#PostPulpit Mailbag: Breaking down more reader-submitted Patriots mock drafts
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By: Brian Hines
Brian Hines explores your mock drafts in this week’s mailbag.
The 2024 NFL Draft is officially less than two weeks away. So, instead of the usual questions submitted and answered in our #PostPulpit mailbag, we will be going through another batch of your own mock drafts — where we hopefully will comment on a vast majority of prospects, trades, and all sorts of scenarios.
With that, let’s get into some New England Patriots mocks.
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— Cheky01 (@Cheky011) April 11, 2024
You are speaking my language, Cheky.
Drake Maye remains my favorite player in this entire class. He has all the tools teams should look for in a quarterback prospect. If he somehow slips past the Commanders, New England should sprint the card to the podium.
From there, I love the day two haul as well. New England has shown tons of interest in Suamataia who features a freakish athletic profile like his cousin, Penei Sewell. He may need some grooming upon arrival, but he has the makings to become a dominate left tackle. As for Pearsall, he’s one of my favorite receivers in this draft. Pearsall also is a top notch athlete and isn’t your typical slot receiver as he can win downfield.
On day three, I like Cam Hart as a lengthy boundary corner at 6’3” with 33” arms who also ran a 4.5-second 40-yard dash. Elliss, who’s brother Christian is on New England’s roster, is an explosive and agile mid-round edge rusher while Frank Crum’s top notch athletic profile (9.83 RAS) makes him intriguing late-round project tackle. Good haul.
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— James Pendergast (@JamesPe00609591) April 11, 2024
The J.J. McCarthy debate rolls on. To me, there’s a lot to like with McCarthy. He’s got good arm strength, athletic, comfortable in the pocket, and isn’t shy of attacking the middle of the field. But, his final upside is a huge risk as there’s plenty of question marks with his game. I’m not sure if he’ll ever be a QB teams win because of, which is the type of player I want if selecting him with the No. 3 overall pick.
Beyond the QB double-dip with the rocket-armed Joe Milton, the double dip at tight end is intriguing. Johnson was an underachiever production wise in a poor Penn State offense but tested off the charts. He’s a willing blocker who could become a factor on seams and crossers. Reiman also had limited production but has great size and bullies defenders in the run game.
The receiver double-dip starts with Worthy who is a certified speedster with his record setting 4.21-second 40-yard dash. He is more than just a speedster as he runs strong routes but his size (5’11”, 165) and play strength will always be a factor. More on Baker, and Paul, later.
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— Patriots (fake) GM (@Patriots_FA) April 11, 2024
We’ll call this one the ‘30 visit draft,’ as every single prospect on this list has reportedly been on a visit with New England in this pre-draft process. We’ve talked about Maye and Suamataia above, so we’ll focus elsewhere.
Starting with Austin Booker, the lengthy edge rusher is extremely impressive for someone who’s only played 505 career defensive snaps. He’s a very good athlete who can slip blocks in the run game and get after quarterbacks. With his small sample size of snaps he could be a prime candidate to get in the building in a reserve role as a rookie with Matthew Judon and Josh Uche in contract years.
Baker is an explosive athlete at the receiver position who had 21 catches of 20-plus yards in 2023. He can make some tremendous catches at the catch point but did struggle with drops at times (14 the past two seasons). Bell is a versatile tight end (44.3 percent of snaps in the slot, 43.0 percent inline and 10.4 percent out wide) who could serve as a No. 2 tight end/pass catching option.
Ending on defense, Hunt is the definition of a project player as he originally was a safety before transition to linebacker than pass rusher. His athletic traits are top notch at the position as a former defensive back but he shouldn’t be counted on (outside of special teams) in year one.
Vaki is as versatile as they come as he was a two-way player in college as a running back and safety. His coverage ability could decide his future in the secondary but he at least seems to have a core special teams role in his NFL future.
