Patriots’ Eliot Wolf Severely Downplays Top NFL Draft Need

FOXBORO, Mass. — If you ask anyone about the Patriots’ three biggest needs entering the 2024 NFL Draft, you’ll get the same answer.

New England has to find a quarterback, get him a quality wide receiver to throw the ball to and draft his new blindside (sorry, Michael Penix Jr.) protector. It’s been written in stone for months, if not years, at this point.

Eliot Wolf, who ultimately will be making the decisions for New England, doesn’t see it the same way.

Wolf, just one week before the biggest night of his professional life, sat before reporters at Gillette Stadium and answered questions regarding the Patriots’ future. He touched on a litany of subjects, but one thing that came as a bit of a surprise was his insistence that New England was A-OK on the offensive line.

“I do read a lot about that storyline,” Wolf admitted. “I’m not really sure what that means. I think we have a solid offensive line. David Andrews is coming back. We have three rookies we drafted last year that are developing. We signed (Chukwuma) Okorafor from the Steelers… We have a solid foundation and a solid system in place, so I definitely feel like it’s (overblown).”

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The Patriots have a foundation, sure, but Wolf still never mentioned who would be the left tackle if they didn’t draft one.

“If the season started tomorrow I think it would be Okorafor,” Wolf said after directly being asked about New England’s current top option. “He played there in college, so we went back and watched that film. … He’s an athletic, big guy, so we think he can make that transition back.”

Oh.

Okorafor, like Wolf mentioned, hasn’t played much on the left side since his days at Western Michigan. Is it fair to write him off before he gets to learn a new system and potentially find his footing? No, but it also isn’t fair to expect that he will, either.

The Patriots could very well be posturing. Wolf says he likes the talent they have at wide receiver, too, and we all know how the public feels about that group. New England could very well be trying to throw people off its scent, but if Wolf genuinely believes he doesn’t need to target wide receiver and tackle, the draft could end up being a long few days at One Patriot Place.