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.”
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In his first season at the helm of the Patriots, Mike Vrabel made it a point of emphasis to target 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 David Andrews — those types of guys who have been the mainstays of the offensive line of the Patriots,” O’Brien said on NBC Sports Boston’s “Patriots Talk Podcast” last month.
NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein projected Kendall as a fourth-round draft pick. The Patriots have just one fourth-round selection at No. 106 overall, but do have two fifth-round picks (Nos. 144 and 171) at their disposal if Kendall goes a little later than expected.
Getting a young, interior offensive lineman is imperative in this draft as the Patriots are extremely thin at the center position. They released longtime captain David Andrews in the offseason after he missed most of the 2024 campaign with an injury. The Patriots filled that void by signing Garrett Bradbury, who comes to New England with his own set of questions, to a two-year deal worth up to $12 million.
There’s not much on the depth chart after Bradbury and giving Kendall the chance to come in and learn behind a proven NFL starter might be an ideal situation for all parties involved.
New Patriots offensive line coach Doug Marrone might see Kendall as a welcomed addition as well. The two already have a built-in relationship since Marrone served as BC’s senior analyst for football strategy/research last season and worked closely with the team’s offensive line.
Kendall felt he was more often than not on the same page with Marrone and said they both “speak a lot of the same language” on the field and in meeting rooms. And having Marrone be his position coach would only aid Kendall as he transitions to the NFL.
“I think it would definitely be helpful,” Kendall said. “I kind of am walking into a situation where I know a little bit more than I would elsewhere. I think that would be nice. It would definitely be great, but at the end of the day, you got to go show up and do whatever the coach says. But it would definitely be nice to have a little bit of an idea going into it.”
It feels like Kendall and the Patriots would be the perfect marriage. The Patriots are in need of a center and Kendall would get the chance to play for his hometown team.
But Kendall won’t let himself daydream about a honeymoon and putting on a Patriots uniform. He understands the reality of the situation and doesn’t care which of the 32 teams drafts him as long as his name gets called.
But in the back of his mind, it is tantalizing to think about the scenario in which the Patriots are on the other end of that phone call.
“It would be special, definitely,” Kendall said. “But it’s so out of my control. I’m just trying to make sure that I’m ready to go wherever any teams calls me. But definitely it would be really special.”