Tag: chad ryland

Patriots rookie specialists get rave reviews from evaluator

Patriots rookie specialists showed rare level of consistency, per evaluator

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The New England Patriots took the special-teams approach in the 2023 NFL draft, selecting Maryland kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round with the 112th overall pick. They then selected Michigan State punter Bryce Baringer in the sixth round with the 192nd overall pick.

The selections may have been a bit surprising, given the talent already on the roster. However, New England saw something in both men that could serve the two well throughout their careers. They performed well at the NFL Scouting Combine, and the Patriots wanted to make sure what they saw was what they were getting.

That’s where specialist evaluator Jamie Kohl comes into play.

Kohl is one of the most respected specialist evaluators in the country, and after watching both Ryland and Baringer close up, he liked what he saw, as Mike Reiss noted in his Sunday notes column.

“So one of the main questions the Patriots and other teams had on Bryce and Chad — because we worked with them so much in January, February, March and April this year — was, ‘Is what you saw similar to what they produced on their pro days and combine?’ That was where we had some value.”

Kohl’s answer was a decisive “yes” — citing their mental toughness, Ryland’s leg speed and combination of accuracy and distance (as long as 72 yards), and Baringer’s consistency with hang times of 5-plus seconds (sometimes hitting 5.5, 5.6).

New England will need youth at the special-teams positions. Kicker Nick Folk is 38 years of age, while punter Michael Palardy is 31. Youth and competition will be important at both positions. Consistency is also a major factor.

Early signs are that the Patriots got exactly what they were looking for.

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Bill Belichick not ruling out carrying two kickers on roster

Will Nick Folk and rookie Chad Ryland both have a kicking job in New England?

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The New England Patriots may have kicker depth heading into the season with coach Bill Belichick highlighting the possibility of the team carrying two kickers.

Nick Folk and rookie Chad Ryland battled it out at the spring practices, and the position has been competitive, according to Belichick. Folk is coming off a 2022 season that saw him go 32-of-37 on field goals and 32-of-35 on extra points.

Ryland was drafted in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. He was one of the best kickers in the Big Ten and made the All-Big Ten second-team. He went 39-of-40 on extra points and 19-of-23 on field goal attempts.

“Like a lot of positions on our roster, it looks pretty competitive,” Belichick told reporters.

Folk is 38 years old, but the idea of a competition with the younger Ryland is certainly not far-fetched. Carrying two kickers would at the very least create competition and strengthen special teams depth.

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Patriots announce signings of eight rookie draft picks

Patriots officially announce the signings of eight rookie draft picks.

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There have been reports of the New England Patriots agreeing to terms on deals with some of their 2023 rookie draft picks. Now, the team is announcing the official signings of eight rookie contracts.

The Patriots have locked up fourth-round draft picks Chad Ryland and Sidy Sow, fifth-round pick Atonio Mafi, sixth-round picks Kayshon Boutte, Bryce Baringer, Demario Douglas and Ameer Speed, and seventh-round pick Isaiah Bolden.

That leaves cornerback Christian Gonzalez, edge rusher Keion White, linebacker Marte Mapu and center Jake Andrews as the only Patriots draft picks that have yet to be signed.

Those contracts are expected to be done any day now.

The Patriots came out of the 2023 draft with an unusually large draft class.

But they’re obviously plowing through the paperwork and making room for what they hope will be future difference-makers for the team. They’ll need all of the help they can get after missing the playoffs last season.

If the incredibly tough 2023 schedule is any indication, it could be a long road back to relevance for New England.

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K Chad Ryland, Patriots agree to terms on four-year deal

Kicker Chad Ryland agrees to terms on rookie contract.

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The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to a four-year, $4.626 million deal with rookie kicker Chad Ryland, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss.

Ryland was the most polarizing pick of the 2023 NFL draft for the Patriots. Let’s be honest, no one is jumping for joy to see a team take a specialist in the fourth round. So it was pretty surprising to see New England trade away the No. 120 and No. 184 overall picks for the 112th pick to take the kicker from Maryland.

The Patriots might have been pushed by the San Francisco 49ers taking Michigan kicker Jake Moody in the third round.

Ryland was the second-best kicker on the draft board, and the Patriots wanted to ensure they got their successor to veteran Nick Folk. In his final season with Maryland, he was 39-of-40 on extra points and 19-of-23 on field goal kicks made.

The leg strength is there for Ryland, but it remains to be seen if he was worth a trade up into the fourth round for the Patriots.

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Projected rookie contracts for each of the Patriots’ 2023 draft picks

What the 2023 rookie contracts could look like for the Patriots.

There will be plenty of mouths to feed for the New England Patriots with the team selecting 12 rookies in the 2023 NFL draft.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick worked his way up and down the draft board, accumulating a bevy of picks and cashing in on as many players as possible. The influx of youth should serve as a breath of fresh air for a Patriots team that needed to build depth at multiple positions, most notably cornerback, offensive line and wide receiver.

With the draft now in the rearview, the next objective for the Patriots is signing all 12 of their rookie draft picks to a deal. They’ve already signed former LSU wideout Kayshon Boutte and offensive guard Atonio Mafi to their rookie deals.

However, there are still 10 more players that have yet to put pen to paper. Here’s a look at the projected values of those contracts, via Spotrac.com.

ESPN has these Patriots draft picks as highly questionable

Two of the Patriots’ draft choices were named by ESPN analysts as the “biggest head-scratching pick”.

