By Rohan Bommaraju —  Sports Editor

The NFL draft occurred and the Patriots had an eventful 3 days. Bill Belichick made multiple value trades gaining capital by trading back. Gaining draft picks who could be instant impact players in all 3 aspects of the game. 

The Patriots traded back from their 21st overall pick where they were able to take many of the top corners in the draft to the 29th overall pick where they drafted Chattanooga guard Cole Strange. Sharon High School senior Eric Carter says that Strange was probably a reach at the 29th overall pick. “[I] hope that he will turn out as a starting-caliber guard in a few years due to our elite coaching staff. [I] think that people overreacted a little because he went to a small school, but we needed a guard nonetheless.”

Sharon High School sophomore Aarav Thacker says the Cole Strange pick was odd. “The Patriots had many other needs that they could have picked, for example, a defensive back, there were many available at this pick. I am not saying strange is bad, but he would have definitely been there in round 2, the pick might not backfire, he might be a solid o-lineman but for the value, the pick was not good.“

In the second round, The Patriots took Baylor wide receiver, Tyquon Thorton. Sharon High School senior Jacob Bleecker says that the Thornton selection confused him but could have a strong rookie year. “With other better receivers on the board, and a decent receiving core already, I think his time in New England will be short-lived. However, I feel like Tyquan Thornton will have a solid rookie year on the Patriots, he is a speedy receiver that we need which Bill [Belichick] can develop, and make him fit right with Mac [Jones] and the offense.”

Sharon High School senior Shane Sekuler says that Thorton was the most exciting pick. “He’s fast. Pure speed. The electric speed that we haven’t seen on the pats in a while. we need that energy on offense.”

In the third round of the draft, The Patriots took former Troy and Huston corner and returner Marcus Jones.  Carter says that Jones has the potential to have the biggest impact player in the Patriots draft class. “Because of his impact on special teams, in addition to his time on defense. he was the top returner in the draft and we don’t really have a returner as it is, so this is a nice fit for him.”

Sekuler says that we need more time to evaluate these players before we jump to conclusions on how impactful they all are. “While we addressed a problem (speed), we need to see these players actually play to see if Belichick was correct in taking them so high.”

Thacker says that Belichick did a bad job in his selection of this class. “He made a good trade with the chiefs but then didn’t make a good value pick out of it, Tyquan Thornton was a good pick, but there were still receivers like Pickens on the board, the players that he picked are at most solid but value-wise pretty bad.”