Eliot Wolf breaks down Patriots' decision to trade up for Gabe Jacas

Edge. That's been a position that has been named as one of the Patriots ' top needs in the draft, and New England wasted no time in securing a top defender to add to the depth chart. In the second round, the Patriots traded up and selected Illinois edge Gabe Jacas, whom executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said came as a surprise that he was still available.

"Yeah, we were exploring the board, and Gabe was the highest-rated player that we had on there. Obviously, at a position of need, and we just felt like rather than waiting," Wolf told reporters following the conclusion of rounds 2 and 3. "I was a little bit surprised that he wasn't off the board already.

So, we tried to pull the trigger. We were calling a bunch of teams before we ended up making the trade, and fortunately, the Chargers wanted to acquire some more picks, so we were able to get up and get the player that we coveted. " Wolf added that the play style is what they are "all about," adding that they noticed his "toughness, determination, grit.

" "He plays a ton of snaps. He plays really hard. He's super physical," he added.