PATRIOTS EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF PLAYER PERSONNEL ELIOT WOLF
PRESS CONFERENCE
April 23, 2026
EW: We drafted Caleb Lomu from Utah. Traded up three spots and gave up a fourth-round pick to acquire him. I'm really excited about this player. He's young, he's experienced, he's athletic, he's a great kid. Frankly, I was a little surprised that he was still available, and that's why we decided to move up a little bit. We're excited to add him.
Q: Eliot, how much of the fact that he was a three-year starter factor into you guys picking him, given where you guys are at as an organization?
EW: Yeah, he was actually a three-year player, two-year starter at Utah. He's still 21 years old, played mostly on the left side. But we feel like he has the athletic ability and talent to – obviously has to come in and earn a role somewhere, but he has the athletic ability, talent, strength and upside to kind of play anywhere on the line. And again, we're just really thrilled. Big athletes like this are hard to come by, especially later in the in the first round like this. I don't want to set him up for any wild comparisons or anything like that, but just really, really happy that we were able to acquire him.
Q: I think the majority of his college experience is on the left side. Are you open to having him play on the right or how do you think you'll approach that?
EW: Yeah, I mean, Will [Campbell]'s the left tackle. And like I said, Caleb has some versatility. So, we feel like some of the pro day workouts that he did were on the right side and we were comfortable with that. But again, he's very athletic, so I don't think either side will be a problem for him.
Q: How about at guard? Would he be in that process at either of those spots?
EW: It's a possibility. Physically and athletically we think that that's something he could do. Like most rookie offensive linemen he's going to have to get stronger when he gets up here. But again, that's something for Coach [Doug] Marrone, [Jason Houghtaling] Hoss and Jon [Jonathan] Decoster to kind of decide and see what fits the best for us.
Q: And can you take us behind the trade? Is that an easy one to pull off or are you sort of grinding the phones?
EW: Yeah, I would say we we've been working the phones pretty regularly, not only today but throughout the week, just trying to find different contingencies. Today was, I would say, busier, just trying to feel out – I think this draft, I think a lot of people have said, is a little bit unique. There were a lot of trades. There continue to be a lot of trades. I think there was one right when I was walking down here as well. But yeah, we were very active on the phones. Ryan [Cowden] and Matt Groh did a great job of kind of working the phones and trying to understand where the value was. And ultimately, with Caleb still on the board, we just felt like giving up the extra pick to make sure that we could acquire him was important.
Q: Did you feel there was a drop off after Caleb at the tackle position?
EW: We did. Again, there's still some good players at the tackle and guard as well, but we felt like there was a drop off and we felt like, again, just the best player available type situation for us at that point.
Q: Any surprises for you over the first round?
EW: I feel like I've probably been doing this long enough where nothing surprises me. I think just the number of offensive linemen is interesting. And again, even with that, the fact that Lomu was still available is pretty cool.
Q: Eliot, six of the offensive tackles went in the first 21 picks. At that point in time, did you think you had a chance at Lomu? And what were you considering at that point?
EW: We didn't. The way the board fell, there were still a couple of players up there that, again, we were at that point – it was kind of best player available for us picking late in the round and ultimately other names kept coming off, we were continuing to call around and found a trade partner – maybe an unlikely trade partner in Buffalo, and we were able to make it work.
Q: Eliot, with Morgan Moses too, you guys have reiterated that you're expecting him back. Did you see kind of the benefit of bringing in Lomu to kind of work with Will Campbell and Morgan Moses this year and have that ability to develop with them?
EW: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Morgan's been here this week. He's a tremendous leader and a great resource for young players. And Caleb's young. I mean, he's got a lot of things that he's going to need to learn. He had a great offensive line coach at Utah in Jim Harding, and just really excited to be able to get to work with him.
Q: When you reset the board at the end of the first, what goes into that, at least from a logistical perspective? The end of the night here, kind of setting things up for day two tomorrow?
