The New England Patriots have a number of holes to address entering the 2022 NFL Draft, and Thursday's first round offers great potential in filling one of the team's biggest voids.
Will the Patriots bolster their defense by selecting a cornerback or fill the need at linebacker? Could New England opt to bring in an asset to help second-year quarterback Mac Jones, whether that be protection up front of a high-level pass-catcher? Or will the Patriots burst the collective bubble of those in New England and trade back from their current No. 21 overall selection in an attempt to acquire more draft capital?
NFL draft analysts -- along with NESN's Patriots reporter Zack Cox -- have released an extensive number of mock drafts hinting which first-rounders could land in New England.
So, to make it easy for Patriots fans, we've compiled New England's picks from 17 different mock drafts into one convenient location. In those 17 mock drafts, 13 have the Patriots selecting a defensive player in the first round while four others have Bill Belichick opting to bring in someone on offense.
Here is a collection of those aforementioned mock drafts:
NFL.com's Bucky Brooks: LB Devin Lloyd (Utah)
NFL.com's Rhett Lewis: Lloyd
NFL.com's Maurice Jones-Drew: Lloyd
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr.: Lloyd
ESPN.com's Todd McShay-Mel Kiper Jr. combined: LB Nakobe Dean (Georgia)
ESPN's Todd McShay: Dean
The Athletic's Diante Lee: CB Andrew Booth Jr. (Clemson)
NFL.com's Charles Davis: Booth
ESPN's Matt Miller: Booth
NFL.com's Peter Schrager: CB Trent McDuffie (Washington)
Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson: McDuffie
The Athletic's Dane Brugler: CB/S Dax Hill (Michigan)
Sharp Football's Brendan Donahue: Hill
NFL Media's Daniel Jeremiah: WR Jameson Williams (Alabama)
NFL.com's Chad Reuter: OL Zion Johnson (Boston College)
NFL.com's Lance Zuerlein: OL Kenyon Green (Texas A&M)
NBC Sports' Peter King: OL Bernhard Raimann (Central Michigan)
It's worth noting that oddsmakers also seem to think the Patriots will draft a defensive player in the first round. DraftKings Sportsbook has defensive back (+250), linebacker (3-to-1) and defensive lineman (+330) as the top three lines on the betting board. Offensive lineman (+380) and wide receiver (+380) aren't far behind in rounding out the list of expected options.
Three of those players listed above -- McDuffie, Lloyd, Booth -- also had projected betting prices to land with the Patriots.
The 2022 NFL Draft will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday with the New England's estimated time of drafting around 10:50 p.m. ET, according to ESPN's Patriots reporter Mike Reiss.
