Thanks for hanging in. This will be your one-stop shopping for all the day three picks.
5th Round (31) - Karon Prunty, CB, Wake Forest
6th round (198) - Dametrious Crownover, RT, Texas A&M
6th round (212) - Namdi Obiazor, LB, TCU
7th round (234) - Behren Morton, QB, TCU
7th round (245) - Jam Miller, RB, Alabama
7th round (247) - Quintayvious Hutchins, Edge/LB, Boston College
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5th Round (31) - Karon Prunty, CB, Wake Forest
Patriots make their first day three pick, #171 overall, and let’s just say it’s a little off the board. Karon Prunty, a cornerback out of Wake Forest, gets the call.
Prunty is long (6’2”, 190) and fast (4.5 40 and a 6.82 three-cone), who had three different stops in his collegiate career: Kansas, transferred to North Carolina A&T (”coaching issue,” he told us), before finally becoming a Demon Deacon. The Pats were one of four teams that brought Prunty in for a top-30 visit, but the league-wide view was that this was a player more likely to be an undrafted priority free agent, or maybe worth a flier in the seventh round. That’s not how the Pats staff viewed him. Time will tell if they’re right.
A text from a scout just now, “Got a lot of tools, but a hard kid to get a handle on. The results should be better for the athlete that he is.”
Prunty would dispute that, reminding us that he was a Freshman All-American at Kansas, an all-conference selection at A&T, and then an all-conference selection in the ACC.
“I'm a consistent player, a guy that has great awareness, great instincts, you know, a guy that's going to give everything he's got,” Prunty told us via Zoom. “I feel I am proven, and I'm only getting better. Each year I’ve gotten better, and I don't see that stopping when I get to the next level.”
Prunty had an interception and eight PBUs for Wake, acting as their top corner. Opposing passers had just a 78.9 rating when throwing in his direction (per PFF). Prior to that, he was kind of a mystery at A&T, though his 2022 season was (4 INTs, 10 PBUs). He made a solid splash his freshman year for the Jayhawks (26 tackles, 10 PBUs, 1 INT).
“My journey has been crazy,” he said. “It's been a long journey, but it all paid off, whether it was good decision or bad decision. It was all worth it, and all the sacrifices I made, I finally get here. It finally paid off.”
Prunty played high school ball in Virginia, where he competed against TreVeyon Henderson. He said he saw Henderson on his visit to Foxboro. He was also recruited by current Pats cornerback coach Justin Hamilton, who was an assistant at Virginia Tech.
6th round (198) - Dametrious Crownover, RT, Texas A&M
Dametrious Crownover is 6’7”. Yes, 6…followed by the number 7. The kids (not mine, they are forbidden) will be excited, assuming this phase has not already gone the way of the dodo bird.
The Patriots traded back from #191 to #196, in the process of picking up pick #245 as well (oh, the humanity) to grab this two-year starter at the University of Texas A&M. The kid doesn’t just have the height, but he’s north of 320 pounds, has an arm length of 35 3/8 inches, and an 86-inch wingspan.
“When he’s right technique-wise, he’s hard to get around,” an assistant offensive line coach told me. “He takes up so much space. But he really needs to be dialed in that way. Has a good first step, but then he gets bogged down.” He later added, “He’s got a ways to go.”
Crownover came to the Aggies as a tight end and was an accomplished high school basketball player. He eventually made the move to tackle and started the team’s final 26 games. The Pats didn’t have him in for a top-30 visit, but felt good enough about the time they spent around him at A&M’s pro day to make the selection. Much like Caleb Lomu, their first-round pick, Crownover is better in pass pro than he is as a run blocker.
“I'm just dominant in the pass game and just trying to make sure it's something I hold to a higher standard,” he told us. “And then I'm still developing in the run game and making sure I'm getting better every time I step on the field to practice.”
Crownover said he’s spent a lot of time studying “Trent” and “LT in Washington.” He couldn’t think of Trent’s last name - my assumption is it’s Trent Williams in San Fran - and the LT he speaks of is Laremy Tunsil. Crownover doesn’t profile as either (Williams is an all-time great), and has had 96% of collegiate snaps as a right tackle. However, he has been cross-training to work as a swing tackle.
“It's definitely something I've been working on, knowing that when I got this next level that they're going to ask me to do it,” he said. “So it's something - I'm not saying I'm 100% at, like I would be more confident in my right side. But it's something I'm still working on and getting there.”
6th round (212) - Namdi Obiazor, LB, TCU
Eliot Wolf told us the Patriots liked some of the day three linebackers when we met with him earlier this month, and then promptly added one at the tail end of the sixth round, grabbing TCU’s Namdi Obiazor.
“Like the player,” was the immediate text I got from an NFL scout. “He’s got a chance to be a starter down the road.”
Obiazor did that for 3 years with the Horned Frogs. He tested like the athlete Mike Vrabel, and this coaching staff want at that position. He’s almost 6’3”, 229 pounds, and runs like the wind, with a 4.53 40 and a 1.56 10-yard split. Throw in his lower body explosion (37 inch vertical and a 9’11” broad jump), and you think when you put the tape in, you’ll see that. Eh. Not as much, especially when the play attacks the outer edges.
