Zay Flowers Spends Entire Day Meeting With Patriots

The Wide Receiver took a long pre-draft visit, establishing a level of familiarity that makes him an intriguing potential first-round option for New England.

Josh Siegel | Apr 7, 2023

Zay Flowers Spends Entire Day Meeting With Patriots /

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Zay Flowers spent all of Thursday in New England, taking an extensive pre-draft visit with the Patriots, who hold the 14th pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Flowers, a Wide Receiver from nearby Boston College projected to land in the first round, spent Thursday with Patriots’ Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien learning the teams’ offense, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

BC WR Zay Flowers landed in Boston at 6 a.m. from an overnight Vegas flight and went straight to the #Patriots facility to spend the day learning the offense with Bill O’Brien on his visit, per source. New England has the No. 14 pick, three weeks from today.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 6, 2023

While teams usually discuss schemes with draft prospects in order to attempt to gauge their football IQ, Flowers and the Patriots seem to be establishing an extra layer of familiarity before the draft.

New England is in desperate need of Wide Receiver help, as only Jakobi Meyers managed to eclipse 600 receiving yards for the Patriots in 2022.

Flowers has been rising up draft boards, as the 5-foot-11 receiver attempted to assuage concerns about his size by gaining 13 pounds during the pre-draft process without losing much of his speed, running a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.

Flowers could be a much-needed playmaker for New England, as his explosiveness after the catch could be a perfect pairing with Mac Jones, who often needs production from his receivers in the open field to create big plays in order to compensate for his lack of elite arm strength.

With the Patriots hoping to move on from the disaster that was the Matt Patricia-run offense in 2022, Flowers could be an exciting addition to a receiver room that has grown stale over recent seasons.

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Published Apr 7, 2023

JOSH SIEGEL