With college football’s regular season wrapping up over the weekend, that means we officially are entering NFL mock draft season.
So, while Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are focused on marching toward their third consecutive Super Bowl, it’s time to think about what Bill Belichick might do when April rolls around.
Will this be the draft in which Belichick drafts Brady’s successor after trading away Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017?
Well, Michael Renner, a senior analyst at Pro Football Focus, believes it will be.
Renner released his latest mock draft Monday and he has the Patriots selecting West Virginia quarterback Will Grier in the first round with the 29th overall pick.
Per Renner:
The Pats nab their QB of the future. Grier has his issues, but he has NFL-level accuracy that can be molded over time. His 75.9 adjusted completion percentage is 11th best in the country.
Grier is an accurate passer who has matured since his transfer to West Virginia. While some scouts question his arm strength, the 6-foot-2 gunslinger was one of the best passers in college football over the past two seasons and could become a solid NFL quarterback if given the time to sit and learn behind a guy like Brady.
The 2019 draft class isn’t loaded at the quarterback position. Oregon junior Justin Herbert is seen as the jewel of the class, but many expect him to shun the NFL and return to Eugene for his senior season. The only other quarterbacks who could go in the first round are Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins, Missouri’s Drew Lock and Grier.
The upcoming draft is loaded on the defensive line and has a lot of talent in the secondary, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Belichick elect to improve his team in other areas and draft a quarterback in the later rounds or wait until 2020.
