Ladies and gentlemen, we have officially reached Mock Draft Season.
With the Patriots picking No. 4 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, there will be approximately 7,000 versions of these between now and April 24. So whenever reading one, make sure to take it with a grain of salt.
On Monday, WEEI’s Chris Scheim revealed his “Mock Draft 1.0” on The Greg Hill Show, where he had a somewhat surprising name linked to the Patriots.
Here’s Scheim’s full first round from Monday:
1. Titans - Abdul Carter, EDGE (Penn State)
2. Browns - Travis Hunter, WR/CB (Colorado)
3. Giants - Cam Ward, QB (Miami)
4. Patriots - Mason Graham, DL (Michigan)
5. Jaguars - Will Johnson, CB (Michigan)
6. Raiders - Shedeur Sanders, QB (Colorado)
7. Jets - Mykel Williams, EDGE (Georgia)
8. Panthers - Jalon Walker, EDGE (Georgia)
9. Saints - Tet MacMillan, WR (Arizona)
10. Bears - Will Campbell, OL (LSU)
11. 49ers - Kelvin Banks, OL (Texas)
12. Cowboys - Jahdae Barron, CB (Texas)
13. Dolphins - Arman Membou, OL (Missouri)
14. Colts - Tyler Warren, TE (Penn State)
15. Falcons - Shemar Stewart, EDGE (Texas A&M)
16. Cardinals - Jihaad Campbell, LB (Alabama)
17. Bengals - Kenneth Grant, DT (Michigan)
18. Seahawks - Tyler Booker, OL (Alabama)
19. Buccaneers - Mike Green, EDGE (Marshall)
20. Broncos - Luther Burden, WR (Missouri)
21. Steelers - Walter Nolen, DT (Ole Miss)
22. Chargers - Colston Loveland, TE (Michigan)
23. Packers - Josh Simmons, OL (Ohio State)
24. Vikings - Derrick Harmon, DT (Oregon)
25. Texans - Emeka Egbuka, WR (Ohio State)
26. Rams - Jaxon Dart, QB (Ole Miss)
27. Ravens - Malaki Starks, S (Georgia)
28. Lions - Grey Zabel, G/C (North Dakota State)
29. Commanders - James Pearce, EDGE (Tennessee)
30. Bills - Maxwell Hairston, CB (Kentucky)
31. Chiefs - Josh Conerly, OL (Oregon)
32. Eagles - J.T. Tuimoloau, EDGE (Ohio State)
“Maybe a little recency bias - but, regardless, you have to build in the trenches,” Scheim said of his Graham pick at No. 4, referencing the success of the Eagles’ front four against the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX. “So I’m gonna give them Mason Graham, the D-lineman out of Michigan - one of the highly sought after D-lineman in this draft, a guy that can really push that interior pocket and allow the pass rush to have success.
“Especially when you have so many question marks around the future of Christian Barmore, I think Mason Graham’s a really good add if you don’t love the O-linemen this high-up in the draft. Ultimately, I kind of expect them to trade down if possible. But in this mock draft - no trades, no movement. So, we left it as-is.”
For a team that has been so depleted at both the wide receiver spot and offensive line, seeing a defensive tackle in that No. 4 slot for the Patriots could come as a surprise to fans around New England. When the Patriots were in the pole position for the No. 1 pick leading into Week 18, the conversation revolved around whether or not they’d pick the Heisman Trophy-winning WR/CB in Hunter, or trade down within the top 10 for players like Banks or Will Campbell.
But with the Eagles front four having a historic night on Sunday against Patrick Mahomes - leading to arguably the worst start of the future Hall of Famer’s career - it forces everyone to take a closer look at how Philadelphia went about building a championship roster.
Despite the Eagles’ Super Bowl dominance, WEEI’s Jermaine Wiggins is not subscribing to Scheim’s initial mock.
“If I can’t Abdul Carter, I’m seeing if I can flip that No. 4 pick for a guy like Micah Parsons or Myles Garrett,” said Wiggy. “I mean, Mason Graham’s a good player, but give me a proven, established guy for the No. 4 overall pick.”
At 21 years old, Graham started all three years while at Michigan, and was one of the anchors of their defense during their National Championship season in 2023. At 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds, Graham was a force for the Wolverines at moving the line of scrimmage, disrupting both the run game and pass protection. From the interior, he accounted for 46 total tackles in 2024, including a season-high 7 in his final college game against eventual National Champion Ohio State.
That’s a massive number for a player at his position. For reference, during Ndamukong Suh’s Heisman-finalist season at Nebraska in 2009, he accounted for 52 total tackles while playing in two more games than Graham did in 2024.
Here’s a closer look at Graham’s resume of accomplishments during his three years at Michigan:
- 2023 College Football Playoff National Champion
- 2x College Football Playoff Participant
- 2024 Rose Bowl Defensive MVP
- 2024 Unanimous All-American
- 2023 Second-team All-American
- 2x First-team All-Big Ten
- 2022 Freshman All-American
It should be noted that Graham’s defensive line counterpart is also being mocked in Scheim’s first round, with the Bengals selecting Kenneth Grant at No. 17 overall.
Grant, listed at 6-foot-3 and 340 pounds, definitely helped eat up space in Michigan’s interior to allow for Graham to thrive inside the tackle box. If Graham was to land in New England, you would hope that type of symbiotic relationship could exist for him with Barmore, who missed much of 2024 due to complications with blood clots.
If Barmore can return healthy in 2025, and reach the heights we saw from him during the 2023 season, a D-line combo of him and Graham together could be lethal.
Sure, this hypothetical pick doesn’t help rebuild the two units on offense you hear fans complain about the most. But let’s be honest - this team has needs all over the place. Even if the Pats draft a wideout or tackle at No. 4, it doesn’t mean they’re a playoff team overnight.
Drafting a player like Graham helps shore up a phase of the Patriots’ game that struggled mightily in 2024, and would be another step towards rebuilding a champion at 1 Patriot Place.