{"id":873958,"date":"2026-04-25T00:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873958\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T00:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T00:51:16","slug":"patriots-draft-2026-instant-grades-for-gabe-jacas-in-round-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/873958\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots draft 2026: Instant grades for Gabe Jacas in Round 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The New England Patriots traded up in the first round of the draft, and they traded up again in the second. Jumping from the 63rd to the 55th pick in a trade with the Chargers, the reigning AFC champions <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patspulpit.com\/new-england-patriots-draft\/126888\/gabe-jacas-edge-pick-selection-second-round-nfl-trade\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">selected defensive edge Gabe Jacas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instant grades: Patriots draft ED Gabe Jacas 55th overall<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Bernd Buchmasser: The Patriots needed help on the edge, and given that the position was quickly thinning out moving up the board made plenty of sense. Jacas himself is a great fit for what they want to do on the edge: he is a stout run defender who plays with a high motor and can perform on all three downs. | Grade: A<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Pat Lane: I really like what Jacas gives for the Patriots. He is one of the best run stopping edge\u2019s in this year\u2019s class, and he also had 11 sacks last year. The Patriots desperately needed edge help, and Jacas was a guy who they were linked to throughout the draft process. They had to give up a fourth- and sixth-rounder to move up and get him, but I think it\u2019s worth it for them. | Grade: A<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Matt St. Jean: Jacas is quick, powerful, and aggressive, all things needed on the edge in this defense. Ranked No. 50 by consensus and picked at No. 55, the value feels right at a position of need for New England. Jacas was a team captain with a penchant for knocking the ball out with 7 career forced fumbles, and his 27 career sacks are 2nd in school history. Jacas also worked with pass rush specialist Joe Kim at Illinois who was with New England from 2018 through 2024, and his background in wrestling reminds me of the success Stephen Neal had for the Patriots. | Grade: A<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">The Patriots\u2019 next draft pick is set to come at No. 95 in the third round. Their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patspulpit.com\/new-england-patriots-draft\/126502\/needs-ranked-first-round-thursday-nfl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">biggest remaining needs<\/a> include tight end and linebacker.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">What do you think about this draft pick, though? Do you like it? Do you not? Please participate in our poll and head to the comment section to discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New England Patriots traded up in the first round of the draft, and they traded up again&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,727,1095,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-873958","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-new-england-patriots-draft","12":"tag-new-england-patriots-opinion","13":"tag-newengland","14":"tag-newenglandpatriots","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-patriots"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873958","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=873958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}