With the initial wave of NFL Free Agency in the books, we’re on to draft season! For the next five and a half weeks the draft will be the centerpoint of NFL and New England Patriots discourse, leading up to the first night of the draft on April 23.
That also means the return of Mock Draft Mondays here on 98.5 The Sports Hub dot com. We’ll have a different sort of Mock Draft every Monday between now and then, kicking things off with the return of the Mock Draft Mailbag.
For those who are unfamiliar, the Mock Draft Mailbag is like the mailbag we do during the regular season, but instead of submitting questions people submit their mock drafts. A lot of you guys send me your mocks throughout the year and it’s tough to respond to each one, so this is a way to react to as many as I can.
This year, the exercise should have a little more juice too. Mock drafts are really all about familiarizing yourself with all of the different players in the class, and looking at different potential situations that could come up over the course of the draft (ex. what if they go edge first, versus tackle first, trade up, trade down, etc.).
The last few years though with the Patriots picking in the top four, the options were more limited. Now, there are so many different ways things can go up and down the draft board – and you guys hit on a ton of them.
As always, as we go through the mock drafts there are going to be picks and trades that come up multiple times. I’ll comment on a player, pick, trade, etc. usually just once, and if I don’t make a comment on it on another mock just know that’s the reaction to similar situations across the board. The goal here is to try and highlight as many players and scenarios as possible.
For those who didn’t get to submit a mock draft for this mailbag, we will have two more coming between now and draft day. However, now it’s time to get started with Mock Draft Mailbag 1.0…
It seems this week a lot of Patriots fans were studdying Chris Bell, as he came up in multiple mocks – typically as a trade down pick as is the case here. Bell is an interesting case for the Patriots. Towards the end of the college football season he looked to be playing his way into being a first round pick. The debate might not be whether or not the Patriots should pick him, but whether or not he’d be on the board at No. 31.
However a torn ACL on Nov. 22 changes the context significantly. He’s still projected to go top 50, but can the Patriots afford to use such a high pick on a player that likely won’t play much, if at all, as a rookie? Plus, given their history of wide receiver development, does it make sense to invest in a player who will miss OTAs and training camp in his all-important first summer? Plus, there’s no guarantee how he’ll move once he’s healthy.
At 6-foot-2, 222 pounds with big play potential before and after the catch Bell checks the boxes the Patriots should be looking for at wide receiver in theory. Is that potential enough alone to justify the pick? It’s a good debate but a lot of you seem to think so based on these mocks.
Beyond that, I do like the first round trade down although I’m not sure Miami is going to give a future likely top-50 pick in a great draft to a division rival. They’d have to really be convinced in trading up for someone.
Further down Dani Dennis-Sutton, Sam Roush, and Charles Demmings are all logical Patriots picks. Dennis-Sutton and Roush may go higher than listed here though. Sneaking Joe Fagnano in at the end is a good call, I could see him ending up with the Patriots as a camp arm and potential practice squad QB either late in the draft or as a UDFA.
The one pick I went back-and-forth on here is Gennings Dunker. Super fun player, with with Alijah Vera-Tucker the Patriots should be set at guard for the immediate future. He’d add good depth behind an injury-prone player and could also be a right guard candidate when Mike Onwenu’s contract ends, but there’s no immediate path to playing time for him right now. Maybe I’d feel better about it with a different top pick, but the first two selections basically being redshirt players would be an interesting choice for the front office.
Some good stuff here. I like the idea of getting a future first from the Cardinals for just a slight move back. The Patriots would likely need to give up a little more for this to happen, but it would be worth it (although that might throw off some of the other trades in this mock).
People might say this is too high for Gabe Jacas (silent J, pronoucned ACK-us) based on current projections, but I think he’s been underrated right now. Most years where the edge class isn’t so deep, I think he’d be in the first round coversation. He’s a high-motor, physical bully who always seems to end up near the football – a great fit for the Patriots. He’d be a solid add on Day 2.
Zakee Wheatley is a solid add too. He should be able to handle a third safety role as a rookie, but projects as the kind of player who could step into what should be Kevin Byard’s spot in a a year or two.
If anything, I’d say the trade up for Chris Bell here might not even be needed. Hold onto that future pick, take a shot at a tackle, linebacker, or even cornerback at 63, and take a shot on an ‘X’ wide receiver at the top of the fourth round. The rest is solid.
To me, a good barometer of Patriots free agency is ‘can they realistically take Blake Miller No. 31 overall?’
Of course, he has to get there first. But if he does, can the Patriots take a right tackle to develop behind Morgan Moses with their top pick. It feels like they’re right on that line, but Maverick seems to think so. If so, they get an experience, athletic tackle with good size who they should be able to trust.
My favorite pick here is Oscar Delp. Like some of the other tight ends in the above drafts like Eli Raridon and Sam Roush, he’s a well-rounded player than can be a factor as a blocker as well as a pass catcher. That’s the kind of tight end the Patriots should be targeting.
