ESPN Analyst ‘Firmly’ Believes Patriots Should Not Do This In Draft
Patriots fans and analysts are split on what the team should do with the third overall pick in the draft.
New England has multiple holes on its roster, and the lack of meaningful moves in free agency didn’t help matters. However, quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, and it’s expected that signal-callers will be selected with the first three picks in the 2024 draft.
The logical move would be to trade back and fill out the rest of the roster to provide a better situation for a young quarterback. On the other hand, this is the highest the Patriots have ever picked in the NFL draft in 30 years and they might not ever get this chance again.
New England is keeping its options open, and there will be plenty of suitors aiming to trade up. However, ESPN’s Field Yates took a bold stance in his second mock draft posted Wednesday for how he believes the Patriots should approach the 2024 NFL Draft.
“I am firmly of the belief that the Patriots should not trade down from this pick and should take a quarterback, regardless whether it is (Drake) Maye or (Jayden) Daniels,” Yates wrote. “Maye has the ideal quarterback build at 6-foot-4 and 223 pounds, a massive arm and very, very good mobility. While he had a lesser year in 2023 compared to 2022, I still see all the traits for him to be a franchise quarterback. And New England needs one after finishing 30th in yards per attempt last season (6.1). The Patriots must use the rest of this draft to surround Maye with wide receiver and offensive line help.”
The North Carolina product is a popular choice at No. 3 since multiple analysts believe Daniels is the second-best quarterback in the class. Fields went with wide receiver Xavier Legette with the No. 34 pick, and that certainly would help address the team’s needs.
However, the debate over whether or not the Patriots should trade down will persist until draft night, especially with the idea of J.J. McCarthy on New England’s radar also being a possibility.