New England Patriots 2020 NFL Draft: Excellent trade sets stage for Day 2

Who’s available to new England with the 37th pick in the draft

Good players will be available to the New England Patriots at the top of the second round. Some very good players. That makes their trade of their 1st round pick so prudent. I have been critical of the Patriots moving all over the draft board annually and not seemingly maximizing their picks.

They may still do that and I expect several more trades to eventuate between today and tomorrow. But if they are as well-calculated and executed as yesterday’s trade, it could yield a bonanza of new, young, talented players as building blocks for the next great Patriots’ teams.

There are some very good players still available some of whom were projected as first-round talents.

These players include Cole Kmet of Notre Dame, probably the best tight end in the draft. Tee Higgins, a big receiver who played at Clemson; and, Yetur Gross-Matos a defensive lineman from Penn State;

Also, add Xavier McKinney a top safety from Alabama to whom the Patriots had been strongly linked pre-draft; another top safety, Antoine Winfield, Jr. from Minnesota; Josh Uche who played linebacker at Michigan; and, Jacob Eason from Washington one of the top 5 or 6 quarterbacks in the draft.

Additionally, A.J. Epenesa who was an edge player from Iowa and who was widely projected including to the New England Patriots in the first round; Cam Akers an excellent running back from Florida State; and, blazingly fast wide receiver Denzel Mims from Baylor are all available.

The Patriots will have the 5th pick in the second round tonight. So, using some very complex mathematics, it seems possible that after 4 of the players listed above (or others) are selected, the New England Patriots will have their pick of any of the remaining players. Not a bad place to be.