{"id":865552,"date":"2026-04-13T14:43:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865552\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T14:43:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T14:43:41","slug":"patriots-meet-with-multiple-quarterbacks-as-top-30-visits-wind-down-98-5-the-sports-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/865552\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots meet with multiple quarterbacks as top-30 visits wind down – 98.5 The Sports Hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the NFL League Meetings last month, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel noted the team would be looking to add a quarterback. The team currently has just two on the roster in Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito, after moving on from Joshua Dobbs earlier this offseason.<\/p>\n

“We need a third arm,” Vrabel said at the time<\/a>. “Try to find a young guy that we can develop and potentially add to the roster, whether that’s on the 53 man roster or the practice squad.”<\/p>\n

It certainly seems like that \u2018third arm\u2019 could come through the draft. As the pre-draft process winds down, reports of the Patriots meeting with quarterback prospects have ramped up.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Patriots have bigger, more pressing, more immediate needs. So, why use top-30 visits on a player that is likely to be a third-stringer?<\/p>\n

\u2018Top-30\u2019 visits often don\u2019t align directly with the top 30 players on a team\u2019s board. Rather, they\u2019re used more for players that teams want to get more familiar with on a personal level, and\/or give extended medical checks. On-field workouts are now allowed during top-30 visits.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given the mental element that comes with playing quarterback, in-person visits can be more impactful when evaluating that position versus others. Getting players on a white board or in the film room can be helpful as teams look to sort out their board.<\/p>\n

So far, the Patriots have reportedly hosted two quarterbacks on top-30 visits (with time for that number to grow, only 21 of their potential 30 visits have been reported with the deadline for visits to happen not until Wednesday), plus met with a few others at pro days. All are projected late-Day 3 picks or UDFAs, so the range the Patriots may target a quarterback looks clear. It does seem they’re working to sort out the quarterbacks in that group.<\/p>\n

Who have they talked to so far? Here’s a quick breakdown on each quarterback the Patriots have reportedly met with.<\/p>\n

Jalon Daniels, Kansas\"LAWRENCE,Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Reported meeting: Top-30 visit<\/p>\n

One of the more experienced quarterbacks in this draft and a rare six-year player at just one school, Daniels, 23, was starting games for Kansas beginning as a freshman in 2020 before becoming the full-time starter midway through the 2021 season. Injuries saw him jump in and out of the lineup early in his career, missing time with a shoulder injury in 2022 and back injury in 2023. <\/p>\n

The last two years Daniels started the full slate of games. In 24 games he completed 59.6% of his passes for 4,985 yards with 36 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He also ran for 843 yards and another 10 scores. He finished his career as the first four-time captain in the history of the Kansas program.<\/p>\n

Daniels plays an exciting brand of football. He’s good at using his legs to extend plays, but keeps his head up and remains a passer when scrambling until and unless he needs to take off. With good arm strength he can throw off platform and get the ball downfield, but with that comes an elevated turnover number (19 interceptions and 18 fumbles over the last two years). He’s also on the smaller side for the position at 6-foot-1, 219 pounds. <\/p>\n

Behren Morton, Texas Tech\"SepRob Gray-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Reported meeting: Top-30 visit<\/p>\n

The first thing that comes to mind with Morton, 24, is toughness. He battled through a shoulder injury that bridged through 2023 and 2024, then played through a hairline fracture in his right fibula for the second half of last season. Despite those injuries, he still played in 34 games over the last three years and led the team to an 11-1 record last year with the loss coming against Oregon in the College Football Playoff.<\/p>\n

Of course, that impacts his evaluation as a lot of his games came when he wasn’t 100%. He saw the field better each year he was a starter, and can change his arm angle when needed to get the ball into tight windows. In college he did a good job of evading pass rushers in the pocket, but that will be tougher in the NFL. His movement is more pocket presence, and he’s not a scrambling threat at 6-foot-2, 221 pounds.<\/p>\n

