3 Players the Patriots Must Target With the No. 34 Pick
Everyone is talking about who the New England Patriots will target third overall at the 2024 NFL Draft. Instead, here's a look at who the Pats should draft in the second round come April.
Patriots Should Draft Florida State WR Keon Coleman at No. 34
If the Patriots are going with a QB at No. 3, chances are they'll take a wide receiver in Round 2. If Franklin isn't on the board when the 34th overall pick must be made, Florida State's Keon Coleman is another solid option.
After a solid 2022 campaign at Michigan State, Coleman transferred to FSU for the 2023 season. The decision to switch benefited the Opelousas, LA native as he went on to turn 50 receptions into 658 yards and an ACC-leading 11 touchdown catches.
Keon Coleman has impressive elusiveness and speed for a bigger WR. A playmaker after the catch w/those combined traits.
— WBG84 (@WBG84) September 13, 2023
Displays great body control, physicality and hands on contested catches and jump balls. Showed nice explosiveness w/that hurdle against So. Miss. #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/xlMsHIlzv2
He also led the conference with 300 punt return yards on 25 attempts, which is fairly impressive given that he didn't field a single return in his two previous seasons. For reference, the Patriots tallied the fifth-fewest punt yards last year.
Coleman might not be the flashiest WR, but his big frame (6-foot-3, 213 pounds) makes him perfect to pair with a rookie QB. The fact that he also scored a touchdown on 22.0% of his receptions should be attractive for a Patriots squad that only got five TDs from their WR room in 2023. Even worse is that four of them came from Bourne, who last played in Week 8.
It isn't hard to see why Coleman would be the perfect player to take at No. 34.