‘I don’t get New England’: Peter King joined the chorus of voices questioning Patriots’ draft

Cole Strange poses for a photo with Robert and Jonathan Kraft after the Patriots picked him in the first round. Barry Chin/Globe Staff

By Hayden Bird

May 2, 2022

The Celtics lost to the Bucks 101-89 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday. Game 2 gets underway at TD Garden on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Also on Sunday, the Red Sox lost to the Orioles 9-5.

Tonight at 7 p.m., the Bruins and Hurricanes begin a first-round playoff series at PNC Arena in Raleigh.

Peter King’s take on the Patriots: Like many NFL experts, NBC football columnist Peter King was not a fan of the Patriots’ 2022 draft decisions.

“I don’t get New England,” King began. “Picking Cole Strange, a decent prospect from Tennessee-Chattanooga, 29th overall was a naïve move by Bill Belichick.”

In King’s view, the choice of Strange — an offensive lineman many had rated as a second-round pick at best — was not only bad value, but questionable talent evaluation.

“There was no indication he’d have gotten picked before New England’s next pick at 54; even if he was picked before then, so what?” King questioned. “Look at the 76th pick in the draft, Travis Jones, handle Strange, the 29th pick, at the Senior Bowl.”

King linked to this video of Jones, picked by the Ravens in the third round, push his way past Strange during a drill from the Senior Bowl earlier in 2022:

Here’s new Ravens third-round pick Travis Jones at the Senior Bowl going up against Patriots first-rounder Cole Strange pic.twitter.com/XmdbMXJtEv
— Kevin Oestreicher (@koestreicher34) April 30, 2022

King has hardly been the only NFL analyst to question New England’s strategy and player evaluation.

ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. gave the Patriots his lowest grade (a C+), while Pro Football Focus handed New England an even lower letter grade (a D).

Trivia: Cole Strange is now the fourth offensive lineman to be drafted by Bill Belichick as a Patriots first-round pick. Can you name the previous three?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: 2005, 2011, and 2018.

More from Boston.com:

Ime Udoka’s postgame press conference:

On this day: In 1995, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 8-0 thanks to grand slams from John Valentin and Mo Vaughn.

Daily highlight: Jaylen Brown jumped over Giannis Antetokounmpo for an impressive dunk in Game 1. Of course, Antetokounmpo later produced a highlight of his own.