Later on Day 3 this draft takes some shots on individual trait players, the exact kind of picks you’re looking for on Day 3. Kaleb Elarms-Orr, Jeff Caldwell, and Patrick Payton all check those boxes.
The one pick I’d second guess in Deion Burks. Good player and would add some serious speed to the offense, but at 5-foot-10, 180 pounds with an inside-out profile he’s very similar to a lot of the Patriots wide receivers now. Maybe he passes Pop Douglas on the depth chart but likely isn’t going to leap Romeo Doubs, so is there a role big enough to justify making him a top-100 pick?
Let’s go to another first round tackle mock. Max Iheanachor is more likely to fall than Miller, but that’s because he’s more of a raw prospect. He didn’t start playing football until he was at JUCO in 2021, having played basketball and soccer beforehand. The 22-year-old might not be as ready if he needs to play Year 1 if Morgan Moses deals with injuries – that’s the trade-off.
The back-to-back picks of Jalon Kilgore and Hezekiah Masses here would be great for the secondary long-term. Kilgore is a versitile defensive back who could handle multiple safety assignements, while Masses is a big outside corner with good on-ball production who could develop as a second boundary option when Carlton Davis’ contract is up.
Both might be slotted one spot below where the Patriots would realistically need to take them, but moving each one up one and getting a linebacker later than Barham could still lead to a very good draft.
Finally, taking Adam Randall late on Day 3 is a fun pick. A converted wide reciever at 6-foot-3, 232 pounds he definitely has the potential to be a matchup nightmare, but still has a lot of growth to do as a running back. He also has kick return potential.
This mock goes a bit differently than some of the others we’ve looked at, but still does a good job of balancing need and value – while being very texas-heavy.
In terms of skill set and play style, Cashius Howell definitely checks a lot of boxes as a Patriots edge defender. He’s talented too, but the question is how much his arm length measurment of 30 1/4-inches will knock him down the board. If he makes it to 31 that could represent great value for a Patriots team that may not care as much about that one measurment.
Pairing him with a high-IQ, highly-productive sideline-to-sideline linebacker in Jacob Rodriguez would continue to build out a very strong core for the Patriots’ defense. Combine a Heisman-candidate season with a great Combine preformance though, and Rodriguez may not make it to Pick 63.
This draft also addresses the offensive line with a couple of Aggies in developmental right tackle Dametrious Crownover and bully ball guard Ar’Maj Reed-Adams, who could be a long-term replacement for Mike Onwenu.
Two more picks I like here are Ted Hurst and VJ Payne. A small-school standout, Hurst is one of the better Day 2 options if the Patriots are looking for a bigger, outside reciever, while Payne versatility in the secondary and athleticism would make him a good depth add.
KC Concepcion might be my favorite receiver in this draft. But it seems unlikely at this point he gets to No. 31, and even if he does his fit in the offense with Romeo Doubs would be tough. Still, for the talent alone should the Patriots take him if he falls?
Romello Height is another good Day 2 edge rusher to know. He’s another player that has questions about his size at 6-foot-3, 239 pounds with 32 1/4-inch arms. Still, there’s a lot to like about his rush plan, and that’ll only grow as he puts on more size once he’s in an NFL weight program.
Later on, this is another mock draft that does a good job of addressing depth/future needs on defense. Ephesians Prysock profiles as a boundary cornerback with good size (although he might be more of a zone corner) and Eric Gentry has the upside of a situational coverage linebacker.
Like Concepcion, the majority of current projections have Denzel Boston off the board by pick No. 31. If he falls though he does fit the big, outside profile the Patriots are missing and who styalistically is a strong fit with Drake Maye. He could even be a player that might be worth moving up for a bit, but the wide receiver-needy Bills at No. 25 could complicate things.
Along with Jacas, Kyle Louis is also one of my favorite defensive players in this draft. As the league trends more towards giving key roles to hybrid linebacker/safety players, the 6-foot, 220 pound likebacker fits the mold. He’s a plus athlete that gets his hands on the football regularly, and plays with good violence. He’d add a dynamic the Patriots’ defense doesn’t really have right now.
Dae’Quan Wright is a good name for Patriots fans to know at tight end. If the team does want a pure receiving tight end, especially later in the draft, Wright is a good after-the-catch player at 6-foot-4, 246 pounds.
There are a couple of players here who we haven’t hit on yet. One is Chris Brazzel, who might be the Patriots’ best chance to get an instant contibuor big downfield threat on Day 2. Brazzell has the typical Tennessee wide receiver speed, but a more developed route tree and is more competitive and physical at the catch point. 52 is probably on the lower edge of his range, and he may be more realiztic as a trade-back candidate from 31 than trading up from 63 – but that would mean not drafting Howell here.
Harold Perkins is another Day 3 linebacker that stands out to me. At one point he was a projected mid-first round pick after breaking out as a true freshman in 2022. However he tore his ACL in 2024, and the effects still showed up at time in 2025. When healthy, he lives in the backfield (26 tackles for loss over his first 27 career games) and has the athleticism to be a factor in coverage at 6-foot-1, 223 pounds. The question is, can he still be that player?