Bedard: Another perspective on the Patriots' draft picks, including more character concerns than years past

Big-time media star Mike Giardi previously gave some of the league perspective on the Patriots' draft picks, and we've got some more trickling in as the draft gets further away.

Here are the thoughts of an AFC senior personnel executive, including some of the concerns on Javon Baker, Joe Milton and Jaheim Bell straight from their pre-draft research on the players. This executive has some experience with Eliot Wolf

"Eliot's gonna do a good job," said the executive. "Obviously having the experience that he did, learning the way he did under his dad, but ... he used to be on the practice field taking notes and he was like, 13 freaking years old. He was always kind of advanced. But he just gets it. He's totally ready for this and I liked what they did in this draft."

QB Drake Maye, 1st round - 3rd overall

"I thought it made sense because I don't necessarily think he's ready to come in and play like day one and be the guy day one. But he has franchise quarterback talent. I think New England was great because you have Jacoby (Brissett) there who's definitely a guy that's won in the league, he's a great, great, great locker room dude. And he's not going to avoid mentoring or being that leader-type, showing-the-way-type guy that Drake, he's going to need ... it's perfect. It's perfect. Perfect situation because you can play with Jacoby and still be competitive, still win games all the while, you're developing the guy for the future behind him.

"Jacoby's tough, so you don't have to worry about — well, I mean, it's football — but Jacoby has a history of being tough and playing through things. So the more that Drake gets to sit and learn and just develop, especially this first year, I think the better he'll be and I think it's a good situation for him. I like Drake Maye a lot. Obviously the '23 stuff wasn't as good as the year before but I mean, there's there's some other stuff that in context ... just the team around him and play calling and all that stuff. Not to make excuses, but I think his best football is ahead of them. I think it was a good pick."

WR Ja'Lynn Polk, 2nd round - 37th overall 

"I liked Polk. I didn't necessarily love him. I think he's a good No. 3 receiver. The reason I didn't give him a two or one (positional grade) was just the separation. But he's a big physical receiver. He's what, 21 (just turned 22)? He's still young. So there's some developmental upside to him. But I see like a three, when it's all said and done. Again, in a 3-receiver set that's still a starter. So I'm not bashing him. I feel better about him than I did N'Keal Harry. I gave Harry a third-round grade because I didn't think he could separate, I thought he was a contested ball catcher, and I questioned how fast he was. And Ja'Lynn is faster than N'Keal, hands aren't probably at that level right now. But I just feel like (Polk) has higher upside than N'Keal so I like him better than N'Keal. I think he's a good pickup.

"I don't like hate or dislike the pick. Again, I like him. I don't love him. I just feel like he's gonna play a lot. He's gonna start in those three receiver sets. He's gonna be a big body like intermediate, short area, reliable target, tough, good bracket catch, he'll block and he has upside and instincts. The limiting factor with him is just the vertical explosive speed. But I think he has room to grow as a route runner. You get these kids, you look at the ceiling and you look at the floor. I think the talent is kind of the floor and then the character, you know, becomes the ceiling. He has the character. So to me, there's talent there to be a good three and there's nothing wrong with that. I think maybe down the line, there may be a search or look for a guy that has that explosive speed that stretches the field more but I mean, there's definitely ... I mean, shoot, I know 30 other teams or whatever that need a three or whatever. He's a good pick. Yeah, he's a good pick."

Another league executive said there was a red flag with Polk but he would not offer specifics. Other teams said this was a surprise to them, they had nothing.

OT Caeden Wallace, 3rd round - 68th overall

"There's a little pause, with the left tackle stuff. Can he do it? You know, possibly, but there's a lot of things that he needs to clean up to be a contributing starter, really good backup. But I mean, he's talented. But that was one I wasn't like, too over the moon about."

Another league executive questioned the drive of Wallace.

"There's a tiny bit of the entitlement from the family, they're well-educated. But it's really more a love of football/laziness issue, that type of thing. Not anything major off the field."

(Nothing on OG Layden Robinson, 4th round - 103rd overall)

WR Javon Baker, 4th round - 110th overall

"So for us, he was a non-fit, grade-wise (off the board). Guys had him in that fifth-round range. His character stuff was a concern. Heavy maintenance. There was a deal where there was a car that pulled up next to him. That was with four white males who made racist comments towards him. He flashed a gun. The police showed up. He was honest with them. That was in 2021. And then there's a bunch of just stuff from reckless driving, multiple fights. Suspensions at Alabama ... went to jail, charge was dropped. There's multiple gun incidents and some (other) stuff. Family background history is not great. So there's a lot of stuff with him."

