Patriots 2023 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Needs and a little bit of greed

New England Patriots add players to compete at several positions

In the sixth and seventh rounds, the Patriots have five more picks to add depth and competition pieces to the roster. They range from a kicker to a center/guard.

Their first pick in the sixth round is a center/guard depth piece. Since letting Ted Karras walk, there is a need for a younger player inside to add depth and versatility.

Scruggs is 6’3″ and 301 pounds, a solid size for a center. Here are some plusses cited by nfl.com,

"A two-year starter with center/guard versatility, Scruggs is dependable and consistent in carrying out his assignment to the best of his ability. He plays like a block of granite that is difficult to push back or knock off-balance, but he’s more of a neutralizer than road grader. He plays with solid technique and possesses the play strength to hold his own in the middle."

The next pick is the 187th in the draft. It’s a fullback. If you liked James Develin, you just might like this guy.

No. 187: Hunter Luepke, Fullback, North Dakota State

Here are excerpts from what the draftnetwork.com writes about Luepke who’s 6’1″ tall and weighs 236 pounds,

"Luepke shows good power as a ball carrier and excellent competitive toughness—although his vision and elusiveness likely limit his ball carrier reps to short-yardage situations at the NFL level. Many of his wins in the passing game come from power run play-action that forces defenders to suck up to fit the run before Luepke blows by them into space, allowing for large separation and chunk gains…His universal appeal, however, comes as a special teamer."

Role as special teamer for the Patriots? Indeed, fits right in.

Next up is a safety depth piece

Torrence is a depth piece who may have trouble making the team. gatorwire.usatoday.com has this to say about the player,

"Free safety with adequate athleticism but a lack of top-end speed and explosiveness on tape. Torrence understands the game and has a safety’s feel for leverage and caution when needed. He’s generally around the action and in position, but he needs to become a much more consistent wrap-up tackler."

The next to the last pick is a kicker. No surprise there. He’s from a great program at Ohio State.

Ruggles hit 17 of 20 field goals for the Buckeyes in 2022 and would provide competition for Nick Folk.

The last pick of the 2023 NFL draft for the New England Patriots is a small college player who could surprise. He’s a defensive lineman/edge.

No. 245: Karl Brooks, defensive line/edge, Bowling Green

The draftnetwork.com‘s scouting report has this to say about Brooks who notched 10 sacks in 2022,

"Bowling Green defensive lineman Karl Brooks projects as a hybrid-type defensive lineman in the NFL. Brooks has had a tremendous two-year stretch of splash play production for Bowling Green and he will look to continue that momentum into the pro game—although I do have some questions about how he wins against MAC competition and how he will need to play differently against NFL talent to see comparable results."

So that’s a seven-round New England Patriots mock draft. Should the team actually land the top three players, it has to be regarded as a complete knock-out A+++ draft.

Since that is highly unlikely, let’s just hope for a solid draft without any reaches or other quirks. We’ll see later this month. Let us know what you think of this mock draft. We’d like to hear.