Patriots' surprise draft pick reportedly had workouts with nine teams

There were plenty of surprises in the 2025 NFL draft, including the New England Patriots selecting Vanderbilt long snapper Julian Ashby in the seventh round.

It was obvious by that move that other teams were interested, and the Patriots were avoiding a potential bidding war for an undrafted rookie free agent. They had an abundance of draft picks after wheeling and dealing throughout the draft for multiple trades.

So they used a seventh-rounder on Ashby.

According to ESPN's Mike Reiss, the talented SEC long snapper had private workouts with nine teams before the draft. Patriots coach Mike Vrabel and special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer were among those in attendance for a workout in…