Patriots’ Jared Wilson Pick Reminder Of Old, Proven Strategy

The New England Patriots added tons of talent in the 2025 NFL Draft, so we decided to take a more in-depth look at their selections and see how they can help the franchise move into a new direction. Jared Wilson is next on the list.

Jared Wilson is representative of the old way of doing things at One Patriot Place.

“What does that even mean, Keagan?”

I appreciate you asking, because his selection in the third round a couple of weeks ago was almost nostalgic, as it reminded me of a few great selections that have been made over the years by New England: Duron Harmon, James White and Trey Flowers.

Wilson, Harmon, White and Flowers don’t have a ton in common on a surface level, but they were all selected in the middle rounds, had a veteran incumbent at their position and either moved up or down draft boards due to one particular trait.

Harmon was taken 91st overall in 2013, with many prognosticators believing it was a reach due to his limited athleticism and the fact that he’d be sitting behind Devin McCourty and Steve Gregory. White was taken with the 130th pick in 2014, and sat on the bench for his entire rookie season before eventually being entrusted with playing time after the moment had passed with the likes of Shane Vereen and Dion Lewis. Flowers was taken 101st in 2015, and didn’t record a sack until his sophomore campaign as he outlasted the likes of Chandler Jones, Jabaal Sheard and Chris Long.

The Patriots, in each of those instances, took the player and allowed him to develop into a key contributor down the line.

Wilson should be next.

Garrett Bradbury is expected to be the starting center in Week 1, but by selecting his eventual replacement as early as it did, New England already started the clock on what might be a short tenure in that role.

Wilson is an uber-athletic option along the interior, and despite having started for just one season in college, he displayed the physical attributes to be a long-term force in the middle of the offensive line. The Patriots selected him not because they needed to, but because they wanted to give themselves adequate depth at a position of need, and the chance to continue getting better at the position over the next couple of seasons.

New England did the same thing with Harmon, White and Flowers.

It’s not a perfect one-for-one example, but the selection was certainly old school — which typically isn’t a bad thing around these parts.