Morton’s arm strength is the biggest point of question. He spent most of the last three years playing with a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder and then the hairline fracture in his push leg, and that shows. This is where a top-30 visit can be helpful – while the team can’t have him throw during the visit they can talk to him and get a better idea of how the injuries impacted him, as well as doing their own medical check.<\/p>\n

Haynes King, Georgia Tech\"OctBrett Davis-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Reported meeting: Pro day<\/p>\n

King, 25, is another experienced, tough quarterback who his credited for his leadership skills (second three-time captain in GT history) as well as his play on the field. When on the field, the 6-foot-2, 212 pound King did most of his damage as a runner. He runs like a running back more than a quarterback, willingly taking on and sometimes running through would-be tacklers. He finished last season rushing for 953 yards at 5.2 yards per carry, and over 1,000 yards when taking out yards lost by sacks. Only Blake Horvath of Navy had more rushing yards by a quarterback in this draft, and King’s 15 rushing touchdowns in 12 games were the fourth-most at the position among draft quarterbacks. <\/p>\n

As a passer King still has work to do. His accuracy has improved since taking over as the full-time starter in 2023, when he completed 61.6% of his throws with 27 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Compare that to this past season, when he completed 69.8% of his passes on just six fewer attempts, with 14 touchdowns and six picks. Cleaning up his mechanics will help with some of that, but there are also questions about his arm strength. Given his running ability though, he could find a spot as a gadget and\/or special teams player while offering quarterback depth and a scout team arm in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Sawyer Robertson, Baylor\"WACO,Stacy Revere\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Reported meeting: Virtual<\/p>\n

There’s a school of thought that backup quarterbacks should be as stylistically similar to the starter as possible, so the offense doesn’t need to change as much if they’re running it. Of all the quarterbacks on this list Robertson, 23, seems to check that box the most. At 6-foot-4, 216 pounds he has a big frame and a big arm, and has the mobility to extend plays and scramble. Not to the same extent as Drake Maye of course, but he has that club in his bag. <\/p>\n

Starting 23 games over the last two years for Baylor, Robertson threw for 6,752 yards with 59 touchdowns and 20 picks while completing 61.1% of his passes. As a runner he was more effective in 2024 averaging 6.6 yards per carry on non-sacks, but did not get as involved as a runner in 2025. <\/p>\n

Robertson takes a boom-or-bust approach to the position and isn’t afraid to test tight windows, and while he can reach all different parts of the field his accuracy and timing aren’t at the point where he can do so consistency. Developing his touch throws will also be key, as he’s more of a one-speed thrower right now. <\/p>\n

Cole Payton, North Dakota State\"JanVasha Hunt-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Reported meeting: Pro day<\/p>\n

Payton, 23, stands out as a bit of an anomaly on this list. For one thing, while the other four quarterbacks are currently projected to go outside of the top 200, projections for Payton have him as an early-Day 3 pick in the top 150. It’s possible the Patriots have him graded lower and more similar to the other quarterbacks they’ve met with, but him being available in that range would represent a somewhat significant fall.<\/p>\n

That being said Payton’s game is a relative unknown. He spent his first four years with the Bison as a backup, but was also used in a gadget role given his rushing ability at 6-foot-3, 232 pounds. That included rushing for 650 yards and 13 touchdowns on 82 carries in 2023. <\/p>\n

Last year Payton took over as the starter, starting all 13 games. The lefty completed 71.9% of his passes for 2,719 yards with 16 touchdowns and four interceptions, while adding 894 yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground. He still has a low of growth to do as a passer, but has the athleticism teams will want to work with. Like King, he could also end up a gadget player at the next level. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During the NFL League Meetings last month, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel noted the team would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865553,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,15,208,111578],"class_list":{"0":"post-865552","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-england-patriots","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-new-england","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-newengland","12":"tag-newenglandpatriots","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-patriots","16":"tag-patriots-offseason-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116397935049982583","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865552"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865552\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}