The New England Patriots are hard at work looking at different prospects in the draft.
From our one on one interviews, we can confirm that the team has held informal meetings with two defensive linemen and two linebackers.
- Trevis Gipson — University of Tulsa – DL
- Derrek Tuszka — North Dakota State University – DL
- Jordan Mack — University of Virginia – LB
- Kamal Martin –University of Minnesota – LB
Gipson is a three-year letter winner at Tulsa who played in 37 games with 13 career starts.
He had 65 total tackles with five sacks and six forced fumbles.
Tuszka was a three-year starter and a First-Team All-American, and Missouri Valley Football Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
He has played 14 college playoff games where he had 35 total tackles with 12 for a loss and 10.5 sacks.
He finished fifth in school history with 29.5 career sacks totaling 202 yards.
Mack played in 13 games out of 14 with 12 starts at the University of Virginia. He had a season-ending injury which caused him to miss the Orange Bowl.
In 2019, Mack was a Campbell Trophy finalist. He was also a Jim Tatum award winner and went All-ACC.
Mack told reporters before his sit down with Prime Time Sports Talk that he was fully healthy and participating with no limitations.
When asked about when he talked with with the Patriots, the University of Virginia alum said, ‘Oh yeah, the very first night.’
In 2019, Martin was an All-Big Ten honorable mention and awarded the Gary Tinsley Award.
In his entire University of Minnesota career, Martin recorded 177 total tackles with 106 of them being solo, 13 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
The team has quite a few holes to fill at both positions if actions are not taken to re-sign impending free agents.
Danny Shelton was a starter this season in the middle of the defensive line who is set to hit the market and is a prime reason as to why they are doing their due diligence here.
At linebacker, the Patriots have Jamie Collins, Elandon Roberts and Kyle Van Noy all set to hit the open market on March 18. Explaining why they are exploring drafting linebacker prospects in the later rounds.
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