What stood out was Obiazor’s football IQ and reliability. The 24-year-old makes the plays he’s supposed to make, in part because he’s almost always in the spot he needs to be in. The play recognition is top-notch, at least at the collegiate level. Obiazor’s a good tackler, physical at the point of attack, and, maybe because he was a safety at one point, solid when playing zone coverage.
“I knew my coaches pretty much wouldn't be asking me to do the position change if I wasn't able to do it,” Obiazor said of going from safety to LB at TCU. “But I felt like it definitely helped being a former DB.”
“He's really worked his way into a good player at TCU and was at the Senior Bowl, and really good testing numbers,” Vice President of Player Personnel Ryan Cowden told us. “We evaluate these guys from a couple of different angles, from a defensive perspective, special teams, especially on the third day. Our special teams coaches took a look and had a lot of positives to say about Namdi's projections as a special teams player. And that's important at the linebacker position.”
The Pats saw and talked with Obiazor at both the American and Senior Bowls, and also did “some Zoom calls.” He said getting that call from One Patriot Place was “just a weight lifted off my shoulders, kind of just a good moment, just to be around family and just finally achieving my goal and dreams.”
As for how he’d describe his own play, Obiazor used one word: “Physical.”
He’ll join a linebacker group that was thinned out this offseason with the release of Jahlani Tavai and Jack Gibbens signing with Arizona, and has Christian Elliss, Chad Muma, and KJ Britt all in the last years of their contracts.
7th round (234) - Behren Morton, QB, TCU
After releasing Josh Dobbs, the Patriots were known to be in the quarterback market. They had to be, with only two live arms on the roster, Drake Maye and Tommy DeVito. That solved that issue by taking Texas Tech’s Behren Morton.
This kid has played a lot of football, starting 36 games over the last 3-and-a-half seasons. Morton’s also dealt with a ton of injuries, needing shoulder surgery at the end of the 2024-25 season, then suffering a hairline fracture of his right fibula this past year, but playing through it. He’s 6’2” and 221 pounds and for that care, has 9 1/2 inch hands (good for cold weather).
Morton also shows good feet and will throw the ball from a variety of platforms. He threw 49 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions over his final two seasons with the Horned Frogs.
“Average NFL arm talent,” one executive texted me. “But he’s tough as a pair of steel-toed workboots, his teammates respond to him, and he’s got the football IQ you want at that position.”
“This is kind of an opportunity for me to prove people wrong,” Morton said.
He spent a ton of time with the Pats in the pre-draft process, including a top-30 visit, and after watching film and talking with Josh McDaniels, feels the offense “fits his game” well. Morton also knows Drake Maye from their time competing at Elite-11 (a high-profile QB camp).
“If he needs a coffee from Starbucks, you know, I'm there for Drake,” Morton cracked, while also saying he’ll do whatever QB1 needs to help prepare each week.
7th round (245) - Jam Miller, RB, Alabama
I can’t help but see some TreVeyon Henderson in Jam Miller, but not for the reason you’re hoping. It's the vision that leaves you scratching your head sometimes, especially for someone who’s had as much of an opportunity as he did at Alabama.
That said, Miller (5’10”, 208 lbs) can be decisive, and there’s a burst there (4.42 40) that does get you a little bit excited. But his final season with the Crimson Tide started with a collarbone injury that required surgery, and ended with him getting just five snaps in the playoffs against Indiana. Overall, he averaged less than 4 yards per carry in 2025. Miller also struggled in pass protection and had three drops on 23 targets.
“Going into the year, I thought he could be a top-5 back in the class,” said one scout. “It didn’t play out that way. But he’s an awesome kid. Works his ass off. Nothing wrong with taking a shot on him at this point.”
Miller has special teams value.
7th round (247) - Quintayvious Hutchins, Edge/LB, Boston College
In an era where fewer and fewer players want to compete, be it in bowl games, all-star games, at the combine, or pro days, Quintayvious Hutchins is a throwback to a better time.
“We had the opportunity to work him out at our local day, which was really cool for him and his agent to decide to come work out,” Eliot Wolf said as he wrapped up day three of the draft. “A lot of time, guys that work out at the Combine aren't willing to do that. And he showed what kind of competitor he is with his willingness to come over here. And I think he helped himself, definitely. You know, Vrabel with a pad, like he was hitting that pad and Vrabel was feeling his strength. So it was pretty cool.”
Hutchins, a team captain, was expected to take a leap as an all-around player in his final season at The Heights, but actually saw a decrease in production (35 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 2 sacks). He runs well and has a quick first step. However, if he’s going to make this team, he will need to bring value on special teams, which he’s shown in the past.
“You're going to see a dynamic special teams player,” Hutchins said (and if he does what he did in college, he’s not too far off). “My career started out with special teams - kickoffs, kickoff return, punt, punt block. You're going to get a hard worker, a third-down guy, also a run stopper. I feel like I have a lot of bend, explosiveness when it comes to third down, second-and-long. So, you're going to get an energetic, young kid that's ready to work and put one foot in the door to lead to two.”
Hutchings bulked up to 243 for BC’s pro day, but played in the low 230s. He’s 6’2” and a very sound tackler.