The New England Patriots on Saturday used the first of their two fourth-round draft picks to shore up their pass defense, taking a safety, Craig Woodson, out of the University of California. While NFL experts criticized the Patriots for using pick No. 106 on Woodson, who was anticipated to remain available well into the sixth round, the player himself was met with widespread acclaim.
Sara Marshall of the Fansided Patriots site Musket Fire tabbed Woodson as “a starting quality player with a lot of physicality and high intellect to make him the best next Patriot.”
Patriots insider reporter Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston described the 24-year-old — who played six years in college, all at Cal — as “versatile, having played deep, in the box and in the slot as a captain for the Bears. The Patriots are also expecting that he’ll be a key contributor on special teams.”
“If you’re going to play in Mike Vrabel’s defense,” added MassLive analyst Mark Daniels, “flexibility is key. With Woodson, the Patriots add a versatile chess piece.”
Woodson Pick Leaves on One Safety an Odd Man Out
The problem, however, is that according to the NFL Mock Draft Big Board — a site that aggregates hundreds of mock drafts into a consensus slot for each player — Woodson should have been picked at No. 188, the 12th pick in Round Six.
But according to Vice President for player personnel Eliot Wolf, the Patriots always planned to use the final day of the draft to focus on the defensive side after concentrating on support for quarterback Drake Maye in the first three rounds.
The selection of Woodson comes with another problem as well — not as much for the team as for a veteran player who could now find himself squeezed out, made redundant by the addition of the versatile Woodson.
The Patriots in 2025 are bringing back two starting safeties — Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers — as well as 2023 third-round draft pick Marte Mapu, who was drafted as a linebacker by former head coach and general manager Bill Belihick but played mainly at strong safety under one-year coach Jerrod Mayo in 2024.
As Daniels noted, however, “the Patriots depth chart is loaded with strong safeties. The team could use more depth at the important free safety position. That’s exactly what Woodson provides. The Patriots haven’t had a legit deep safety since Devin McCourty retired.”
Moving on From Peppers ‘a Real Possibility’
Dugger played the free safety position last year.
Given that he had a significant drop in performance in 2024 interrupted by injuries and more importantly by a league suspension over a domestic violence charge, the odd man out with the anticipated emergence of Woodson is Peppers.
“The Patriots moving on from Jabrill Peppers is a real possibility,” wrote longtime Patriots blogger Dan Kelley on Sunday. “He was great in 2023 before his 2024 issues.”
Peppers stood trial on an assault and battery charge over an incident in which a woman alleged that he grabbed her neck, slammed her into a wall and shoved her down a flight of stairs. On January 5, he was acquitted by a jury in Boston.
As a result of his suspension as well as injuries later in the season to his foot and hamstring, Peppers appeared in only six games, recording 20 solo tackles and one interception. In 2023, he played in 15 games, with two interceptions and 52 solo tackles.
In addition to his off-field troubles and subpar performance, one other factor may be working against Peppers — other than the fact that if they keep him around, the Patriots are on the hook for another $14.7 million on the contract extension he signed in Belichick’s final year of 2023. That factor may be Belichick himself.
Vrabel, the Patriots new head coach, has revamped both the Patriots roster and coaching staff, and has spoken openly of creating a new culture of accountability on the Patriots — a culture that appeared to be lacking in Belichick’s final seasons.
Vrabel, who played linebacker for eight seasons and three Super Bowl winners in New England under Belichick, has apparently been taking steps to distance himself from the legendary coach.
But Peppers was signed by Belichick not once but twice. The legendary head coach who guided the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories first acquired Peppers as a free agent after the former Michigan Wolverine played three seasons for the New York Giants.
Peppers open the first two seasons of his eight-year career with the Cleveland Browns who made him their first-round draft pick, 25th overall, in 2017.
