Tag: Jake Andrews

Patriots announce 2023 rookie jersey numbers ahead of preseason opener

The jersey numbers for the Patriots’ 2023 rookies have been revealed.

The New England Patriots’ 2023 NFL draft class and undrafted free agents are ditching their temporarily assigned numbers for their actual game numbers.

On Thursday, the Patriots announced all of the new numbers ahead of their preseason opener against the Houston Texans.

With rosters being at 90 players at this stage, a lot of these numbers could change as rosters are finalized and numbers shift. It is also important to note that there are some players currently wearing the same number as another player on the roster. That is permitted in training camp, as long as the players aren’t not on the same side of the ball.

Let’s take a look at what numbers the rookies have decided to go with for the next few weeks of training camp.

Patriots rookie Jake Andrews could have big role at training camp

Could rookie Jake Andrews be in line for a big role in New England?

After being selected in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft by the New England Patriots, rookie center Jake Andrews could be in store for a major role heading into training camp.

Patriots offensive guard Mike Onwenu is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery, and he is currently on the PUP list. This could open up an opportunity for Andrews to step in and make an impact. In addition to playing center, he also played right guard at Troy in 2020 and 2021. The positional versatility could be important for Andrews as he looks to make his mark in New England.

Troy coach Jon Sumrall recently spoke about the competitive fire Andrews brings to an offensive line.

“He’s made up of the right stuff and has the right kind of wiring, if you will,” Sumrall said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “Extremely tough. Dependable. A tremendous teammate. Loves the game and the details of what goes into being a great O-lineman. It’s a lot of fun as a football coach to coach a Jake Andrews-type guy.”

Andrews could end up being a tremendous value pick and exactly what the Patriots need with Onwenu out to start training camp.

New England’s offensive line allowed 41 sacks last season. A youth movement may be needed at the positional group with players like David Andrews, Trent Brown and Riley Reiff being in the 30-plus age range.

Giving a young player like Jake Andrews the chance to learn and develop on the fly could be important for the future.

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Rookie center Jake Andrews agrees to four-year deal with Patriots

The Patriots have now signed nine of their 12 rookies to contracts.

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The New England Patriots have reportedly agreed to terms on a four-year deal with rookie center Jake Andrews. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported on Wednesday the deal is for $4.648 million.

Andrews, a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL draft, could serve as the future replacement option for longtime Patriots offensive lineman David Andrews. He also has the versatility to kick out to guard for the team. So there should be plenty of opportunities for him to help out on offense in the future.

As of right now, the Patriots are seemingly set with a healthy David Andrews returning to center, along with Michael Onwenu and Cole Strange firmly locked into the two guard positions. But a team can never have too many good offensive linemen.

The Patriots have now signed nine of their 12 rookie draft picks. That leaves their first-round pick, cornerback Christian Gonzalez, edge rusher Keion White and linebacker Marte Mapu as the only contracts left to address.

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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.

Final draft grades round-up for Patriots C Jake Andrews

Jake Andrews was the first of three offensive linemen taken off the draft board by the Patriots. How is that selection being graded?

Center Jake Andrews represented a shift in focus to the offensive side of the ball for the New England Patriots, but it wasn’t in the way people were expecting.

Leading up to the 2023 NFL draft, all of the talk for the Patriots lingered on wide receivers and offensive tackles. Yet, coach Bill Belichick’s first selection after taking three defensive players initially was an interior lineman from Troy University.

Go figure.

Andrews is a tough player up front with the ability to not only play center, but he can line up at both guard positions as well. So the Patriots got a possible David Andrews replacement, along with a versatile player capable of serving as an emergency option for both Michael Onwenu and Cole Strange.

That should be considered a win in most eyes. Here’s what others were grading the No. 107 overall pick of the draft:

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:

Patriots select Troy C Jake Andrews in fourth round

The Patriots finally took an offensive player in the 2023 NFL draft.

The New England Patriots opened up Day 3 of the 2023 NFL draft by selecting Troy center Jake Andrews with the 107th overall pick.

This is the first of nine picks in total for a Patriots team that spent the previous two days focusing on the defensive side of the ball.

Andrews is a versatile offensive lineman with the rare ability to swing between all three interior positions. Sure, he’s listed as a center, but he could easily kick out to guard in a pinch, which is significant for a Patriots team that dealt with injuries along the offensive front throughout the 2022 season.

And that isn’t just talk when it comes to Andrews, who started 15 games at center and 23 at right guard during his run at Troy.

The Patriots spent free agency addressing the depth at offensive tackle, and it appears they are looking to do the same with their interior positions through the draft.

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The NFL’s ‘dress rehearsal’ mock draft is wild

The NFL sent teams the “dress rehearsal” mock draft list and the players and picks are nothing like how Thursday night will play out

As you might expect, the NFL carefully practices and prepares for its live events off the playing field. The NFL draft, the league’s most prominent off-field event, is no exception.

The league runs through a “dress rehearsal” edition of the draft ahead of Thursday night’s first round in Kansas City. Leaving nothing to chance, the league scripts out the picks for all 32 teams and strips away the trades that moved picks around for Tuesday’s scheduled rehearsal.

The results are wild!

Dianna Russini of ESPN tweeted out the scripted mock draft picks the NFL submitted to all teams for the dress rehearsal. Instead of the usual names crowding the first round, the players on the fake list are primarily Day 3 prospects or guys who project as priority undrafted free agents. The No. 1 pick is Troy OL Jake Andrews, who looked like the first pick of the seventh round during Senior Bowl week.

The full first round, courtesy Russini:

That could very well be the way the sixth round plays out.

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Vikings 2023 7 round mock draft 11.0: Build the offense

In the latest Minnesota Vikings seven-round mock draft, we explored what it might look like if they only took players to help the offense.

The Minnesota Vikings have a lot of different ways they can go in the NFL draft. There will be some discussion on what needs are most important but the Vikings can address most of them through both free agency and the NFL draft.

I have now done ten mock drafts for the Vikings this offseason and they all have taken a slightly different turn each time. This one has the Vikings focusing only on the offensive side of the football.

Mock draft 1.0
Mock draft 2.0
Mock draft 3.0
Mock draft 4.0
Mock draft 5.0
Mock draft 6.0
Mock draft 7.0
Mock draft 8.0
Mock draft 9.0
Mock draft 10.0