By Taking WR Ja'Lynn Polk in the 2nd, it's Clear the Patriots are Focused on Their Offense. In 2025.
Ja'Lynn Polk, Washington. 6-foot-1, 203 pounds, 4.52 40-time
The fact the Patriots took Ja'Lynn Polk when they did, with the 37th overall pick indicates a lot of things all at once.
First, that new GM Eliot Wolf is going to do things his way. Generally speaking, Polk was considered somewhere around the 13th-15th best receiver in this class and projected to go late in the 2nd round. But Wolf made him the 10th WR off the board with the 5th pick of the round.
Next, that new GM Eliot Wolf is not afraid to do things Bill Belichick's way. First, he moved back from 34 to 37 to get the guy he wanted, moving up 32 spots from the 5th round to the 4th to make the deal with the Chargers happen. Which feels so Belichickian you almost wonder if it was done with 5 people in the Pats War Room instead of the 105 we saw for the Drake Maye pick.
And it's hard to read the way Polk is described and not see the similarities between him and the one and only 1st round receiver of the Belichick Epoch:
NFL.com - Wideout with good size who posted a productive final season to build upon during the draft process. Polk might not have the early acceleration to overtake and stack NFL press corners. He also lacks ideal suddenness getting in and out of his breaks as a route runner. …
Has an NFL body type that comes equipped with jump-ball talent.
Possesses body control and ball skills to endure contested catches. …
Gives effort and gets fired up when executing run blocks.
Not fast. Big. Strong. Excels at high pointing balls. Wins the 50/50s. I admit I'm still damaged from 2019 and all it cost us. But it's damned near impossible to read these reports and not immediately think of the N-apostrophe word, N'Keal Harry. Which is not to suggest you can't use a guy who can do all those things. It's just that the last time it was tried in Foxboro, the wideout in question could do none of them. Except the blocking thing. Which is all well and good. But not by any means the thing you look for when pulling the trigger on a Top 40 pick.
So what I'm taking away from this is exactly what I said when they took Drake Maye. These picks so are are not about instantly turning this franchise - this offense in particular - around immediately. Yes, Polk posted 1,159 yards and 9 TDs in Washington last year. And has had an average of 16.8 YPC in each of the last two seasons. But like Maye, he's not a finished product. He's not a plug-and-play rookie like so many guys still on the board are. This is another case of Wolf's staff looking ahead. Finding someone they are comfortable believeing can be coached up, worked on, refined, into a consistently reliable weapon. Just not this year.
It's a bold strategy. And feels like they're going off the reservation in the exact same way Belichick often did and got vilified for it when it didn't work out. So we've gotten our first mini-gamble of the Wolf-Mayo Era. But one that definitely feels like it's looking down the road, not an any instant gratification. Here's hoping Polk works out. Soon enough that the people who drafted him are still around to accept the credit.