The biggest test for Jerod Mayo thus far is over.
The Patriots closed out Day 3 of the NFL Draft around 6:30 on Saturday, taking Florida State tight end Jaheim Bell with the 231st pick overall.
Bell closed out a seemingly strong first draft class for Eliot Wolf, Jerod Mayo and the rest of the new regime. New England came away with seven offensive players and one defensive guy, a clear sign that things are in fact different these days down in Foxborough.
Mayo talked about the idea of taking so many offensive guys – something the team desperately needed to do – even though he’s obviously a defensive guy.
“You know, I had to take off my defensive hat and put on my head coaching hat,” he said with a laugh. “We had more holes on the offensive side of the ball. You guys knew that. Defensively we feel pretty good about the players that we have, and we feel good about some of those players taking a leap here in their second and third year. We’re pretty comfortable with that. At the same time we’ll continue to add pieces as we go.
Overall, Mayo was extremely pleased with the collaboration process. That word has obviously been a point of contention for fans, but it sounds like everyone’s voice was heard and whatever decisions were made on picks were universally liked and agreed upon by everyone in the room.
“I thought it was great,” said Mayo. “I thought it was great. At the very beginning, we gave the coaches an opportunity to look at a group of guys and to grade them. The coaches, they actually wrote reports, so it was a good professional development thing for those guys.
“Honestly, I would say overall, the draft room was very cohesive. Everyone was on the same page. There were tough discussions that had to be made, but at the same time we all felt pretty good or feel pretty good about the haul that we just brought in.”
As is usually the case with real NFL Drafts or fantasy football drafts, everyone is happy with what they’ve got so far.
There’s a long way to go and none of these guys have done a thing yet, but it certainly feels like this was a great first step for the entire organization in the quest to get back to winning football.
“It was great. It was great. A lot of people in the room, a lot of good conversation, and hopefully a lot of good players. Right now, everyone feels pretty good, and we’ll see as we continue to go down this journey what it looks like.
“I’m very excited about the players that we selected. Look, once again, we had our holes. We tried to fill those with good players, and then it got to a point where it’s like, let’s take the best available player. It was kind of a mix of philosophy. Let’s make sure we get the best player at this spot and then let’s just take the best player off the board. I thought it was a great process. Once again, you guys will judge us on this one in a couple years. Probably a couple months, honestly.”