As much as the Patriots need an offensive tackle of the future in the upcoming NFL Draft, Bill Belichick and his scouting department should be prepared to take other strong players at important positions at No.
14 overall (assuming they stay there) in April.
The latest mock draft from The Athletic’s draft guru Dane Brugler is an example of another route New England could take while not wasting a pick on something like an offensive guard. (Because the Patriots would never do that…)
After mocking Georgia tackle Broderick Jones to Foxborough in his first mock, Brugler has the Patriots going a different direction in his second draft plan with all three of the top tackles (Peter Skoronski, Paris Johnson Jr. and Broderick Jones) all off the board by the time New England picks.
But the draft analyst suggests the Patriots will still keep things premium, flipping to the other side of the line to take Clemson edge defender Myles Murphy with their first pick.
“Smooth, strong and long, Myles Murphy has a lot of the traits that would appeal to Bill Belichick. Given his expected testing numbers at the scouting combine, Murphy will create buzz throughout the process, even though his rush plan and setup are still in the development phase,” Brugler writes.
Though offensive tackle would likely be a better use of resources in the first round, a team can never have too many dynamic edge rushers. Murphy has the physical tools to fit that profile.
At the moment, Murphy, who had 18.5 sacks in his three-year career at Clemson, is a bit of a one-trick pony as a pass-rusher. He’s explosive off the edge, has excellent length to stave off blockers and can flatten well along the line of scrimmage for a 6-5, 275-pounder. But he doesn’t have much variety in his pass-rush moves yet, mainly relying on his quickness and measureables to get home.
But he also possesses a non-stop motor for chasing the football in the run game or on throws to the boundary and also sets the edge well in the run game, which Bill Belichick will certainly like.
Murphy would, in theory, be a good fit on the edge and serve as an eventually replacement for any of the edges the team might eventually move on from, whether that be Anfernee Jennings, Josh Uche or (potentially) Matthew Judon.
Then, Brugler has the Patriots going big on the outside in the second round, selecting SMU receiver Rashee Rice with the 46th overall pick.
Rice broke out in a big way as a senior for the Mustangs this past season, catching 96 passes for 1,355 yards and 10 touchdowns. He totaled 19 touchdowns in his last two college seasons despite his yardage numbers being down.
His profile fits like that of a younger DeVante Parker or a better version of N’Keal Harry: a big-bodied true X receiver with contested catch ability and some wiggle after the catch. Rice will likely tip the scales at 6-2 and a touch over 200 pounds.
The downside: like Parker and Harry, he’s not explosive. One could easily see him struggling to separate against NFL cornerbacks with speed and be forced to win solely off of size and route-running, which will be hard to do at first. Though he looks like a more well-rounded player than Harry was when he came out, he’s probably not going to change games as a rookie (if he ever does).
A more immediately impactful receiver might be local product Zay Flowers, who lasts until pick No. 61 in this mock likely due to size.
However, though Patriots fans might prefer to see a cornerback over an edge rusher for the first pick, an early haul of Murphy and a receiver, perhaps even Rice, isn’t too shabby. If the Patriots still have as much draft capital as it appears they will, though, they could perhaps move up for a playmaker like Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt. Now that would be cooking with gas.
