Laurence Maroney, Chad Jackson and David Thomas.

No, not the English Muffin guy. The tight end.

Those were the three offensive selections the Patriots started the 2006 draft with. It’s also the last time the team took three straight offensive guys to begin a New England draft.

Until this weekend.

After taking (presumably) new QB1 Drake Maye third overall on Thursday night, the Patriots took Washington wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk 37th overall in the second round – after a trade with the Chargers to move down three spots – then, they took Penn State tackle Caedan Wallace in the third round with the 68th pick overall to finish off Friday night.

These aren’t your father or even brother’s Patriots anymore.

Eliot Wolf and the rest of the organization have clearly done things their own way so far during this 2024 NFL Draft, going straight down the check list of biggest needs on the team. Following the Wallace pick, Wolf spoke about why they selected Polk and Wallace where they did.

“It fell really nicely for us,” Wolf said of the board, particularly with Wallace. “Polk was a guy we had targeted; Wallace was a guy we had targeted. We had some exploratory conversations about possibly moving back from 68, and then, it was just kind of like, ‘Well, why? This is the guy that we had wanted all along.’ So, sometimes it doesn’t fall for you; it fell pretty nicely for us today.”

Wallace has played a ton of games, but primarily all at right tackle. With the Patriots signing Mike Onwenu weeks ago, it seemed like an odd choice, but that was until Wolf explained that Wallace can play anywhere on the line – something Wallace backed up during his Zoom call a bit later in the night.

“Yeah, we feel like Caedan has the athleticism to play over on the left side,” he said. “Really, his teammate, Olu Fashanu, that the Jets drafted was the reason that he played on the right. So athletically, there’s no reason why he couldn’t make the switch over there. He’s a really smart, dedicated kid that we feel like can handle that.”

As for Polk, it’s a ferocious competition that can win his matchup and go get the ball. Simply put, he should make life easier for Maye, Brissett, or even Zappe.

“Yeah, he’s a guy that we had our eye on for a while,” Wolf said. “He’s a really good fit in our offense. He’s really tough, he’s strong, he can run all the routes, play inside-outside. He’s a good blocker. He’s really competitive, both for the ball in the air and as a run-after-catch player. He’s really just kind of a versatile, do-everything type guy. He ran a little bit faster than a lot of people expected, but when you turn the tape on, you see him running by people. So, definitely excited to add him to the mix.”

Through two days of the biggest draft in Patriots history, it feels like Wolf, Mayo and the staff have gotten it right so far.