New England Patriots mock draft: Outlining best and worst-case scenarios for Jerod Mayo
The New England Patriots have a lot of needs to address in the NFL draft. Things can always go one of two ways: positively or negatively. With the picks they have, they could jump start a rebuild and get some anchors to build around. If they play it poorly, though, they could find themselves in this situation again in a couple of years. Here are the best and worst case scenarios for the Pats.
Patriots mock draft: Best-case scenario
The best-case scenario is being able to trade down and still land an impact quarterback. That's what happened in this mock draft. The New York Giants wanted to trade picks six and 47 for the third overall. Since New England isn't totally sold on a QB here, they can move down.
They moved down and improbably were still able to land Drake Maye. Part of the best case scenario involves Jayden Daniels being taken ahead of Maye in the draft, and that took place here.
Again in the best case scenario, the Patriots get one of the best interior linemen in the draft with Byron Murphy falling out of the first round. He's a top 15 player, and getting a defensive stud for a longtime defensive franchise is huge.
Their next pick, which was gleaned from the trade with the Giants, can once again be used to move down since not many prospects at positions of need were available at 47. They can package that with the 137th selection to take picks 61 and 73 from the Detroit Lions to continue adding assets.
There, the Patriots are fortunate enough to be able to address another position of need by selecting Oregon cornerback Khyree Jackson. Then at 68, the Cleveland Browns offered a 2025 third and pick 85 for 68 and 231. This is a rebuild, so it's ideal to get future picks as well.
At 73, the Patriots are stocked enough to go ahead and add a potential steal in running back Blake Corum. With Rhamondre Stevenson coming off injury and Ezekiel Elliott gone, they need one.
With the 85th pick, New England can address another major need: offensive tackle. They get to land Matt Goncalves out of Pittsburgh. Then at 103, they trade down with the Seattle Seahawks, adding picks 118, 179 and 192 in Sportskeeda's 7-round Mock Draft Simulator.
At 118, they're finally able to address the wide receiver need with Ricky Pearsall out of Florida, another potential steal. At 179, they can infuse their defense with youth and go best player available with linebacker Jaylan Ford from Texas.
At 180, they can do the same at the safety position with Arizona State star Ro Torrence. At 192, New England would be able to beef up their interior again with UNC DT Myles Murphy and then at 193 another prospect from the state: NC State G Dylan McMahon.
This is the best-case scenario for New England because they brought in a ton of draft capital now and later, added a superstar QB, and addressed the majority of their needs.
Patriots mock draft: Worst-case scenario
The worst-case scenario for the New England Patriots is that Jayden Daniels is the only QB remaining at three overall. And even then, it's not a horrible situation. They might not want to go with the older QB prospect who only had one good season as a starter, but they still have good options.
They could then trade down for someone who does want Daniels. The Minnesota Vikings or Denver Broncos might be inclined. They could also select Marvin Harrison Jr. and try to land Michael Penix Jr. or someone else in round two or three. There are good options even if they don't get the chance to land a truly special QB prospect.
Another aspect of the worst-case scenario would be them trying to do what we did above and trade down for a QB and have them all gone as well as Marvin Harrison Jr. Getting picks is great, but they would miss out on potentially generational players if that happened.