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— Average Joe’s (@ElChicocabra) April 11, 2024
We’ve been on record saying if the Patriots were to trade down, we’d try to stay within the top 10 to guarantee a blue-chip offensive talent. Joe Alt is one of those players, so getting him at 12 would be great value. However, it looks like the haul for No. 3 here was No. 12 and a future first and second from Denver. I’d need one more first-round pick in that package.
As for Michael Penix Jr., there are a lot of concerns on this end. He is as tough as they come and throws a great deep ball with an aggressive mindset, but isn’t overly accurate, does not throw over the middle of the field and the mobility is a concern despite his 40-time. That doesn’t even then factor in the injury history.
McMillan has been described as a souped-up Jakobi Meyers. He has good size and speed but may be limited to the slot. Sanders is a good athlete for his size who plays dover 60 percent of his snaps in-line for Texas. He could be a good fit in Alex Van Pelt’s offense that led to David Njoku catching 81 passes for 882 yards last season.
Lastly, Harper will be limited to a nickel role most likely at 5’10”, 189 pounds while Thomas is an explosive rusher with upside despite turning 25 in December.
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— MearMusings (@MearMusings) April 11, 2024
As we talked about in our last mock draft mailbag, trading down to still pick a QB is extremely rare. If you identify one of the options as “your guy,” you pick him. With that being said, moving down and still staying inside the top-10 remains the ideal method in a potential trade down.
Beyond that, I love Ladd. He’s is not your stereotypical white receiver as he ran a 4.39 40-yard dash and played 70 percent of his collegiate snaps outside. His size will certainly cut into that number at the next level, but he’s a top notch route runner that will be a chain mover and quarterback’s best friend at the next level.
DeJean is another really interesting prospect who could pop up on the Patriots board if they trade back and can add a defensive player early with excess capital. He’s a tremendous athlete who has versatility all around the secondary at corner and safety. The problem is he just may not get out of the first-round.
Lastly with Burton, I’m a big fan of his game and think he’d be a great fit with Daniels due to his ability to win vertically down the field. But, he has several red flags on and off the field which could matter for a team that has prioritized building their culture this offseason.
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— phil carpenter (@carpie99) April 11, 2024
As we just discussed above, trading down for the QB is a risky move. If you really believe Jayden Daniels is a future franchise quarterback it’s worth sticking at No. 3 to make the pick. Why risk losing him?
Beyond that, three wide receivers! Mitchell has all the tools to be a dominant X-receiver in the league but is a frustrating player at times on film. The duo with Mitchell and Brenden Rice would also be a bit redundant as Rice is another X receiver. As for McCaffrey, the former QB has the athleticism to play the position but will need to add to his frame. A special teams role could be on the table in year one.
Sinnott is an extremely versatile player who wore numerous hats in the run and pass game at Kansas State. Some draft analysts have Sinnott as their TE2 in this class, so he could be off the board even before the 70th selection.
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— Sinnin-n-grinnin (@FJB_FOF) April 11, 2024
We’ve talked about Penix Jrr., but his WR1 from the past season, Rome Odunze, is a certified stud. He’ll be one of the top three receivers taken but easily could be No. 1 in any class that did not include Marvin Harrison Jr. Odunze is a top option in the first-round in a trade back.
Adding Paul and Rosengarten is then a good way to build up the tackle group. Paul is a monster at the left tackle position (6’7”, 331 pounds) while Rosengarten is a strong athlete who protected Penix’s blindside on the right. They’d be a great duo if New England adds the resources to acquire both.
At tight end, Stover is an all-around solid player with outstanding hands as evidence of his two career drops on 108 targets. All is an interesting player as well as he spent four years in Michigan before transferring to Iowa last season. He’s a strong athlete, smooth receiver, and willing blocker but only 40 collegiate games in five seasons. That including 10 total games over the last two years due to a spine surgery and torn ACL.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
Originally posted on Pats Pulpit