After the Patriots acquired the No. 23 overall pick in the draft from the Rams as part of the Brandin Cooks trade, the team now has four picks in the top 63 overall. The prevailing thought is one of these picks will be used on a quarterback.
Appearing on Kirk & Callahan Wednesday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter said he believes the Patriots will select a quarterback high in the draft and he also wouldn't be surprised if they traded up to select one.
It would seem like they have no chance at landing Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or Josh Allen, as those players will be gone right away, but there are three other quarterbacks to keep an eye on either at the end of the first round or into the second round.
Baker Mayfield - The Big 12 offensive player of the year completed 70.5 percent of his passes for 43 touchdowns and just six interceptions last season. He is one of the most fiery players in the entire draft and just wants to win, but sometimes this gets used against him as him being cocky. He's also a mobile quarterback and uses his feet a lot. He would be a big personality to come to New England, but that hasn't stopped Bill Belichick before. The Oklahoma product is expected to go in the middle of the first round, so if the Patriots want him, they might need to trade up.
Mason Rudolph - Rudolph had a great season, passing for 4,091 yards on a 63.4 completion rate with 28 touchdowns and only four interceptions. His strength is throwing the deep ball, which he did a lot at Oklahoma State, but with the up-tempo offense he ran, one of the biggest questions is how can he command a huddle. Rudolph may be the best fit for the Patriots if they were to select a QB high in the draft and should be there at both of New England's first-round picks.
Lamar Jackson - The Louisville product is very athletic and can make a lot of plays with his feet. He’s more known as a runner, and it’s unclear how the Patriots feel about that from their future QB. Nick Caserio was at his pro day, so the Patriots got a good look at him there, but it has also been reported Jackson has been tough for teams to get in contact with. Whatever team selects Jackson it's a bit of a gamble as no one really knows how he will translate to the NFL, but since the Patriots have an additional first-round pick, they could take this risk if they rate him high on their board.
Even if the Patriots don't select one of these three, there still are a number of quality quarterbacks expected to be available in the middle rounds like Luke Falk, Kyle Lauletta, Mike White, Chase Litton and Logan Woodside.