What Alonzo Highsmith will reportedly do for Patriots in front office role

The Patriots are reportedly changing their talent grading system with Highsmith being in charge of the transition.

The Patriots have shuffled around their front office this offseason following Bill Belichick's departure. (AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper)

By Conor Roche

February 10, 2024

2 minutes to read

Even though the Patriots hired from within to replace both of Bill Belichick’s roles, they might be taking a different approach to conducting business, at least when it comes to player personnel.

Alonzo Highsmith, who the Patriots reportedly hired from the University of Miami to join their front office, will “help the team transition its grading system,” CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported Saturday.

What Highmith’s grading system will look like is obviously unknown, but Jones speculated that it could look similar to the Packers’ grading system from when he and Eliot Wolf were together in Green Bay. The Packers’ grading system valued athleticism, explosiveness, and versatility while the Patriots’ grading system under Belichick was “more stringent” on determining if players were fits, according to Jones.

Wolf, who’ll reportedly be the Patriots’ chief decision-maker for the roster, worked with Highsmith for six seasons with the Packers (2012-17) before working together for two more seasons in the Browns’ front office (2018-19). Highsmith opted to work in the Seahawks’ front office for three seasons before becoming the University of Miami’s general manager in 2022.

Michael Irvin, who played with Highsmith in college and with the Cowboys, highly praised his former teammate, saying he and new Patriots coach Jerod Mayo will “be a dangerous combination.”

“[Highsmith] is such a great dude and a great man that understands the game and understands talent,” Irvin told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand.” “Let me tell you what you’re getting. I was with [Patriots owner Robert] Kraft yesterday talking about Jerod Mayo — that combination working together is going to be crazy, because they both think alike.

“Zo is such a hard worker. Alonzo Highsmith was one of the guys I looked up to when I came into college as, how do you learn how to work? It was Alonzo Highsmith talking about what it takes to be a champion.”

Highsmith is just one of the many moving parts in the Patriots’ front office this offseason. With Wolf replacing Belichick as the Patriots’ chief decision-maker on player personnel, Matt Groh will be in charge of college scouting while Pat Stewart will oversee pro scouting, according to Monday Morning Quarterback’s Albert Breer.

Groh served as the Patriots’ director of player personnel following Dave Ziegler’s departure in the 2022 offseason while Stewart rejoined the Patriots’ front office in 2023, working with the Patriots in multiple roles between 2007-17.

Groh was notably visible with the Patriots’ contingent of staffers at the Senior Bowl last week, being featured in the team’s behind-the-scenes video of scouting the vent. He also told the team website what he is valuing ahead of the draft.

“You need to have explosive players,” Groh told Patriots.com during the week of the Senior Bowl. “You look at the teams that are playing deep into the playoffs and they have explosive players, whether that’s on the perimeter, or the backfield, or the tight end position. The quickest way to score points is through explosive plays. You get that by having explosive players and somebody who can get those guys the ball.”

So, it looks like Highsmith and Groh aren’t too far apart in what they value in a player.