Finishing anywhere but the top of the AFC East is unfamiliar territory for the New England Patriots, who have had two losing seasons in the three years since Tom Brady left. Replacing Matt Patricia with Bill O’Brien is a fine start, but New England still has plenty of issues that need to be fixed.
Here are the Patriots’ three biggest concerns heading into the draft:
1. Do they believe JuJu Smith-Schuster is a No. 1 WR?
Losing Jakobi Meyers hurt, but Smith-Schuster is a fine consolation prize. The question New England needs to answer, however, is if it views the 26-year-old as a legit No. 1 wideout because the answer likely determines its path in the first round of the draft.
Smith-Schuster does have a 111-reception, 1,426-yard season under his belt, but it’s been four seasons since he’s had 1,000 yards receiving and he’s averaged fewer than nine yards per reception in two of the last three seasons. If the Patriots see Smith-Schuster like the rest of the NFL does — as a really good No. 2 — then it wouldn’t shock anyone if they took the best available receiver at No. 14 overall, likely USC’s Jordan Addison or TCU’s Quentin Johnston, to give third-year quarterback Mac Jones more weapons to throw to.
2. Which position is a bigger need— offensive tackle or cornerback?
Most mock drafts are split between receiver, tackle and corner for New England at No. 14. But receiver is one of the deepest positions in the draft, so if the Patriots wanted, they could wait until Round 2 to address it and take whoever the highest rated player on their board is in Round 1.
New England could find itself in a situation where one of the top three tackles (Ohio State’s Paris Johnson Jr., Georgia’s Broderick Jones, Northwestern’s Peter Skoronski) and one of the top three cornerbacks (Penn State’s Joey Porter Jr., Illinois’s Devon Witherspoon, Oregon’s Christian Gonzalez) could still be available at No. 14. Bill Belichick then has to decide if it’s more important to protect Mac Jones or defend other team’s top receivers.
3. Do they take a tight end in the first two rounds?
Though he failed to replicate Rob Gronkowski/Aaron Hernandez with Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, Belichick still loves his two tight-end sets. While Smith was traded to Atlanta after flopping in his two-season stint in New England, Henry is still in the picture.
Aside from Notre Dame’s Michael Mayer, 14th overall is likely too high to reach for a tight end. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s where New England went with the No. 49 overall pick, or if it packed any of its third-rounder with any of its three fourth-round picks to move back up should Dalton Kincaid, Darnell Washington, Sam LaPorta or Luke Musgrave fall into its lap.
