6 Key Positions at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine | New England Patriots Draft Preview

NFL Draft season has officially arrived.

On Thursday, February 26, the NFL world will congregate in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine — and there are several key positions of need that New England Patriots brass will be paying close attention to.

For many fans, the Scouting Combine — the “underwear olympics” — is a first exposure point to many of the nation’s top collegiate football athletes. For the athletes, it’s an opportunity to showcase their skills and make a strong first impression in the interview process that leads up to the draft. For teams, it’s a chance for coaches and management to establish a baseline of who a player is on and off the field — and whether they’re worth taking a closer look at prior to the NFL Draft on April 23-25.

New England enters the Scouting Combine with 11 selections in the upcoming draft, and will be actively involved in enriching the middle class of an already Super Bowl-caliber roster. Their unexpected deep postseason run in 2025 has silenced many initial concerns about a lack of depth on the team, and this is their chance to shore that up before it ever becomes a more forward-facing issue.

Mike Vrabel’s first draft class as the head coach of the Patriots was historically great in terms of snaps taken — fourth in the NFL, behind only the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Tennessee Titans — and wins — 17, tying for the NFL record (George Seifert, 1989 San Francisco 49ers) in a head coach’s first year with a team.

Now, the Patriots look to follow that draft class up with another selection of players that supplement their talented young core. April will be an important venture for the future success of the program, and the work that precedes a successful showing then takes the spotlight now.

Here are six positions of need for New England that we’ll be watching closely when the events get underway:

Defensive linemen will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Thursday, February 26.

There are 63 defensive linemen participating at the Combine this year, with 18 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

Edge rusher is a priority need for the Patriots this offseason, and we’ll certainly be keeping an eye on each of these players — as New England could use the 31st pick to shore up the position, or attack value later on in the draft.

Entering draft season, this seems like one of the positions with more depth than some others, so there will be opportunity to grab talent in the mid-to-late rounds here as well.

Now, it’s about finding who the best fit is for Vrabel’s scheme and culture. The Combine will help put some of those pieces together in the roster construction puzzle.

Offensive linemen will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Sunday, March 1.

56 offensive linemen will be participating at the Combine this year, with 16 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

The Patriots have work to do along the offensive line this spring, with additions on the interior and exterior both being possibilities.

If New England is planning to draft a tackle, they’ll likely have to do so early on — as the talent gap widens at the position with each passing round.

With Will Campbell and Morgan Moses manning those positions currently, there’s an argument to be made that using a premium pick on a player that won’t immediately contribute would be a waste. But coaches and general managers will be using the spring to plan for 2026 and beyond. Tackle is a difficult position to fill, and having the ability to do so without immediate pressure to play would benefit the team long-term.

The more pressing need along the offensive line is in the interior, and that could be a selection that ranges from early in the draft to a late-round value pick that may also sit and learn behind more veteran additions to the room.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the early-round projections at tackle, and the late-round projections at the interior positions as the Patriots look to fortify the line in front of Drake Maye this offseason.

Wide receivers will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Saturday, February 28.

There are 46 wide receivers participating at the Combine this year, with 16 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

Once again, New England enters an offseason with a top-ranked wide receiver as a position of need. Traditionally, this wouldn’t be a position they would target with a premium pick — but this may be the year that changes.

There is a real possibility that one of the top five or six receivers in the class falls to the Patriots at the 31st overall pick — allowing New England to snag a dependable target for Maye and the passing game for at least the next five years.

If the Patriots don’t pull off any other big swings for a prolific downfield target this spring, a first-round receiver may be the biggest difference maker on the offense in 2026.

If those highly-touted prospects go off the board early, the Patriots may be content to explore a similar strategy as 2025 — when they selected Kyle Williams in the third round.

There will be options for New England to pick from in that range, specifically at the X receiver spot, but the vast majority of the class looks to be slot specialists… making those boundary targets valuable commodities.

Regardless of their projections, picking a receiver at 31 or later is another shot in the dark and no guarantee to pan out; Patriots fans are all too aware of that fact.

