ESPN Ranks Patriots Among Best Fits For Louisville QB Lamar Jackson

The NFL draft is set to take place on April 26th, and the New England Patriots own two first-round picks.

But what they’ll do with those picks remains a mystery at the moment.

Lamar Jackson, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner, is expected to be drafted in the first round, but could the Patriots be the one to take him?

ESPN’s Matt Bowen seems to think so.

Jackson finished his three-year career at Louisville with 67 touchdown passes and over 9,000 total yards, while collecting 4,132 rushing yards that resulted in 50 more scores.

“The situation in New England is similar to New Orleans,” Bowen wrote. “Have a plan to sit Jackson behind Brady. Learn, grow, develop. And I really like the idea of Jackson working in Josh McDaniels’ system. Remember, this is an offense that uses so many different personnel groupings, formations and alignments to create open throwing windows and matchups. Attack the middle of the field, work the seam, get the ball to playmakers with room to operate after the catch.”

Interesting.

There is no guarantee the Pats will select a quarterback given their other needs, but if they do, Jackson may not be a bad choice to be Brady’s backup.

Click here to read Bowen’s full analysis of Jackson