Patriots’ Conviction On Picks Symbolizes Win On Day Two

The Patriots wanted Ja’Lynn Polk and Caedan Wallace on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, and they got ’em without much trouble at all.

Is Polk going to be able to revitalize an entire receiving corps? Is Wallace capable of sliding over to the left side?

We’re going to have to wait on the answers to those questions, but landing their two targets should be viewed as an automatic win for the Patriots.

New England moved around a bit, but essentially dug its heels into the ground when making the selections. Polk was taken at No. 37, just three spots later than the Patriots’ original pick after they did trade back. Wallace was the pick at No. 68, as Eliot Wolf and company felt no need to move.

“We felt like Polk was the player that we were going to pick at No. 34, and we felt based on some of the intel that we had from other teams that we would be able to trade back a little bit and still get him,” Wolf told members of the media after making the picks. “We made that deal and were able to move up from the fifth to the fourth with the Chargers.

“… (The run on tackles was) part of the reason we decided not to move back. It was just kind of like, ‘Well, let’s not chance it. This is the player we had targeted all along anyway. Let’s just pick him.'”

Polk and Wallace weren’t exactly viewed as slam-dunk prospects for the spots in which they were taken, but you can say that for a lot of really solid players around the NFL. We don’t have the benefit of seeing them in action, yet, so all you can do at this point is judge the process.

“It fell really nicely for us. Polk was a guy we had targeted; Wallace was a guy we had targeted,” Wolf said. “… So, sometimes it doesn’t fall for you; it fell pretty nicely for us today.”

It’ll probably be questioned to death over the coming months, but isn’t that good thing? The Patriots felt conviction in their board Friday, and ultimately got what they wanted, which in and of itself should be viewed as a win for the new regime.