LSU’s pro days.

That will give the Patriots’ top decision-makers an opportunity to watch Williams, J.J. McCarthy, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels, the consensus top four quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Is it not a waste of resources sending all those guys to watch Williams, though?

Williams will in all likelihood be donning a Chicago Bears uniform this upcoming season, as he’s regarded as the future No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Brendan Rice, the son of Jerry Rice, will be catching passes from him and fits the timeline of when New England might pick a wideout in April, sure, but wouldn’t someone like Wolf or Van Pelt be better off somewhere else watching better wide receivers or offensive lineman?

Texas has two wideouts, Adonai Mitchell and Xavier Worthy, that could fall into New England’s laps at the No. 34 overall selection. The Longhorns also have tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders, and defensive lineman Byron Murphy II and T’Vondre Sweat, who helped them reach the College Football Playoff last season.

Alabama is Alabama, so despite the expectation they’re going to dip without Nick Saban, they’ve still got plenty of draftable players working out Wednesday. Wolf and/or Mayo would benefit from watching cornerbacks Kool-Aid McKinstry and Terrion Arnold, offensive tackle JC Latham, pass rushers Chris Braswell and Justin Eboigbe, wide receiver Jermaine Burton and running back Jase McClellan among others.

Mayo’s whereabouts are unknown Wednesday, so he very well could be in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Columbus, Ohio or Austin. The Patriots undoubtedly will have representation at all pro days, but come on? It just doesn’t seem like the best allocation of resources to have three people tasked with reshaping the offense all in the same place. If the Patriots have their eyes on Rice, fellow wide receiver Tahj Washington, running back MarShawn Lloyd and offensive lineman Jarrett Kingston, then all the power to them.

It would make more sense to have important people watching more valuable prospects.