What drafting Dametrious Crownover and Namdi Obiazor in Round 6 means for the Patriots

From there, the Aggies career brought 47 appearances. Making his initial start on the blindside before taking over for an additional 27 starts at right tackle, Crownover was flagged for 11 penalties as a graduate student last year. He attended the Senior Bowl, ran the 40-yard dash in 5.14 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, and met with Patriots offensive line coach Doug Marrone at his pro day.

The No. 124 overall prospect on Arif Hasan of Wide Left’s Consensus Big Board is now a developmental project at bookend in Foxborough. A flier on measurements and movement skills, Crownover will turn 25 in September of his rookie season.

After Utah’s Caleb Lomu landed in the first round, Crownover steps into a depth chart that also includes starters Will Campbell and Morgan Moses, plus a roster crunch with James Hudson III, Marcus Bryant, Sebastian Gutierrez and Lorenz Metz.

No. 212: Covering off-ball ground with Namdi Obiazor, LB, Texas Christian

“I do think it’s a good position Day 3 from a depth standpoint,” Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said of the linebacker class during his pre-draft press conference. “I think there’s a lot of players that you could justify using a Day 3 pick on.”

Enter Texas Christian’s Obiazor at No. 212 overall. That pick remained for the war room after No. 198 overall headed to the Minnesota Vikings in return for No. 234 and capital in the sixth round of the 2027 draft.

A high motor who converted from safety, Obiazor spent two years at Iowa Western Community College before enrolling in Fort Worth in 2022. He went on to start 40 of his 53 games as a member of the Horned Frogs. The 6-foot-2, 229-pound linebacker projects into a role on third downs and in the kicking game for New England.

Obiazor tallied 302 tackles, including 17 for loss, along with 8.5 sacks during his TCU tenure. The 24-year-old former All-Big 12 honorable mention also had a hand in two forced fumbles and three interceptions en route to the Senior Bowl. And at the combine, his background as a defensive back was reflected with a 40-yard dash of 4.53 seconds as well as a 37-inch vertical and 9-foot-11 broad jump.

Hybrid linebacker and core special-teamer Marte Mapu was acquired by the Houston Texans earlier in April. The rest of the depth chart in Foxborough includes starters Robert Spillane and Christian Elliss, plus K.J. Britt, Chad Muma, Otis Reese and Amari Gainer.