The Patriots selected Polk 37th overall.
The New England Patriots met with wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk several times throughout the pre-draft process before selecting him with the 37th overall pick. But, they already had key intel on the player — and person — inside their building.
Coming from the University of Washington, Polk played while Patriots’ wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes was on staff last season as an offensive analyst. Hughes, therefore, had significant influence on New England ultimately selecting Polk in the second round.
“There was definitely a comfortability with Ja’Lynn given Tyler’s experience with him,” director of college scouting Camren Williams said on Patriots Unfiltered. “He obviously spoke really highly of him and that’s where we felt comfortable with the person and the player.
“I think that’s something that we feel in love with along with the tape — his mentality, his growth mindset, his toughness, his work ethic and those are the types of things in discussions that Tyler added context too with the dude, which was awesome. So, it was good to have Tyler in the building to help us through that.”
Polk is now excited for the opportunity to reunite and play directly under Hughes in Foxboro.
“I just remember him always being in a facility, always trying to build our team up and find ways for us to go out there and win games,” he said. “When you have opportunity to be around great coaches like that who are determined to get their players better and their team as well, it creates a championship team.
“So, it’s a blessed opportunity to just be able to be coached by a guy that loves to work and loves to win games.”
Beyond being a strong fit with Hughes, Polk projects to be a fantastic fit with new quarterback Drake Maye. During his time in Washington, Polk showcased fantastic hands and the ability to work over the middle while playing in contested catch situations. That will pair nicely with Maye’s elite arm strength and willingness to throw with anticipation between the numbers.
“The guys electric. He goes out there and he’s able to make plays for him team,” Polk said of Maye. “Great guy. Awesome player. Had the opportunity throughout this process to see a lot of the plays that he’s been able to put up for his team and I’m excited to get to work with him.”