The Patriots got a good one here.
After the Mac Jones experiment failed miserably, the New England Patriots drafted their hopeful quarterback of the future on Thursday in UNC standout Drake Maye. And on Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft, they brought in a proven weapon for him.
The Pats took Washington wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk at 37th overall, one of Michael Penix Jr’s top targets for the Huskies. This is a really nice pick for the franchise, giving Maye someone he can rely on downfield. The signal-caller also reacted to the selection and appears to be excited about building a partnership with Polk:
Drake Maye ready to build a connection with Ja’Lynn Polk! #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/W9X5PwmmaC
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) April 27, 2024
Ja’Lynn Polk was great at Washington
While guys like Malik Nabers, Keon Coleman, Marvin Harrison Jr, and Rome Odunze were always expected to be drafted before Polk, he’s still a very intriguing prospect who produced the goods in college. Polk began his career at Texas Tech in 2020 but saw limited playing time, eventually transferring to Washington. His first year in Seattle was also limited before proving his worth in 2022.
Polk reeled in 41 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns. Penix Jr and Polk had a wonderful connection. That continued in 23′ when he had 69 grabs for 1,159 yards and nine touchdowns. Polk is a tremendous athlete who can get up and haul in catches with ease. Some NFL scouts believe he could have the best hands in this entire draft class.
How does he fit with Patriots?
It’s common knowledge the Patriots offense was atrocious last year, ranking 31st in the league. They scored just 13.9 points per game. It truly couldn’t have been any worse and it’s a big reason the Bill Belichick era ended. No one is saying Maye is going to be the savior, but there is hope and it helps to have another wideout to help him out.
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As things stand, New England’s WR room consists of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Polk, Kendrick Bourne, DeMario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, and Jalen Reagor, among a couple of others. Douglas led the Pats in receptions last year but Bourne is probably WR1 when healthy.
Maye has a very strong throwing arm and likes the deep balls, which is an area Polk excels as well. The former Washington Huskies star can easily be a WR2 at the NFL level and can play both inside or outside. He could become a solid player for the Patriots with time as they look to rebuild their roster after the firing of Belichick.
New England has only had two picks so far in the draft and they used both of them to improve the offense. As you can see by the 23′ numbers, it’s clearly the No. 1 priority. Past wide receivers taken by the Pats have struggled immensely to live up to expectations. Since the year 2000, none of the WRs drafted by the organization in the first three rounds have registered 1,000-yard receiving seasons or made a Pro Bowl, per NFL.com. Hopefully, Polk can be on the right side of history.
The Patriots will be in the driver’s seat again at No. 68 in the third round of the draft.
