The New England Patriots are preparing for a seriously important draft in about two weeks in Kansas City and mock drafts are flooding the airwaves.
So for this space, it’s time to make another attempt at a mock draft for the New England Patriots based not on what they would do, but perhaps on what they should do, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
This version involves two trades and lots of choices so let’s get right to it. We’ll start with the best New England Patriots’ selection and maybe the absolute best selection overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
By the time this mock draft is completed, hopefully, the team will have replenished its major positions of need, and then some.
That’s the objective for a team that missed the playoffs for the second time in three post-Tom Brady years. It’s time to fill in the holes and the team has the picks and the flexibility through trades to do just that.
Fasten your seat belts … here we go.
NOTE: This mock draft was prepared using profootballnetwork.com’s mock draft simulator.
New England Patriots select the draft’s best offensive lineman
With their first selection overall the New England Patriots select the best player at their most pressing need, offensive tackle. It’s Peter Skoronski of Northwestern.
The New England Patriots need to draft at least one and preferably two offensive tackles in this year’s NFL draft. While the priority is subject to debate, and justifiably so, the need is almost universally acknowledged to at least be one of the team’s top priorities.
With this draft pick, the Patriots not only satisfy a position of need, but they likely get the best offensive line prospect available in the entire draft. It’s Peter Skoronski, an offensive tackle/guard from Northwestern.
While Skoronski has less than optimum length for the tackle position, the consensus is that wherever he plays he’ll play with superior ability.
The player was rated by super-scouts Pro Football Focus as the single best offensive tackle in the draft. That’s high praise indeed. While they noted that Skoronski with shorter arms may wind up at guard in the NFL, they nevertheless said he was, “at tackle … lights out …”
Skoronski’s versatility is something that will definitely appeal to the New England Patriots. Wherever he plays, he will excel.
The New England Patriots would score big with this pick if he slips to 14. And should he play guard, think of a Logan Mankins type who dominates for a decade or more.
New England Patriots go defensive tackle in second round
Similar to Mock Draft 1.0 here, the Patriots address a little spoken about but still critical need, defensive tackle. And lo and behold, it’s the same player, who they’d acquire in this go-round after a trade down with Dallas.
The pick here is,
Siaki Ika from Oregon is a massive nose tackle who’ll clog the middle of the defensive line nicely. He’s 6’3″ tall and weighed in at the Combine at 335 pounds.
The Patriots like big nose tackles who can tie up blockers, and Ika fits the mold of a Vince Wilfork type. He’s ranked sixth on PFF’s list of top interior defensive linemen.
While it’s acknowledged here that Christian Barmore plays his best on the nose, the Patriots’ brain trust evidently doesn’t think so and plays him in a gap. This pick concurs with that mindset.
Keeping with the “build-out from the lines first” theory, Ika would be a top addition. He can slot right in on the nose and will be a terrific young partner to Barmore for years.
New England Patriots strengthen the tight end position in the third round
The New England Patriots third-round pick, the 76th pick in the draft, is used on a position that has been a sore spot since the departure of Rob Gronkowski, tight end. The pick here helps remedy that situation. The selection is tight end, Tucker Kraft.
Kraft is a 6’5″ tall, 254-pound player from South Dakota State. He was injured in 2022, and he only played in six games so his stats were underwhelming but the talent is there.
Nfldraftbuzz.com noted, “Kraft has soft hands and uses his frame effectively to shield defenders, making him a major threat in the red zone.”
The Patriots have been weak in the red zone of late and a player like Kraft who can score touchdowns would be a solid and talented addition to Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry.
Additionally, both Henry and Gesicki are free agents after 2023 so this is definitely a position of need and not a luxury pick. Kraft is another big target for Mac Jones or whoever else may be the New England Patriots quarterback in 2023.
New England Patriots fill needs all over the field on Day 3
Having filled key needs on days one and two of the draft, the New England Patriots now move all over the field with their remaining picks to add depth.
In the third round with pick Number 90, the Patriots fill a wide receiver need with A.T. Perry from Wake Forest.
Perry is a big receiver at 6’3 1/2″ and 198 pounds. He’d add length and speed, as he runs a 4.47 forty, to the team’s receiving corps.
In his senior year, Perry caught 70 passes for 984 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was even better in 2021. He definitely fills a need for a young, long receiver who’s productive.
Perry would be a nice excellent addition to a Patriot team that lacks touchdown makers. He’ll provide competition to the incumbents from the get-go.
With their fifth selection, the New England Patriots go back to the well for another offensive lineman with pick Number 107. This time it’s offensive tackle Tyler Steen from Alabama.
While the offensive line selections aren’t very glamorous, having the big guys upfront providing protection for immobile quarterbacks and lanes for the backs is as important as it gets. Steen is another solid offensive tackle option for the Patriots.
