Patriots Great Ernie Adams Tells Fans What To Expect On Draft Night

New England Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams

Patriots Great Ernie Adams Tells Fans What To Expect On Draft Night originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Ernie Adams worked in Bill Belichick's front office for 21 years. He was part of all six New England Patriots Super Bowl wins after beginning his coaching career with the Patriots in 1975.

He retired after the 2021 NFL Draft, but ESPN’s Patriots insider Mike Reiss was able to pick his brain two weeks out from the 2026 NFL Draft.

Adams warned Reiss and the Patriots against drafting for need, an issue head coach Mike Vrabel already told the media he was not interested in.

“There are going to be 30 players taken ahead of you. Half of the players, everybody in the world knows they're going to be taken. But there will be surprises after that, Adams told Reiss. “Somebody may take a player at 23, and you say, 'Oh my, what happened there?

"Whoever you take there is going to be on your team, you're married to it unless it's a disaster. So we're trying to answer the question, 'Who has the best chance to help us win football games?' Which comes down to best player there.”

Adams then went on to say that drafting for need sounds like a great idea, until it’s two years later and the better player you passed up on is in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl.

"You might say, 'We need a linebacker in the worst way' and there's an OK linebacker but a big-time offensive lineman. Then when you draft him, what you have is an average linebacker and you just passed up a really good player,” Adams said. “Two years from now, nobody is going to think, 'Did they fill a need?' They'll say, 'Wow, they got a really good player.'"

The good news for Patriots fans is that at pick No. 31, the board is shaping out to marry the best available player with the Patriots' biggest need, edge rusher.

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