New England Patriots - NESN.com
Drew Kendall decided to stay close to home when he played his collegiate football at Boston College.
And the possibility of the Norwell, Mass., native staying local is on the table again in this week’s NFL draft.
Kendall can only do so much to block out the idea of playing for the New England Patriots. Some of those close to him aren’t afraid to bring up the topic, especially since the Patriots are in desperate need of offensive line help and Kendall just happens to be one of the top centers in this year’s draft class.
“A little bit, definitely. More so from friends,” Kendall told NESN.com on hearing about playing for the Patriots. “It would be such an incredible opportunity to stay home and get to play for the hometown team. That would be awesome.”
The Patriots showed an interest in Kendall during the predraft process. They met with the 6-foot-4, 308-pound offensive lineman during BC’s pro day in March and again earlier this month when they hosted draft prospects from schools in the area.
The meetings with the Patriots certainly left an impression on Kendall.
“They’ve been great. All of them have been talking about football and getting to know me as a person, which I really appreciate,” Kendall said. “They want to make sure that they’re bringing in the right people over there, and that really stood out to me. A lot of those interviews you spend most of the time just talking about yourself and talking about what’s important to you and I really appreciated that. But also getting the opportunity to speak a little bit about football. It’s been great.”
In his first season at the helm of the Patriots, Mike Vrabel made it a point of emphasis of targeting high-character football players to try to rebuild the franchise’s broken down culture. Kendall sure fits that mold.
Kendall, who played his high school football at Noble and Greenough, was a team captain for BC in 2024 and started 37 games in his career with the Eagles. One of those starts for the All-ACC First Team selection — he allowed just five pressures on 350 dropback snaps this season — came in this year’s Pinstripe Bowl.
While it has become common for draft-eligible players to skip bowl games, Kendall wanted one last chance to put on the BC uniform despite the risk of injury — which occurred with Kendall suffering a high ankle sprain.
BC head coach Bill O’Brien lauded Kendall’s leadership in that moment to fulfill his commitment to the Eagles instead of looking ahead to his future. O’Brien, who spent five seasons on Bill Belichick’s staff in New England plus a forgettable one-year stint with the organization in 2023, believes in Kendall’s ability to make a difference in the trenches and sees similarities in him to other former Patriots offensive linemen.
“Drew Kendall is just very tough, very smart in the mold of a Dan Koppen, in the mold of a Ryan Wendell and...
