Patriots 2021 NFL Draft: 5 quarterback prospects Belichick must draft

The biggest question entering the 2021 NFL Draft is what the New England Patriots will do at the quarterback position.

With the Jimmy Garoppolo saga in San Francisco dragging on and on and on, Bill Belichick may have no choice but to look towards the draft for an answer at the quarterback position, especially given all he has done in free agency.

There is no way a coach like Belichick spent the kind of money he spent on the likes of Hunter Henry, Jonnu Smith and Nelson Agholor to settle for another bridge season.

This is an organization that wants to win now.  Unless they truly believe in another season with Cam Newton under center, Belichick definitely has something up his sleeve.

What that is, no one knows but can only speculate.

Does he have an actual plan to ply Garoppolo back from the 49ers or is he up to something spicy in the 2021 NFL Draft?

With all the quarterback prospects entering the draft, one has to figure that the Patriots will be in the mix for one of the top prospects in some capacity.  Is trading up really an option?  Or, is trading back more realistic if there is a player they like in the second or third round more than the top 5 quarterbacks?

We won’t know the answer till draft night, but it will be an intriguing draft because of the quarterback talent and the position the New England Patriots will be in entering that draft.

At No. 15 they will have more opportunity to move up in the draft than they have had in recent drafts.  They will also have many opportunities to select a talented quarterback.  Here are five NFL prospects at the position Bill Belichick must draft.

Why Bill Belichick, Patriots must draft Davis Mills

If Bill Belichick stands pat at No. 15 and selects a player other than a quarterback, it will be because of the attractive options in the second tier of quarterback prospects available in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The New England Patriots may frustrate fans by not taking a quarterback in the first round, but it won’t be the end of the world because of talent like Stanford product Davis Mills who would be exactly the type of player the team could develop.

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Standing at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Mills has displayed some promising accuracy over the 13 games he has started in 2019 and 2020 for Stanford.  He had a completion rating of 65.8 percent while throwing for 3,468 yards with 18 touchdowns against just 8 interceptions.

While everyone is talking about the other players on this list, selecting Mills in the second or third round could be a steal for the Patriots.  Although he has some flaws, he has shown first-round talent and could excel in the NFL with the right coaching.

Sounds like the type of project Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are looking for, especially with Cam Newton or perhaps even Jimmy Garoppolo (if not both) as the bridge veteran quarterback.

In all Mills is climbing the draft board just weeks ahead of the draft and feels his best fit is with a team that sounds much like the Patriots during their Tom Brady era.

"“Somebody that really spreads the ball around and puts a lot of demand on their quarterback to make pre-snap reads and pre-snap checks,” Mills told reporters regarding his best fit, via NBC Sports.  “I’ve been used to doing that at Stanford – just going out there and being successful is something I can do.”"

If the Patriots trade back in the second round for more draft capital and Davis Mills is sitting there in the late-second or early-to-mid third round when they select, Belichick must select this unpolished prospect because of the gem they could possibly mold out of him.

Why Bill Belichick, Patriots must draft Florida’s Kyle Trask

In our mock draft 2.0, we have the New England Patriots selecting quarterback Kyle Trask with the No. 46 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

This will probably be the least sexy choice in the draft, but a safe choice for Bill Belichick because like Davis Mills, Trask is an accurate pocket passer who could orchestrate the type of quick passing game Josh McDaniels love to fun.

While not as athletic as any of the quarterbacks on this list, he is a good fit for the Patriots for exactly the reasons listed above and as ESPN’s Matt Miller explained, he is an NFL ready quarterback who could be developed into the type of quarterback Belichick and McDaniels can win with.

Here is what he had to see during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up” last week, via WEEI:

"“Cam Newton is fine for right now, but that is a bandaid.  They need a long-term solution at the quarterback position — Kyle Trask from Florida. While not a first-rounder, he is accurate. He has good enough arm strength. He has good enough mobility. And coming out of the Dan Mullen system, which is what got Dak Prescott ready for the NFL, I think he is more pro ready than a lot of people believe. “Kyle Trask, if you miss out on the big five at quarterback in New England, I think he is a viable solution for Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels. Someone they can draft and develop and then get onto the field.”"

Coming off a season in which he threw for 4,283 yards and 43 touchdowns, Trask seems more than capable of leading an offense with some nice weapons around him.  Given his size and accuracy, this is a must draft for Belichick at the mid-to-late second round because of his ability to lead an offense.

