Peter Schrager doesn't trust any NFL Draft rumblings he hears from Patriots (2025)

Peter Schrager has a lot of sources he trusts.

Few insiders are more plugged in to the happenings of the NFL Draft. The ESPN personality, formerly of NFL Network, does one mock draft — and that’s it. He waits to compile all his well-sourced information, and spills what he believes might happen. Of course, the NFL Draft is virtually impossible to predict, but Schrager’s gotten a lot of picks right over the years.

Just not one of them.

In the 2019 NFL Draft, Peter Schrager firmly believed Sam Darnold was going to the Cleveland Browns. Based on what he had heard, he locked that pick in. But apparently, that’s what Eliot Wolf, then the Browns’ assistant general manager, wanted him and others to believe.

The Browns took Baker Mayfield. The rest is history.

So, excuse Schrager for not believing anything the New England Patriots feed to the media. He’s been burned by Wolf once before, and he’s not trying to get burned by the Patriots’ de facto GM again. Wolf’s title is executive vice president of player personnel, but he’ll lead the draft alongside first-year head coach Mike Vrabel.

When the Patriots make their pick at No. 4 overall come Thursday, Schrager, like many analysts across the NFL, believes they’ll select LSU Tigers offensive lineman Will Campbell. But even one of the most plugged-in insiders isn’t counting his eggs before they hatch.

My one and only mock draft, up now on ESPN. @ESPNNFL pic.twitter.com/BHIMdBI4mT

— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) April 23, 2025

Based on his previous run-ins with Eliot Wolf, Schrager likely doesn’t believe the pick will be Campbell — until it is.

“I’ve been doing this a long time. Eliot Wolf has been in the league a long time,” Schrager said on The Pat McAfee Show earlier this week. “The one No. 1 overall pick that I’ve been completely duped on, and I had to make a mock draft, and I made a million calls, and even within their organization. ‘Sam Darnold’s going No. 1 to Cleveland. Sam Darnold is the Cleveland Browns quarterback.’ I did that around Wednesday afternoon. I felt really confident on it. The pick was made, and the announcement from one, Rodger Goodell, was Baker Mayfield.”

“Do you know who was in that front office? Eliot Wolf was No. 2 in that front office,” Schrager continued. “So, I don’t trust anything from the Patriots, and what we’re hearing from the Patriots. I think Eliot Wolf gets a kick out of having everyone zig, and then they zag, and then they say, ‘Well, we didn’t say anything. You guys made that assumption.’ I honestly think anyone who thinks they know what the Patriots are doing at four and saying it’s a slam dunk, they’re full of it. Because Eliot Wolf ain’t talking, and I don’t think Vrabel is either.”

So, if the Patriots take Ashton Jeanty or someone like Jalon Walker, and you’re somehow surprised, don’t say Schrager didn’t warn you.

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