In conditioning drills during Cajuste's first summer at West Virginia, he was outrunning his fellow offensive linemen by such great distances that the coaching staff decided to try him at defensive end. Cogdell stuck with his instincts, though.

"I told [West Virginia head coach Dana] Holgorsen, 'We might want to move him back to tackle. He's very raw at defensive end, but I think he can make a lot of money at offensive tackle.' Ron Crook, the then-offensive line coach agreed. Ron developed him to be a pretty good player."

He admits he was worried initially when Crook later left West Virginia that Cajuste would fall into a slump, but those fears proved unwarranted.

"Coach [Joe] Wickline did a great job with him, too," Cogdell observes. "And he wanted to be good. When you come to a program and want to be good, you'll get results. He locked in to getting bigger, faster, stronger and working on his craft."

Cogdell eventually moved on, too, and is now an assistant for Alabama State, but he's kept in touch with his protégé. In fact, Cogdell was one of the people Cajuste turned to a year ago when he contemplated declaring early for the NFL Draft. The coach's advice?

"We spoke a couple of times and I told him he needed to stay. Stay there and stay healthy. Eat right, live right. I think he made a great decision by staying his senior year."

Health has been perhaps the primary reason for any stunting of Cajuste's development as a football player. Knee injuries ended his 2015 and '16 seasons prematurely, and he's currently rehabilitating from a quadriceps injury that required surgery this past March. Though far from a finished product, Cajuste has intriguing potential. The Patriots clearly see it the way Cogdell did all those years ago at Miramar.

"With his pass-blocking skills, I think his footwork is pretty good. I just want to see him more physical at the point of contact when it comes to run-blocking," Cogdell offers. "One thing he'll learn [in the NFL] is those guys are pretty fast. You've got guys who are twitchy, undersized defensive ends that are almost outside linebackers that are like 230 pounds and can run. That's going to come with repetition with the Patriots. With his wingspan and footwork, he'll be fine. I think this kid is very polished…. His football IQ was very good. I think he's headed in the right direction. And the plus is that he has one of the best organizations in the NFL.