The window to bring external prospects in for pre-draft visits officially closed on Wednesday. At that point, 23 of the 30 spots available to the New England Patriots had been reported.
On Thursday, two more names were added to the list: edge defenders Malachi Lawrence (UCF) and Gabe Jacas (Illinois) both took trips to Foxborough as well. According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, Lawrence’s visit took place late last month, with Jacas’ happening this week.
Lawrence and Jacas are among the better
edge options in this year’s draft, and neither is projected to remain on the board much deeper than the second round.
Lawrence, 22, spent his entire five-year college career at UCF. Appearing in 39 games with 22 starts, he registered 20 combined tackles and was named first-team All-Big 12 as a fifth-year senior in 2025. Measuring 6-foot-4 and 253 pounds, he is bringing a 9.90 Relative Athletic Score to the table.
Jacas, 21, played 50 games with 43 starts during his four-year career at Illinois. He sacked opposing quarterbacks a combined 27 times and also forced seven fumbles with the Fighting Illini. He left college after the 2025 season as a team captain and second-team All-Big Ten selection.
Besides Lawrence and Jacas, the Patriots also hosted fellow edges R Mason Thomas (Oklahoma), Romello Height (Texas Tech), Zion Young (Missouri), George Gumbs Jr. (Florida) and Keyron Crawford (Auburn) at their facility during the pre-draft process.
“We bring guys in for a variety of reasons, whether it’s to get medical, to get them in front of Mike [Vrabel],” said executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf earlier this week. “Then if there are some questions about the character, their learning, the position fit.”
