The Patriots got new quarterback Drake Maye an offensive weapon.

The Eliot Wolf-led front office traded down to No. 37 overall to select Washington wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The Patriots moved down from No. 34 and gave up the 137th overall pick in the fifth round to pick up the No. 37 overall pick and added the 110th overall pick in the fourth round.

Polk, who’s 6-foot-1, 203 pounds, caught 69 passes for 1,159 yards with nine touchdowns last season for the Huskies. He split his time between playing outside and in the slot in a receiving corps that included ninth overall pick Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan, a projected third-round pick, with Falcons eighth overall pick Michael Penix Jr. targeting them.

Patriots wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes was a quality control coach at Washington in 2023. So, he knows Polk’s game well.

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A scout said Polk is “big, strong and smooth.” He has “great hands” but he’s “just not ultra dynamic.” The scout said he has a similar skillset to Odunze, but he’s the second-round version. Overall, he’s viewed as a good fit in offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt’s new system.

There’s a belief that Polk can play “X” in the NFL, despite Odunze primarily playing that position at Washington, because he “can threaten all three levels by manipulating his tempo.” Polk isn’t a burner. He ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine, but he otherwise tested well with a 37.5-inch vertical leap and 10-foot, 9-inch broad jump.

Odunze, Polk and Jalen McMillan all made life easier for quarterback Michael Penix. Polk won 54.2% of his contested targets in 2023, which ranked 31st of 121 qualified players. He also forced 15 missed tackles in 2023, ranking 35th.

Polk, 22, transferred from Texas Tech after his freshman year. He caught 143 passes for 2,231 yards with 18 touchdowns in four seasons.

Maye, the Patriots third overall pick, reacted to the pick on social media by saying, “Stud!! Lets work.”