These 2023 New England Patriots Mock Drafts are way off base

The New England Patriots are entering a critical offseason that will be a make-or-break season for quarterback Mac Jones and maybe Bill Belichick’s regime. An important component is the 2023 NFL draft.

Mess up the draft and face another mediocre season no matter who the offensive coordinator or quarterback is. Hit big and the team should be a playoff team. It’s all on the line on April 27-29 in Kansas City.

Generally, this is a poor drafting team. They’ve strewn the waiver wire with numerous top picks (rounds 1-4) over the years. Some of this is scouting though every team has its misses for certain.

But some of the dysfunction is strategy and hubris. They seem to think they know better than anyone else in football. Why? They constantly go outside the consensus box, reaching for picks that mostly prove to be wrong.

That notwithstanding, a great compilation of mock draft predictions can be found on patriots.com. Let’s see what some mock drafts predict for the New England Patriots first-round pick. Many are impractical for the team. Let’s discuss why.

New England Patriots draft history says to stay away

Mock drafts are for the most part a fun exercise in futility. Most prognostications outside maybe the first 10 picks flop.

What positions are found most often in the cited compilation of possibilities for the New England Patriots 2023 first pick? Of 22 mock drafts cited, seven wide receivers are projected to the Patriots. That’s about one-third of the mocks that misdirect that first pick.

The mockers don’t seem to grasp that the New England Patriots track record of drafting wideouts early is abysmal. They just can’t. Accordingly, they should stay away until later on.

The next highest on the list is a cornerback with six selecting that position for the Patriots. Again, this is a non-starter. The New England Patriots are also relatively inept in drafting cornerbacks. high in the draft.

Last season, albeit in the third round, they drafted a good one in the third round, Marcus Jones. Yet, Jones’ best position may ultimately be wide receiver. Stay away from that position until at least the third round.

New England Patriots need tackles on both sides of the ball

Four of the PFF picks do what’s necessary first, selecting an offensive tackle. The two names mentioned are both top talents in Peter Skoronski from Michigan and Broderick Jones from Georgia.

Both lack optimum height though at a listed 6’4″ tall. If you’re looking for a left tackle and the Patriots should be doing just that, height and length are essential.

The Patriots rolled the dice in 2018 on small tackle Isaiah Wynn. It didn’t work out playing on the island that is an offensive left tackle in the NFL.

Both Skoronski and Jones are top-rated players. Skoronski is Pro Football Focus’ No. one-rated offensive lineman and Jones is rated fourth.

Here’s part of what nfldraftbuzz.com has to say about Skoronski,

"Skoronski is a great all-around offensive lineman with the potential to become a very good starter in the NFL… He, however, doesn’t have the ideal size for a pro left tackle and his limited arm length may put pro teams off and see him as more of a guard prospect.Skoronski is still the most NFL-ready offensive lineman in this draft class, and for that reason he’ll likely be the first offensive lineman selected in the 2023 NFL Draft"

There’s that height and length issue. Hard to fault if either is selected to play on the right though if the top two lengthy tackles (Paris Johnson of Ohio State and Anton Harrison of Oklahoma) are already selected. Either would be a solid selection. But optimally, go get the length. Again, it’s an attribute you can’t teach.

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New England Patriots also need a top defensive tackle. Only one is listed in the mock tracker by Danny Kelley of TheRinger.com. That’s Bryan Bresee from Clemson.

The New England Patriots need a dominant defensive tackle to pair with Christian Barmore. Bresee’s has had injury issues but here’s an excerpt from Kyle Crabbs of thedraftnetwork.com’s scouting report,

"Bresee has showcased the needed versatility to play up and down the line at Clemson and I think in the right scheme (penetration based) he could offer similar versatility in the front at the NFL level…He’s a prototypical build to play in the B-gap at the NFL level and, when fully healthy, he’s a chore for interior blockers."

The injury history is troubling and there is no way the Patriots should select a defensive tackle in the first round anyway. The second round is just fine.

What position do you think the team should draft, and who? We’d like to hear.