Todd McShay explained why one linebacker prospect is a perfect fit for the Patriots

It’s pretty clear that one of the Patriots’ biggest needs to fill this offseason is at linebacker. ESPN NFL Draft expert Todd McShay has a guy in mind for New England to select with its first-round pick.

“The one player I would kill to see with the Patriots — just because I love him and know where he would excel the most would be in New England with Bill — would be [Georgia’s] Nakobe Dean,” McShay told ESPN’s Patriots reporter Mike Reiss in the latter’s Sunday notes column.

McShay told Reiss that there’s one thing that really stood out to him when speaking to Dean that made him think he’d be a perfect fit for the Patriots.

“I’ve talked and met with him, and I’ve talked with multiple scouts and we all kind of agree: There isn’t a better player in this class in terms of football IQ. You match that IQ with what New England tries to do — they’re so multiple and differentiate from week to week — that would be a lot of fun to watch.”

As the NFL Draft process enters its final weeks, Dean is still viewed as one of the top linebacker prospects in the 2022 class. McShay ranks Dean as the top linebacker prospect and the 12th-best prospect in the 2022 draft on his big board. NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah ranks Dean as the second-best linebacker prospect, behind Utah’s Devin Lloyd, and the 13th overall prospect on his big board.

While experts like McShay rave about Dean’s smarts, there are still some questions about Dean as a prospect. His size is relatively small for a linebacker. He measured at 5-foot-11 and 229 pounds at the NFL Draft Combine in March. The Patriots typically prefer bigger linebackers, too. Every linebacker they’ve selected in the first three rounds of the draft since 2012 was 6-foot-3 or taller and they’ve never selected a linebacker shorter than 6-foot-1 during that span.

But what Dean lacks in size, McShay believes he makes up for in speed.

“Find me a faster linebacker in terms of play speed in this class,” McShay said. “You’re talking about nine guys who could get drafted on that defensive side for Georgia, and he was the best player on it. You’re talking about a player — with two linebackers next to him in [Channing] Tindall and Quay Walker that are going to be drafted on Day 2 — and he’s two steps ahead almost every snap.”

Dean didn’t run at the combine or at his pro day, however he has an unofficial 40-yard dash time of 4.52 and scouts believe that he could run in the 4.4 range. Only three linebacker prospects ran in the 4.4 range at the combine in March.

McShay compared Dean to former Jets and Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma and former Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas. Both players had great success in their respective NFL careers despite being shorter than your typical linebacker (Vilma is 6-foot-1 and Thomas is 5-foot-11).

Of course, there’s the possibility that Dean won’t be available when the Patriots are on the clock with the No. 21 overall pick. McShay has the Patriots selecting Dean with their first-round pick in his latest mock draft but his ESPN colleague Mike Tannenbaum has Dean going earlier than that, predicting the Chargers will select him with the 17th overall pick.

The Patriots haven’t done much to address their need at linebacker so far this offseason. They re-signed Ja’Whaun Bentley, but veteran Dont’a Hightower remains unsigned almost three weeks into free agency. New England reportedly agreed to terms with safety Jabrill Peppers and some expect the Patriots to deploy him as an in-the-box safety, which could help cover their lack of depth at linebacker.

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