From another NFL executive: "You know the stories about Caleb Williams' father? This is times 10. (Jerald Baker) wants to be part of everything. Everything is about money. If Javon's not playing, there could be an issue. He's not afraid to stick his nose in. When the kid is away from his father, it wasn't so bad. If he's there and involved, look out.

"Alabama didn't want him back. He was supposed to transfer to Kentucky but that didn't work out ... why not? They did their due diligence on Alabama. He was supposed to go back to UCF (for 2024) on a big NIL deal. He took the upfront money and declared for the draft the next day. There's going to be litigation on that."

Fired long-time, very well-respected NFL agent Joe Linta (41 current contracts negotiated) right before he reported to the Patriots. Signed his rookie deal this week with Jason Davis, who has negotiated seven contracts.

One Patriots team source said Baker showed up for rookie mini-camp with an entourage ... as a fourth-round pick.

Baker's draft night reaction video did not go over well with the Patriots.

He wants to be big on social media. That's continuing to cause issues.

"I think there's a good side to the kid and I think, you know, in the right situation, it'll be alright," said one league exec. "Inside he's not a terrible kid. It's just his environment with the father has been so bad. And he's been living his life of entitlement."

One league executive estimated that Baker was off the board for half the league.

The Polk, Wallace, Baker and Milton picks — which some character concerns — raised eyebrows with other teams.

"What are the Patriots doing?" one league exec asked. "They're taking way more character/work ethic risks than they did under Bill (Belichick). Normally they have one a year. There's four or five guys in this draft alone."

DB Marcellas Dial, 6th round - 180th overall

"Yeah, he was a good kid. Good fit. Liked him in that like, you know, fourth-/fifth-round range. Depth cornerback and special teams player. But great fit, good kid. No issues. At least for us, the way I saw him was outside only."

QB Joe Milton, 6th round - 193rd overall

"Probably some of the best physical skills you've ever seen. He reminds me of the guy the Colts drafted (Anthony Richardson). Yeah, kind of a similar if you want to put people in a box ... similar, I mean, super athletic, crazy arm, rare size just needs a lot of refinement with his footwork and his release point, the accuracy is all over the place.

"He was still on our board, but he was heavy maintenance and the main thing was just like the pro approach, he's a partier or at least he was earlier in his career ... confidence, mental toughness, how he handled losing his job his second year, there were some concerns with that. ... You just have a big mold of clay the biggest thing is the maturity of being able to handle that position and being the guy that you want: first in the building, last out, like how much extra is he willing to do to reach that next level would be the question.

"But by all accounts, he was good kid, just immature. It's a concern because he's 24 years old. So it's not like he's a young guy. But the talent? Yeah, you kind of roll the dice on the talent. And if you hit ... I think where they picked him is safe. That's not like you're really throwing away the farm for a guy that is raw. You could say that Indianapolis kind of did a similar thing and he was the fourth overall pick! And they have a lot of similarities. And this kid at least played more games than (Richardson). Yeah. I like to pick. Because talent-wise he has everything you want. It's just the biggest thing is he's got to live it, eat it. To this point that's been a question mark on him."

TE Jahem Bell, 7th round - 213st overall

"You're banking on the traits, height, weight, speed, athleticism, had good production. Personality-wise, there's a lot with him. He was a borderline (non-fit/off-the-board) for us. The questions or concerns were personality fit: diva, selfish, party habits. Emotional maturity. Needs structure. Some juvenile stuff, immature. Will he own up to the mistakes? What has he learned? What is he going to do to be different? And then the learning you know, he's he's kind of a rep guy, so, you know, there's gonna be some patience required with him.

"I think looking at his stuff, he's probably more of a light maintenance than heavy. (There were some) disciplinary issues in high school, a lot of stuff just when he was younger. But talent-wise yeah, there's there's no question. He's like a number two, some teams a 3. He's one of those guys that can block and get open and create mismatches in the passing game. So there are definitely a some redeemable traits talent-wise."