Life, as so many of us learned long ago thanks to “The Lion King,” is a circle.
And so too, apparently, is NFL Draft preparation.
Five or six months ago many of us began this interminable if hopeful lead up to the 2024 NFL Draft – yes, a dismal final season in Foxborough for Bill Belichick put draft prep on the agenda by Halloween for a team that formerly believed the regular season didn’t start until after Thanksgiving.
And many of us at that time thought that the Patriots could and should be in line to draft a quarterback this April, ideally and specifically landing one of the top three projected prospects at the most important position in all of sports – USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye and LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
Since then there have been endless hours of analysis by endless experts spouting their endless opinions. Some valuable and worthy. Others, clearly not so much. And sometimes telling the difference is nearly impossible.
There’s been first-year Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo saying the day of his introductory press conference that, “we’re gonna draft the best player for a position that is very important. You put the pieces together.” Many took that mid-January remark to mean New England would indeed be taking a quarterback.
In March, Patriots owner Robert Kraft declared at the NFL Owners meetings, “One way or another, I'd like to see us get a top-rate, young quarterback.”
As recently as a week ago Eliot Wolf, the de facto GM at Gillette these days and guy promoted as having the final say in personnel made it clear he would be comfortable taking a QB at No. 3.
Sure along the way there’s been some smoke, misdirection and alternate plan speculation.
Maybe a trade down simply to collect assets for a roster that has a lot of big-time holes and needs.
Maybe taking the supposed safest, best player available.
To some that might mean Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. Other see that as Notre Dame tackle Joe Alt.
Somehow, Michigan winner J.J. McCarthy, with all his supposed intangibles, entered the chat surrounding the Pats’ potential pick.
Sprinkle in the idea of getting a would-be franchise QB among the later options such as Oregon’s Bo Nix or Washington’s Michael Penix, and fans and media like have covered all the pre-draft bases better than the tarp at Fenway Park on a rainy day.
Now, here we are. Barely more than 24 hours from the actual factual NFL Draft. From real picks rather than meaningless if entertaining mocks.
And by most accounts the Patriots are where we all were when we started this process, likely to land on selecting whichever of the top three quarterbacks falls to the No. 3 pick.
At this point is seems and feels like that will be Maye. Most media outlets want him. Most fans seem to want him.
Sometimes the right answer is the simple answer. Trust your first instincts. A draft night K.I.S.S. selection, if you will.
It’s been a long road. And much like the Chicago marathon, we finish right back where we started.
And the Patriots will likely have a fresh start at the infinitely important quarterback position. Bringing with it all the hope and all the risk that such a pick entails.
It’s a fresh new birth and beginning in New England. Of course all births are also the first step toward death as well.
Life and draft prep seem to be a circle, after all.