Bill Belichick is as predictable as it gets when it comes to the draft.

In the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft Thursday, the Patriots traded back in a deal with the Chiefs to move from No. 22 to No. 29. Then, with that pick, they drafted Chattanooga guard Cole Strange, a player many predicted to go in the third round.

If that sounds familiar, it’s almost exactly what the Patriots did in 2020, when they traded back from pick No. 23 with the Chargers, then drafted Kyle Dugger, a safety out of Lenoir-Rhyne – another small school like Chattanooga.

Or in 2017, when the Patriots traded out of both of their first- and-second round picks for Brandin Cooks, Kony Ealy and an extra pick.

New England loves trading back in the draft. It also loves taking its “guys” – players who are likely way higher on the Pats’ boards than anyone else’s. Like when they took wide receiver N’Keal Harry over Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown in 2019. Or when they took running back Sony Michel in the first round, before Lamar Jackson, Nick Chubb and Darius Leonard.

It worked with Dugger, who has graded out as a very solid safety for New England. Will it work with Cole Strange, a mauling guard out of Chattanooga who, while being a high-upside player, also plays a non-premium position and most likely would have been available a round later?

“We felt like that was a good – a guy that fits well – Cole fits well into our team and our system,” Belichick said about Strange after the pick. “Obviously think he’s a good player.”

Belichick added: “He wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

Maybe, maybe not. The Rams certainly thought he would have.

“We wasted our time watching him thinking he’d be at 104,” Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay said while watching the Patriots’ pick.

Never change, Bill Belichick.