Steen is 6’6″ tall and weighs 321 pounds. While his arms are shorter, his huge hands at 10.5′ will be an asset at tackle. He’s another depth piece at a critically important position.
Carrington Valentine addresses a need some might have addressed as early as the New England Patriots first-round pick. It’s cornerback. Here, it’s later on with pick Number 117 in the fourth round.
Valentine is is 6’0′ and 193 pounds from Kentucky. He’ll add depth to a defensive backfield that is decent if not outstanding.
The draftnetwok.com notes Valentine’s, “aggression and physicality in coverage“. and that he’s a press corner. Those traits will work well should the New England Patriots use that alignment rather than zone in 2023.
New England Patriots add more depth later on day 3
Later on day three, the New England Patriots keep adding pieces to the puzzle as they trade down again, this time with Washington to acquire more picks.
The Patriots seek to bolster a position of need by taking cornerback, Mekhi Garner from LSU with pick Number 150 in round five.
Garner is a big corner at 6’2″ tall and 212 pounds. He’s more of a slot corner than an outside one. A physical player, he’ll be a handful for many of the NFL’s smaller slot receivers to deal with.
In the sixth round, the New England Patriots roll the dice at pick Number 184 on a quarterback, Dorian Thompson-Robinson from UCLA. Why not? The team cut ties with their third-string QB, Brian Hoyer, so why not take a flier on a young QB?
One reason this is very interesting is that Thompson-Robinson is termed by thedraftnetwork.com as, “one of the most electric quarterbacks in the 2023 NFL Draft.”
Thompson-Robinson stands 6’2″ tall and 203 pounds. In 2022 he posted this line, “266-382-69.6 percent 3,154 yards, 27 TDs, 10 INTs passing; 118-645-5.5, 12 TDs rushing.” That’s a production of 39 touchdowns for the dual-threat Thompson-Robinson. He can pass and he can run.
Electric is not exactly what the current Patriots QB room is noted for. Adding a dual-threat QB like Thompson-Robinson is absolutely a positive for the team.
Unfortunately, the question remains, do the New England Patriots even know how to coach such a weapon? They certainly did not in 2020 with Cam Newton. Try as he may, Newton was hamstrung by an incompetent staff that was clueless as to how to best utilize his talents.
Maybe new Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien can and Thompson-Robinson will give him a nice alternative to Jones and Zappe if the team decides to vary its options at quarterback.
New England Patriots add more depth to the roster
With their final five picks in the later rounds, the Patriots just add more depth pieces to the roster. After all, you never know when Tom Brady, Terrell Davis, or Michael Onwenu might appear in the sixth round or maybe later, do you? Nope.
With the team’s pick at 187, the team further bolsters the wide receiver room with a sleeper pick from the Ivy League, Andrei Iosivas from Princeton.
Iosivas is 6’3″ tall weighing 205 pounds. He would add another big receiver to the mix. Last season he caught 63 for 943 and seven touchdowns for the Tigers.
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The draftnetwork.com signals his ability to separate and that he’s a “nightmare” for cornerbacks. Sounds like a good player to invest in, a top athlete in a later round for the Patriots whose ability to draft wideouts higher up is very suspect.
At pick No. 192, the New England Patriots select a running back/fullback, Hunter Luepke from North Dakota State. Luepke is more of a fullback type. If he looks familiar in this space, he was a part of Mock Draft Number 1. If Patriots fans liked now-retired James Develin, then maybe Luepke will be of interest.
He’s likely cut out of the same cloth with perhaps a bit better running ability. In any event, should the team look to add a “fullback type”, Luepke may be just what the doctor ordered.
At pick number 193, the Patriots select Byron Young, an edge -player from Tennessee. He’s 6’2′ tall and weighs 250 pounds. Yet, his overarching attribute is speed, pure speed. This athlete runs a 4.43 forty-yard dash.
NFL.com calls him “explosive” and with that recorded speed why would anyone think otherwise? If he’s available in the sixth round he’d be a nice option for a Patriot team that dearly needs speed, especially at edge/linebacker.
The New England Patriots need safety depth and at pick number 193, they select safety, Ja’von Hicks from Cincinnati.
Hicks is a big safety at 6’2″ tall and 210 pounds and would likely fit as a strong safety for the Pats. He’s not very fast, running a pedestrian 4.60 forty, but he has the size to hang with big tight ends in the middle of the field.
With their final pick, the Patriots draft a punter to perhaps replace their former punter, Jake Bailey, who has departed to Miami. (Watch out for this to be a potential major gaffe by Bill Belichick.)
Robbins is a Michigan product who averaged 42.3 yards per punt with a net of 41.2. Those aren’t earth-shattering numbers and the guess here is that the team may actually use a higher pick on a better alternative.
So there we have it, Mock Draft 2.0. We’d like to hear your views on this mock and how you’d like to see the team draft.