The Patriots Might Have Addressed Their Biggest 2022 Need with a 2021 Draft Pick
Paul Sancya. Shutterstock Images.After watching the last few games of the 2021 season, especially the two against Buffalo, saying that the Patriots needed to get younger and more athletic at linebacker was stating the painfully obvious. Like saying Maverick and Goose (RIP) need speed. Or that Ray Liotta (RIP) needed Chantrix. That America needs more baby formula. Or the Irish Rose deserves a man who's more attentive to all her needs, emotional, spiritual, physical and HGTV related.
Their interest in getting younger at the position was made clear - crystal -
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… by the way they let starters Dont'a Hightower, Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins go at the end of the season. Then muddied considerably by the way they pulled the trigger on 10 draft picks, only three of whom were on defense, and only one of whom is a Front-7 player, defensive end Sam Roberts out of NW Missouri State, with the 200th pick. The absence of any real draft capital being spend on such a blatantly apparent area of desperate need seemed to defy logic.
Unless.
Unless the coaches and personnel staffs believe they'd already addressed the 2022 Pats LB/DE needs in the previous drafts. Meaning Anfernee Jennings (Alabama, 87th pick in 2020), Josh Uche (Michigan, 60th, 2020), Ronnie Perkins (Oklahoma, 96th, 2021), and the subject of this post, Cameron McGrone.
McGrone redshirted as a rookie last year after being taken in the 5th round out of Michigan. An early round projection throughout his career in Ann Arbor, he blew out his ACL in his final year and fell to New England with the No. 177th pick. (Note: Tell us again how NILs will corrupt the college game again there, Coach McMillions.) So Belichick took one of his classic minimal cost/high upside, late-round flyers on him. A bargain off the Irregular rack at the NFL's Marshall's. A draft-and-stash pick by a franchise that has traditionally put tremendous faith in the power of modern medical science to repair a knee ligament.
As such, we haven't heard from McGrone until this week's workouts:
Source - “With my knee, there’s no problem,” McGrone said after Monday’s practice. “That’s a thing of the past. I’m just looking forward now.” …
Director of player personnel Matt Groh said the team is treating the Michigan product — who at just 21 years old is the third-youngest player on New England’s roster — like a de facto member of its 2022 draft class. …
Groh said the Patriots are “excited to see (McGrone) be in an expanded role” this season. …
[Last season] he was able to practice for three weeks late in the year. During that time, he thoroughly impressed Steve Belichick, who recently said McGrone “really didn’t look in any sort of way out of place” amid a roster of veteran players who all were in midseason form.
“It definitely helped a lot,” McGrone said of his practice cameo, which ended when he reverted to the physically unable to perform list in December. “Spending all that time in the rooms with the older guys watching film and just learning there, and then to be able to put it on the field just for a couple weeks towards the end of the season was really good for me.” …
It’s rare for the Patriots to hype up a young player the way Groh and Belichick have this spring, especially one who has yet to play a single snap in the regular or preseason. They clearly like what they’ve seen from the young ‘backer behind the scenes, and his skill set should give New England a jolt of speed and explosiveness it lacked at the second level last season. …
“I definitely believe it’s my strong suit — speed,” McGrone said. “I think anywhere the ball is on the field, I can get there.”
That would be this skill set, speed and explosiveness:
From the prospect Pro Football Network described as:
Explosive, forceful linebacker who is best defending the run. Quick to read and diagnose, physical, and takes proper angles to the action. Displays a good head for the ball, quickly locates the ball handler, and easily changes direction. Possesses an explosive closing burst, wraps up tackling, and brings opponents down in the open field. Gets depth on pass drops, displays solid footwork moving in any direction, and stays downfield with tight ends. Athletic. Sells out on the blitz. …
McGrone was a terrific linebacker for Michigan the past two seasons and has the ability to line up on the inside of a 3-4 alignment or as a traditional middle linebacker. He’s a fierce defender with great explosion and only needs to make plays when the ball is in the air to complete his game. …
He was ranked as the 118th player in the nation and seventh outside linebacker. …
It’s easy to see why he was so heavily recruited.
All that on his job application, coming from a big Patriots feeder program, with a year already spent in the meeting rooms and some time on the practice field (the way say, Damien Harris got to sit and learn before breaking out in his second season), and McGrone doesn't even turn 22 until next month.
And while at 6-foot-1, 238 pounds, he's by no means the sort of size profile they've gravitated to over the course of the Dynasty Era. But McGrone's selection, as well as the apparent faith they're showing that he's ready to play a significant role in a desperate area of priority, is tacit acknowledgement they understand his type is where they linebacker position has evolved to. Faster, smaller, better in the coverage game, but still capable of getting in the backfield when called upon. And, like the veterans he'll be replacing, "fierce and explosive."
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None of which is to guarantee he'll be that guy. But if they think he can be, it explains a lot about the way they've built this roster. And if he actually turns out to be, it's a genius move. We'd better hope he is.