Mock Draft SZN is reaching fever pitch with NFL Combine workouts still buzzing in our brains. So why not get in on the fun, right?
For the latest on the Patriots, check out WEEI and Audacy's "1st and Foxborough."
Version 2.0 of WEEI/"1st & Foxborough's" mock draft series -- here's the first one -- will go all the way through the end of Round 7 this time as we get a clearer picture of whose stock is rising and falling post-Combine.
Last time, we bucked the trend most Patriots fans wanted to see by taking a wide receiver with the 14th overall pick instead of an offensive tackle.
So this time…we did it again.
Let's get to it.
14: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR (Ohio State)
You can scream from the mountain tops about how the Patriots absolutely must draft an offensive tackle or cornerback with this pick if you want. Just know that if Smith-Njigba is available at No. 14 and anyone not named Devon Witherspoon is also there, I'm apologizing to absolutely nobody for this pick.
Smith-Njigba is the best route-runner in the class, tracks the football in the air with aplomb and is a certified dawg at 50-50 balls and racking up YAC. It should tell you a lot when Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave, who were both Rookie of the Year candidates last season, both say Smith-Njigba was the best of the bunch when all three played together at Ohio State in 2021.
I don't care if he runs a 4.6 in the 40. You're never going to have questions about his play speed, and he's simply going to find a way to catch the football come hell or high water. He can flat-out ball, and there's no better fit for the Patriots at this position in the whole draft.
If you liked Julian Edelman, you're going to love Smith-Njigba, who's probably going to be even better. At this point, getting him at No. 14 might be a steal: the Bears might not let him escape the top 10 if they can trade down and reunite him with Justin Fields.
46: Darnell Wright, OT (Tennessee)
You were worried about offensive tackle? Don't worry, I got you.
In a way, Wright feels like less of a projection than the top options they could've pulled from the board. He's a senior with a lot of starting experience and showed he could put elite edge rushers like Will Anderson and B.J. Ojulari in witness protection.
You can see his elite short-area burst in the way he blasts defenders off the ball in the run game and cuts off angles with quick-footed pass sets. Once he controls you, you're finished. Wright also has a strong head for the game and displays a mature approach for a 21-year-old.
Him and Michael Onwenu getting downhill on gap runs to the same side would be an EF5 tornado-level force of nature.
If the Patriots could actually pull this off, it could be a contender for "Steal of the Draft."
76: Sam LaPorta, TE (Iowa)
Draft Iowa tight ends. It's hard to go wrong.
LaPorta plays like the best combination of Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, combining elite movement skills and speed for the position with a natural feel for finding open space for his quarterbacks.
He can run any route you want, threatening the seams, over the middle and the sidelines, and can split out wide as a big slot receiver. Then, once you get the ball in his hands, he's a mad bull, forcing a ridiculous 20 missed tackles in 2022.
After largely not getting the bang for your buck you wanted out of Henry and Smith, LaPorta gives you a matchup-problem tight end who's capable of becoming a difference-maker for years to come.
107: Jaylon Jones, CB (Texas A&M)
If you like the general idea of a player like Penn State's Joey Porter Jr., grabbing Jones on Day 3 should appeal to you. (Also, if Jonathan Jones departs in free agency, adding another "J. Jones" is a must.)
At 6-2 and 200 pounds, Jones has to be that prototypical boundary corner people can envision taking away whole sides of a field. He pairs that with patient feet at the line of scrimmage, good short-area quickness and the physicality to take receivers completely out of a play. Teams stayed away from him in 2022, only targeting him 19 times.
The Patriots love man coverage, and Jones has the tools to excel in that area with some coaching. He could be this year's Jack Jones (hopefully minus the suspensions).
117: Karl Brooks, DL/EDGE (Bowling Green)
Speaking of draft steals…
Draft expert Jacob Infante specifically dropped Brooks' name on "1st & Foxborough" last week when talking about his top sleepers after the Bowling Green defender got snubbed from the Combine.
But the Patriots no doubt saw the redshirt senior clubbing offensive guards and centers into the Upside Down repeatedly at the Senior Bowl in Mobile. That's going to carry more weight than anything he may or may not have done in Indy.
Brooks has the size (303 pounds) and explosive power to play inside and the burst to play on the edge, where he racked up 10 sacks in his final college season. His raw strength will also help him as a run defender at either spot, which the Patriots could badly use.
Imagining Brooks, Christian Barmore and Matthew Judon lined up next to each other on 3rd-and-long makes me want to go hit a quarterback.
135: Tank Bigsby, RB (Auburn)
How in the world is this guy still here?
Bigsby is one of the most complete running backs in the draft and would almost certainly be New England's RB2 for the season opener if the team took him.
He's got good wheels for his size, running a 4.56 40-yard dash at 6-0, 213 pounds, and proved himself a heck of a creator behind a porous offensive line. (That sound like any current Patriots running backs you know?)
He might be an even better open-field runner than Rhamondre Stevenson and should be able to hold up well in pass-protection right away, perhaps even taking over that coveted third-down back role Patriots fans have been looking for since James White got hurt.
184: Colby Wooden, EDGE (Auburn)
Another two-birds-one-stone type of prospect in terms of playing both inside and out along the defensive front.
Wooden found ways to be disruptive no matter where Auburn lined him up in 2022, earning 11.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. He projects more as an outside linebacker in the Patriots' defense -- sort of the opposite of Karl Brooks -- and his stoutness against the run combined with his versatility could make him a rotational player sooner rather than later.
Ain't no way he's lasting until the sixth round in real life.
187: Starling Thomas V, CB (UAB)
The Shrine Bowl strikes at last!
Thomas was a Combine snub after having a strong showing down in Las Vegas under the eye of the Patriots' coaching staff, and it might've robbed us of the fastest 40 time we'd have seen this year.
This guy has true track speed, which makes him attractive in a division where seemingly every star receiver can flat-out fly. Pair that with true boundary corner size (6-0, 194 pounds), and you have a possible diamond in the rough for Mike Pelligrino to unearth.
192: Keaton Mitchell, RB (East Carolina)
The school that brought you former Titans burner Chris Johnson brings you the next generation. Mitchell gave us a glimpse of his raw electricity at the Combine with a 4.37 40-yard dash and a Combine-best 10-yard split of 1.48.
Production-wise, he led the nation in carries of 15-plus yards, took four of his 12 career kickoff returns for more than 25 yards and almost never puts the football on the ground.
His size could see him converting into a gadget player/slot receiver. But honestly, who cares how you do it or what position you do it from? Just get this man the rock.
210: Ventrell Miller, Florida (LB)
Miller didn't participate in drills at the Combine while recovering from a Jones fracture in his foot suffered last season. The former team captain was a warrior in playing through that injury before heading to the NFL.
Had he not been hurt, there's no way grabbing him this late is even possible. He's a sideline-to-sideline tackling machine who brings a whole oak tree to the point of attack when he shoots a gap.
Miller doesn't have the size of a typical Patriots linebacker at 6-0 and about 232 pounds, but he's got just about every other trait -- tangible and less so -- you'd want.
258: Kadeem Telfort, OT (UAB)
Another Shrine Bowl sleeper hits at the end of the draft.
Telfort is a freaking mountain at 6-7, 320 pounds, but he moves with the smoothness of a smaller man when he gets downhill in the run game especially. And if you try to bull-rush him in the passing game, you're probably not winning that struggle.
He'd be a perfect high-upside prospect for offensive line coach Adrian Klemm to test himself on.
