If you followed our Phil Perry's "Prototypical Patriots" series leading up to the 2022 NFL Draft, you would have been very surprised by New England's activity over the weekend.
Many of the Patriots' 10 selections in this year's draft didn't fit the mold of what Bill Belichick and his staff traditionally look for in their draft prospects. Second-round wide receiver Tyquan Thornton, for example, has the fastest 40-yard dash time of any wideout taken during the Belichick era but the slowest three-cone and shuttle times.
The team also drafted an interior lineman (Chattanooga's Cole Strange) in the first round for the first time since Logan Mankins in 2005.