Why Belichick, Patriots must draft  Texas A&M product Kellen Mond

Sticking with the Day 2 talent in the 2021 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots have shown interest in Texas A&M product Kellen Mond.

Athletic, with a big arm, Mond is a great fit for the Patriots because of that arm strength and durability.  A player who could definitely benefit from playing behind Cam Newton, Mond would be a great option outside of the top 5 quarterbacks.  He probably would be considered a top 5 quarterback prospect in any other year.

The Patriots also would love his confidence as Mond explained exactly why he should be a first-round talent during a recent appearance on The Zach Gelb Show.

"“I one hundred percent think [I should be in the first-round conversation],” Mond said, as transcribed by Yahoo Sports.  “I think my resume speaks for itself.  One, having 40-plus [career] starts in the SEC conference – the closest thing to the NFL – and really just showing my growth this past year.  A 9-1 record [this season], breaking many records at Texas A&M.  Then after the season, after an Orange Bowl win, going and winning the Most Valuable Player at the Senior Bowl, and then having a phenomenal pro day.”"

Mond certainly makes great points in selling himself to a quarterback hungry team like the Patriots, but does the Patriots see the same potential in him at the pro level to select him in the second or early third round?

Time will tell, but Mond is coming off a final year at Texas A&M throwing for 2,282 yards and 19 touchdowns against 3 interceptions.  If questionable decision-making is his biggest flaw, you better believe Belichick and McDaniels can coach that out of him.

In all, Kellen Mond is a quarterback the Patriots must draft because of his great combinations of size, arm strength and mobility.

Why Belichick, Patriots must draft Alabama’s Mac Jones

The biggest wild card in the entire draft will be Alabama product Mac Jones.

In our Mock Draft 1.0, we have the New England Patriots actually selecting Jones in the second round, but that was months ago.

Now, it seems highly possible that the San Francisco 49ers could select Jones as high as No. 3, but if he slides down to the No. 15 spot, the Patriots should absolutely take a shot giving how familiar Belichick is with Jones’ college coach Nick Saban.

That familiarity should give the Patriots some insight as to how Mac Jones would fit in their system and if he is worth selecting at that spot over just taking quarterbacks like Davis Mills, Kyle Trask or Kellen Mond in the second or third round.

Former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss has been raving about Jones and says that Belichick would be crazy not to select him because he is the one quarterback prospect who has made the plays at the college level that showcases what he can do at the pro level.

"“When you talk about Trevor Lawrence, what makes him so special is that he can do everything,” Weiss said, via ESPN.  “Mac Jones can and he’s athletic.  [Justin] Fields, really good player.  Zach Wilson, really good player.  The kid from North Dakota State [Trey Lance], really good player. “But this guy, [Jones], he’s the one making all the plays.  All he does is win and throw completions.”"

Coming off a National Championship, Mac Jones clearly knows how to win, but is he worth giving up draft capital to move up to select him?

That depends on how much Bill Belichick believes in him.  If they are looking to draft a guy who could possibly start in 2021, Jones is a must draft option if he is available at No. 15, but drafting up to get him may be a crazy, bold move.

Why Belichick, Patriots must draft Justin Fields

A quarterback worth moving up for if he begins to fall is Ohio State product Justin Fields.

Even if he doesn’t fall, should the New England Patriots move up as high as No. 4 to get him?

It would certainly continue the aggressive and unpredictable trend Bill Belichick has shown so far this offseason.  It actually would be no surprise if Belichick did exactly that.

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At the same time, it would be more realistic if the Patriots coach stood pat to see if the player would fall to him at No. 15 or believe they can get the same type of production out of a Kellen Mond type later in the draft, but let’s dream for a minute.

An elite athlete with big time passing skills coming out of one of the top college football programs in Ohio State, Fields would be an absolute delete for Patriots fans, especially given the splurge they made in free agency.

It would make not going for some of the available veteran quarterbacks and settle for another year of Cam Newton make much more sense.

Now, there is no way Belichick could’ve forecasted a shot at drafting a talent like Fields, but then again, you never know.

There is still a chance the New York Jets select him at No. 2 over Zach Wilson, but there is just as much of a chance they don’t, and he slips down to a bit as a top 10 pick.  If that happens, Belichick must do what is necessary to draft Justin Fields.

At 6-foot-3, 227 pounds, the 22-year-old NFL prospect could flourish in New England given the amount of talent Belichick assembled offensively.  Adding a talent like Justin Fields at the quarterback position would justify all that and he would be in the position to eventually start in 2021.

Again, a dream, but not out of the realm of possibility.