Why Patriots Hosting Prospects On ‘Top-30 Visits’ Doesn’t Mean Much
The New England Patriots are going to be connected to a lot of 2024 NFL Draft prospects in the coming weeks.
That’s life with the No. 3 overall pick.
It’s that time of year where all us prognosticators are pretty much out of the loop, though, with college all-star games, the scouting combine and pro days in the rearview mirror. It’s not like the prep has stopped, as each NFL club will finalize their boards and host visits leading up to April 25, but we’re subject to rumor and innuendo until things become concrete.
That means it’s time to remind people what they should avoid dedicating valuable brain cells to.
Top-30 visits, which essentially are just an opportunity for every team to hold 30 formal in-person meetings with prospects and bring them into the facility for interviews and a physical, are one of those things.
The Patriots reportedly have already had a few with UCF wide receiver Javon Baker, BYU offensive lineman Kingsley Suamataia, Tulsa offensive lineman Darrell Simpson and Mississippi State linebacker Nathaniel Watson, reportedly having visited scenic Foxboro, Mass. It doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. New England holds these visits every year, but in the last five seasons they haven’t really had any correlation into the amount or type of player they end up selecting.
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The Patriots only selected players they visited with in 2019 and 2022, failing to take any of the guys they hosted in 2023. New England held virtual interviews with prospects in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, but didn’t select any of the players they reportedly did interview. You can find a list of the players they did take below:
2019 WR N’Keal Harry
2019 CB Joejuan Williams
2019 QB Jarrett Stidham
2022 WR Tyquan Thornton
2022 CB Marcus Jones
2022 CB Jack Jones
Yikes. That isn’t a list of “contributors” is it?
The Patriots hosted notable rookies Will Levis (Titans), Dalton Kincaid (Bills), Nolan Smith (Eagles) and Jordan Addison (Vikings) last season, but as we said, didn’t take any of them.
It’s all about who actually comes available, and who is valued over the other players New England has on its draft board at the same position. If the Patriots have both Suamataia and Simpson available when they’re looking to take a tackle, they can’t grab both.
You can have fun allowing these things to influence your mock drafts and what not, but it would be smart to avoid taking them too seriously.