New England Patriots

Sports Q: Who will be the best player in the Patriots’ 2020 draft class?

Anfernee Jennings -- smart kid, hard worker, Alabama pedigree, tough and physical.

Alabama linebacker Anfernee Jennings
Anfernee Jennings. AP Photo/Michael Conroy

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Who will be the best player in the Patriots’ 2020 draft class?

Well, this is just a guessing game at this point, right? We have no clue right now who will pan out and who won’t. I thought it was interesting that Nick Caserio, the Patriots’ director of player personnel, drew a comparison to the 2009 draft while talking to reporters a couple of days ago.

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The Patriots didn’t have a first-rounder that year, but got Patrick Chung in the second round. They actually had four second-round picks – Sebastian Vollmer worked out well at tackle, but defensive tackle Ron Brace and cornerback Darius Butler were flops. Third-rounder Brandon Tate was a decent return man little more. And Julian Edelman in the seventh round was probably the second-best late-round steal in franchise history. You know who is first.

Good draft. Solid draft. And – I think this is the point Caserio was making – a draft that looked better after three or four years than it did after one or two. Chung became a cornerstone only after coming back from a one-year stint with the Eagles. Maybe this draft – with Kyle Duggar, the top pick, coming from Division II Lenore-Rhyne – will have some late bloomers too. I think we’ll see that as the case with last year’s draft, with Damien Harris and Joejuan Williams.

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I bet we like Duggar a lot more in 2024 than we will in in 2020. But to actually answer the question, my favorite pick was third-rounder Anfernee Jennings. Smart kid, hard worker, Alabama pedigree, tough and physical … he just sounds like the kind of linebacker that thrives in New England. I bet he’s the biggest contributor right away.

Overall, I bet it will turn out to be an excellent draft. Of course, no one really knows. Even Bill Belichick. Or his dog, who seems to be a very good boy.

But what does everyone else think?  Who will be the best player in the Patriots’ 2020 draft class? I’ll hear you in the comments.

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