EW: Yeah, we'll probably just do that in the morning. It's good to remove yourself a little bit from it and just kind of focus in on what we need to do next. Obviously, we don't have an early round-two pick, so it's going to be a lot like tonight where we're going to have to watch a lot of names come off that board before we can make something happen. So, certainly understanding, as the names have come off tonight, where the strengths and weaknesses are for day two.
Q: What did Caleb do during the draft process since his last football game was over to improve his stock? Or what did he do in your eyes from January on?
EW: Yeah, I mean, obviously the testing was excellent. We interviewed him at the Combine. That was great. We actually canceled his 30-visit because we didn't – we had one scheduled and we just didn't think he was going to factor in for us. We thought he'd be gone. So, his agent, Chase Callahan, wasn't too excited about that, but they understood and here we are. So, it's pretty exciting to be able to acquire him. But athletically, like some of the things at the pro day, the feet, the ability to play right tackle, and then obviously some of the zooms that we did with him where he showed the intelligence that we felt like he had some versatility and would be able to play more than one spot.
Q: Eliot, are there players you may have targeted as second round possibilities you'd be willing to move up the board to get if they're in range?
EW: I think that's a possibility. We like to have as many picks as we can and obviously we gave one up, so I don't know how likely that is. But again, if it's the right thing for us, which we felt like this one was, certainly wouldn't rule it out.
Q: Eliot, how high was he on the board?
EW: We had a first-round grade on him.
Q: Eliot, can you take us through how you found out about Mike [Vrabel]'s decision not to take part on day three, your reaction and how is that going to work without him there?
EW: I just refer to the statement. That's a personal thing that Mike's dealing with and going through, and obviously we support him. As far as the work is concerned on Saturday, not too worried about that. Just as far as the process that we have in place, the people that we have in place. And it's going to be different without his presence there, but we feel really good about the people that we have in place to make up for it.
Q: Do you feel like you guys will be able to get in contact with him if anything arises?
EW: Yes.
Q: Eliot, what will you be missing without Mike?
EW: The stability of him as a person, some of the leadership, some of the presence. He does a nice job for us with the undrafted players. Obviously, he's a tremendous recruiter, so that's maybe something that we'll be missing. But again, we're very confident in the people we have with the process. The assistant coaches have done a tremendous job, as have the scouts, preparing for day three. And we're excited about it.
Q: Will you have final say on the picks Saturday?
EW: Yes.
Q: With Caleb, you said that you canceled the 30 visit. What was that call with him like when you told him you guys were drafting him, considering?
EW: Oh, he was excited. I mean, he was excited. Actually, we have a cool feature in the draft room where we can take the draft board down and actually use FaceTime calls. So, we FaceTimed him. He was at a big party with his family and had the opportunity to meet his wife on the FaceTime call. He was pretty excited, so that was cool. And as far as canceling the 30 visit, it's not uncommon. We try to get those scheduled beforehand just because the dance cards kind of fill up. Those are usually done through the agent.
Q: Eliot, what did you learn about him as a person when you were in the pre-draft process?
EW: Just tremendously family oriented. I mean he's a young guy, 21 years old, and he's married, so obviously a strong foundation through his parents and everything. The people at Utah really spoke highly of his character and the things that he's all about.
Q: Eliot, Mike has said he likes to get a feel for linemen, as we know, famously, he did with Will last year. If he didn't come here for the 30-visit, did that happen? And what was Mike's feedback in that regard?
EW: I don't think Mike ever had the opportunity to put hands on him. I'm sure that'll be one of the first things that Mike does whenever he gets here. But no, we worked him out. We had scouts that worked him out that were there and all positives added.
Q: Eliot, do you realistically see him, at 6'6" and a quarter, playing inside at guard?
EW: I think it's possible. Again, that's maybe one that we'll see a little bit more when he gets here. But just from a physical athletic standpoint, I don't see a reason that he couldn't.