Draft grades are continuing to pour in for the 2023 classes, and the New England Patriots received questionable feedback for two draft picks in particular.

ESPN’s Matt Bowen selected linebacker Marte Mapu as the draft pick in question, while Liz Loza couldn’t understand the Patriots selecting Maryland kicker Chad Ryland

Mapu brings depth to the linebacker group, as New England continues to look for playmakers at the position. They have headlining players already in Matthew Judon and Josh Uche. Now, that position will be a source of strength once again.

When breaking down the Mapu pick, Bowen wrote:

This isn’t a knock on Mapu as a prospect, as his versatility will be utilized in Bill Belichick’s defense. Instead, this is about the Patriots passing on some much-needed offensive juice here with wide receiver Josh Downs and running back Devon Achane still on the board. I thought both prospects would’ve boosted the pass game for quarterback Mac Jones.

Ryland offers New England a kicker with Nick Folk getting older. Folk has been consistent throughout his tenure with the Patriots, making 32-of-37 field goals in 2022, along with 32-of-35 extra points as well. Although linebacker and kicker may be positions of strength for now, youth will be needed in short order.

But like so many others, Loza was confused by the Patriots’ decision to trade up for Ryland in the fourth round:

The Pats traded up for a kicker with below-average leg strength, and they did it two rounds before they addressed the wide receiver position.

Time will tell how both Mapu and Ryland fair in the NFL. The Patriots did end up drafting two wide receivers in Kayshon Boutte and Demario Davis. This draft has players with potential for New England, as they look to keep pace in the AFC East.

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Final draft grades round-up for Patriots K Chad Ryland

Opinions were mixed when it came to the Chad Ryland draft selection by the Patriots.

The New England Patriots didn’t get aggressive in adding another offensive weapon to the roster at the skilled positions, but they did trade up in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft to select kicker Chad Ryland.

And Patriots fans were not happy about it.

To be fair, it would have been a stretch at this point to go digging around for the next great receiver, especially for a Patriots team with a bad track record of finding talent at the position.

But the decision to get a kicker here is a bit of a head-scratcher. Granted, the Patriots finished the 2022 season with the worst touchdown scoring percentage in the red zone, but they probably could have waited a bit longer for the Ryland pick.

It’s as if the team panicked after seeing Michigan’s Jake Moody come off the board in the third round to the San Francisco 49ers.

Even if Ryland wasn’t there in the fourth round, one would think there were other options the Patriots could have explored with that draft pick. Here’s what others in the media graded the No. 112 overall draft selection?

Full seven-round Patriots’ 2023 NFL re-draft

How did the Patriots make out in our 2023 NFL re-draft?

The New England Patriots didn’t miss much in the 2023 NFL draft, which should be considered a major success for the organization.

Granted, there are no certainties until the rookies actually back up their hyped potential on the football field, but the Patriots meticulously worked their way up and down the board with great effect.

That doesn’t mean there weren’t missed opportunities for the team to capitalize on. There were plenty of potential game-changers left on the board by a Patriots team that made some bold moves in this year’s draft, including moving up to take a kicker in the fourth round.

Now that mock drafting season is over, it’s time to start exploring a 2023 re-draft for the Patriots. In this seven-round re-draft, we’re going to pretend like the board unfolds the exact same way in terms of where players are taken. A couple of the trades remain, but there is another trade thrown in that enables the Patriots to come away with a major offensive weapon.

Here’s how the draft do-over panned out:

2023 NFL draft: RAS scores for every Patriots rookie

How do the RAS scores look for the Patriots’ 2023 NFL draft class?

The New England Patriots entered the 2023 NFL draft with 11 picks and came out with 12 players. It could be seen as a situation of coach Bill Belichick throwing as many darts at the board as possible just to see what sticks.

But make no mistake, these weren’t aimless throws.

In a draft that was heavy on the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots opened up by taking three defenders that could be foundational playmakers of the future for the team. They also addressed the offensive line by adding three interior enforcers, along with taking a flier on two promising receivers for the skilled positions.

They even came away with a kicker and punter in this year’s draft. Belichick checked every box and didn’t let a single pick go to waste. We’ll see if it pays off in the 2023 season.

Today, we’re looking at every Patriots rookie’s Relative Athletic Score (RAS), which is a tool created by Kent Lee Platte that measures a player’s athletic testing to their size, while also taking history into account. The Patriots came away with at least four players with a 9.00 score or higher.

Here’s how the entire 2023 rookie class scored:

Best NFL comparisons to every Patriots 2023 NFL draft pick

Who are the best veteran comparisons to each of the Patriots’ 2023 draft picks?

The New England Patriots selected 12 prospects in the 2023 NFL draft, and not every player was on the radar for fans.

One of the more fun ways to introduce people to new players is doing NFL player comparisons. Obviously, this is not an exact science, and we’re basically going more on feelings.

We certainly hope these prospects can all turn out like their comparisons.

The issue with these is that some players may exceed and become their own comparison, while others could be out of the league in a few years. I’m going to skip kicker Chad Ryland and Punter Bryce Baringer on this list, as it’s pretty hard to try and form a comparison for a specialist.

The Patriots have a type when it comes to draft prospects. So are these picks more of the same, or are we beginning to see changes as Bill Belichick creeps toward the end of his coaching career?

Let’s dive into it.