It would make quite a bit of sense for the Patriots to draft a quarterback later this month.
Eric Mangini, however, isn’t expecting New England to make a sizable splash in order to land one of this year’s top prospects at the position.
Purely from a fit standpoint, Mangini acknowledges Foxboro would be a good landing spot for Tua Tagovailoa. But knowing how the Patriots tend to operate during the draft, Mangini doesn’t believe his former team will move mountains for the Alabama product.
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“In terms of it being a fit, it could be a really good fit,” Mangini said Friday on FS1’s “First Things First.” “The relationship with Nick Saban helps them get good information in terms of where he is physically, what he’s like as a player. In this environment where you can’t spend time with the players, having sound information on an investment like that is the most important thing you can have. The fact that he also played for Brian Daboll at one point at Alabama helps, too, from a system fit, from an overall fit in terms of culture as well.
“Now, all that being said, I find it very hard to believe that the Patriots would give up tremendous draft value to go get this guy. It’s not what they do. Now, they hadn’t drafted a wide receiver (in the first round) in 20-plus years — or Bill (Belichick) hadn’t — and they changed that last year. So it’s not impossible, but it’s not really what they do. They’re in the business of trading back more than trading up. You even see the players they’ve got and replaced Tom Brady with have been lower-value guys. It’s hard, hard, hard to think they would give up what they’d need to give up in order to move up and try and get Tua.”
"I find it very hard to believe that the Patriots would give up tremendous draft value to go get Tua. It's not what they do. … They're in the business of trading back more than trading up." — Eric Mangini pic.twitter.com/QWHAAMXZDm
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) April 3, 2020
If you ask Rex Ryan, no team should make a power play for Tagovailoa. The former New York Jets and Buffalo Bills head coach seems to believe Tagovailoa’s injury concerns are greater than what’s being led on and that the 22-year-old very well could be “the biggest gamble in the history of the NFL draft.”
The Miami Dolphins have been tabbed as the likeliest landing spot for Tagovailoa, but there’s a chance the Fins might not be very high on the southpaw signal-caller.
It won’t be terribly long until we find out, though, as Day 1 of the draft will go on as scheduled April 23.
