New England Patriots: Do’s and Don’ts for the 2022 NFL Draft

The New England Patriots will have options at tackle in the draft

Even with Brown on hand, the New England Patriots are thin at offensive tackle. Isaiah Wynn is not an NFL-caliber left tackle. He could be a solid right tackle, or even slide inside at either of the guard positions. Other than those two and Michael Onwenu, whom the team seems reluctant to use at right tackle, the cupboard is bare.

The team absolutely needs to draft an offensive tackle in the first or second round of the draft. Two good ones may be available when they pick at #21 in the first round or possibly earlier in the second round if they wanted to move up the board.

The physically imposing and nasty Trevor Penning of Northern Iowa and massive Daniel Faalele of Minnesota fit the bill. Darian Kennard of Kentucky also would be a nice selection among others. It’s a fairly deep group in 2022.

Another suggestion is to draft a wide receiver. This draft is loaded with wide receiver talent and there will certainly be some top-tier ones available for the Patriots when they are up in the first and second rounds. Jameson Williams of the Alabama Crimson Tide is a nice that has constantly been linked to New England with the 21st pick.

The suggestion here is to trade down in the first round, add more picks, and then take the best tackle or wide receiver available when they are up. As you will see in a moment, this contradicts what is written below, but the reason is simple; the wide receiver class is so deep even the Patriots are unlikely to botch picking a wide receiver early on in this draft.

Whomever they draft, it is essential to fortify both offensive tackle and wide receiver to ensure that quarterback Mac Jones has time to throw and has someone who can get open and gain yards after the catch on the other end of his passes. The rest of the picks should then go to the best player available, with a heavy emphasis towards adding some speed on defense.