Patriots steal top prospect in latest mock draft
After a year of surrounding him with underwhelming weapons and a defensive mastermind turned offensive coach, the New England Patriots must help out Mac Jones in 2023. One of the biggest ways to do that is with the 14th overall pick of this year's NFL Draft. But on ESPN's Mel Kiper's latest mock draft, the Patriots […]
After a year of surrounding him with underwhelming weapons and a defensive mastermind turned offensive coach, the New England Patriots must help out Mac Jones in 2023.
One of the biggest ways to do that is with the 14th overall pick of this year's NFL Draft. But on ESPN's Mel Kiper's latest mock draft, the Patriots miss out on the consensus top WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
As a result, the Pats end up with a defender in the simulation. But hey, it's not just any defender: Christian Gonzalez, the cornerback out of Oregon.
While many will argue that the Patriots absolutely need an offensive weapon to unleash Mac Jones, the truth is this year's wideout class might be considerably overhyped by the media. Many insiders have indicated the teams are significantly lower in the position as opposed to the media.
So perhaps picking Gonzalez will upset some fans who want to see the Patriots' starting quarterback surrounded with talent. But it's difficult to envision the right wide receiver falling to 14th overall this year.
Plus, the Oregon prospect is the consensus best cornerback of the class. At 14th, he could be seen as one of the steals of the Draft.
Here's Kiper's full breakdown of the pick:
14th Pick: CB Christian Gonzalez, Oregon
If the Patriots don't trade down to acquire more capital, I see corner or wideout as the position to target here. On offense, new coordinator Bill O'Brien has to get quarterback Mac Jones turned around after a disastrous 2022. The additions of JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki in free agency will help, but there's room for another really good outside wideout. Cornerback, though, is a position of strength in this class and Gonzalez has a chance to go in the top 10. The 6-1 defender picked off four passes for the Ducks last season.
But that doesn't mean Mac isn't getting any sort of help in this simulation, by the way. Kiper has the Patriots taking one of the best offensive tackles in this year's class with their second-round pick.
46th Pick: OT Matthew Bergeron, Syracuse
There will be good value for offensive tackles in Round 2; it's a strong class at the top. Bergeron is a riser after the combine and I've heard his name as a wild-card first-round pick. He started 39 games in college, playing both left and right tackle. He could play either spot in New England, which brought in Riley Reiff in free agency and has Trent Brown, who's a free agent in 2024, on the left side.
That would leave the Patriots' skill position players group looking underwhelming for another year but the picks in Kiper's mock would be the right picks.
If there's one thing we've learned during Belichick's reign in New England is that they do things very differently from every other NFL team when it comes to the Draft. Get ready for some unexpected picks as early as the first round.
