With the NFL Draft less than 10 days away, we rank the Patriots’ potential first-round picks in order of preference
It’s impossible, as the Patriots sit in that No. 4 spot, not to wonder what they would do had they just lost and landed that No. 1 overall pick.
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The closer we get to the NFL Draft, the clearer it becomes that the Patriots’ win over the Bills to end the 2024 regular season was a kick-in-the-pants loss in the long run.
Some of us — ahem — recognized that at the time, with the Joe Milton-led 23-16 victory over the Buffalo junior varsity dropping the Patriots from the first overall pick to the fourth in the 2025 draft.
Say this much: The ending — leave it to those habitually self-sabotaging Patriots to win when it was the opposite of what was best for them — was as fitting as it was frustrating. And now come the consequences.
During these three-plus months since that fourth and final victory of Jerod Mayo’s debacle of a season as Patriots coach, there were some stretches of hope where it appeared that the three-spot fall in the first round would not be that costly.
Those stretches came at a time when it looked like two quarterbacks (Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders) would be selected in the top four picks, thereby leaving one of the draft’s two true blue-chippers (Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter) for the Patriots.
Unfortunately, with the countdown now less than 10 days to the first round on April 24, it appears that Ward — expected to go No. 1 to the Titans — will be the lone quarterback selected before the Patriots are on the clock.
Having seen Giants general manager Joe Schoen operate on “Hard Knocks” with that specific brand of jovial smugness that engulfs sports executives who don’t know as much as they think they do, I wouldn’t completely put it past him to take Sanders with the No. 3 pick.
It’s still worth hoping that Schoen will pull a stupid surprise. But for now, it appears the Giants will do the correct thing and take the player remaining from the Hunter/Carter class after the Browns pick at No. 2.
Which is a total drag for the Patriots, who will pick from a large tier of talented but possibly flawed prospects who either don’t fit their needs or do fit their needs but have some question as to whether they can fill them.
It’s impossible, as the Patriots sit in that No. 4 spot, not to wonder what they would do had they just lost, baby, and landed that No. 1 overall pick. The guess here is that it would be Carter, a slightly less-dynamic version of fellow Penn State product Micah Parsons.
Still, even with the lingering frustration of having the No. 4 pick in a draft thin on truly elite prospects, there is genuine anticipation and excitement for what Mike Vrabel and the Patriots’ brain trust will do in that spot.
We’ve all been thinking about this draft pretty much since the final seconds of that lousy win over the Bills ticked off the clock. It feels like it’s taken six months to get here, but the day is finally near, and we’ve all perused and parsed endless “Big Boards” and mock drafts and now have our unassailable opinions regarding how the Patriots should proceed.
I’m going to put a bit of a different spin on my take on what they should do, and rank my top 10 potential Patriots first-round picks in order of preference.
Now, this isn’t necessarily what they should do specifically at No. 4, because only the first two names for certain — and perhaps two or three players after that — are worthy of the fourth overall pick. For at least half of these names to follow, I would hope that the Patriots drafting them would come as part of a trade down in the first round. Also, quarterbacks are excluded, since the Patriots got it right with Drake Maye in last year’s far deeper draft.
So here’s my wish list to be the Patriots’ first-round pick:
1. Hunter: Play him at receiver, and Maye-to-Hunter will be recurring stars in halftime highlight packages for years. Be dumb and pass him up, Browns and Giants. C’mon, be dumb. You know you want to.
2. Carter: The foot injury is concerning, and the preference should be to get Maye some help. But it’s never a silly idea to take a dynamic pass rusher.
3. Will Campbell, T, Louisiana State: They talk about this guy like his arms barely extend out of the sleeves of his T-shirt, but he probably can play left tackle at a high level, and the Patriots have a desperate need. I still think he’s the choice.
4. Jalon Walker, edge, Georgia: Undersized but an electrifying athlete, he’s the final player I’d be happy with picking if the Patriots stay at No. 4.
5. Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State: I know, no chance. But I miss the days when an explosive running back was a coveted draft commodity.
6. Mason Graham, DT, Michigan: Can’t have too many reliable defensive linemen.
7. Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State: His versatility is appealing given that the Patriots need about three high-end skill players on offense. Maybe four.
8. Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan: Draws comps to the Lions’ Sam LaPorta. That works. (No one should be compared to Gronk. He’s one of one. You knew this.)
9. Armand Membou, T, Missouri: Don’t like the idea of trying to move him from the right to left side in the pros.
10. Matthew Golden, WR, Texas: Hey, they’ll get a receiver pick right one of these decades.
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