Tight ends will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Friday, February 27.

There are 27 tight ends participating at the Combine this year, with 6 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

This year’s tight end class provides great opportunity for New England to add value in the mid-to-late rounds of the draft. The 27 invitees are a five-year high, and aligns with a position that the Patriots are currently extremely thin at.

With Austin Hooper slotted to become an unrestricted free agent at the beginning of the new league year, New England is running severely thin behind Hunter Henry at the position currently.

Henry also turns 33 in December and enters the final year of his contract in 2026, so it’s a safe bet that the Patriots will be looking to target this position at some point in April’s draft.

That’ll likely happen somewhere in the mid-to-late rounds as the team attacks more immediate needs for starters early on. But with a player pool as deep as this one runs, we’ll be keeping a close eye on which of these players feels like a fit in a Josh McDaniels’ offensive scheme that specializes in two tight end sets.

Defensive backs will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Friday, February 27.

There are 53 defensive backs participating at the Combine this year, with 19 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

Defensive back may not be a position where New England needs an immediate contributor, but it is a group that currently lacks depth on the Patriots roster.

After replacing both Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers with Jaylinn Hawkins and Craig Woodson at safety last season, the safety room runs especially thin in Foxboro. Hawkins played over 85% of defensive snaps and is set to become an unrestricted free agent, while Woodson was picked in the fourth round last year and totalled 99% of snaps for the Patriots defense.

While Hawkins will likely be re-signed, an injury to either of those players would have lasting repercussions on the consistently high performance of the unit as a whole. New England can use their draft capital to ensure they have extra bodies in place to take over in a supporting role when necessary.

The same could be said for the corner position. Christian Gonzalez, Carlton Davis, and Marcus Jones will eat up most of the playing time for starters… but each has missed significant time due to injury in the past.

Last year, Alex Austin (restricted free agent) was the back-up plan, but even he dealt with injury. That forced new addition Charles Woods onto the field for significant reps all the way through the postseason.

The Patriots will need more depth behind their starters at corner, on both boundaries and in the slot. The draft could be a great place to identify cost-effective developmental talent at the position.

Linebackers will perform drills at the 2026 Scouting Combine on Thursday, February 26.

There are 28 linebackers participating at the Combine this year, with 9 ranked inside the top 100 prospects. Here’s who will be attending:

Off-ball linebacker is another position where New England could use a depth/developmental talent later in the draft.

Robert Spillane, Christian Elliss, and Jack Gibbens (restricted free agent) were all dependable options last year, but this is a group with a limited ceiling, and a collection of veteran players. Adding youth into the room would benefit not only the defense, but special teams as well — and give any selection time to learn from those consistent starters ahead of them on the depth chart.

The Patriots aren’t getting any younger at the position as of now, and a draft selection would give them an avenue for development of a future starter at the second level of the defense.

New England has several positions of need that align with deep classes of prospects in 2026.

While this class may not have the same top-end talent as drafts in recent years, that doesn’t negatively impact the Patriots as much as it would if they had a more premium pick. Beginning at 31 and extending through their 10 other picks, New England has the assets to move around the board and select players they identify as potential contributors to the roster for years to come.

Without the need for many immediate starters, the brass in Foxboro will be able to focus on development of talented players that fill supplemental depth roles that the team currently lacks. Those positions will become vitally important as the Patriots begin taking on larger contracts by extending their cornerstone pieces.

New England will have the assets and opportunity to fill the middle class of the roster through the 2026 NFL Draft — those prospects are set to be on display at the NFL Scouting Combine this week.

Which positions will you have a close eye on at this year’s Scouting Combine? Who should the Patriots target with their first pick in the draft? Let us know in the comments below.

Next up, we’ll be formulating a plan to upgrade the Patriots for 2026 and beyond — dissecting best routes for improvement at key positions in free agency, trades and the NFL Draft.

Stay tuned for that and much more right here on Patriots Roundtable.

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