Patriots Prospect Preview: Three College Players To Watch In Week 5

Welcome to the Patriots Prospect Preview, the only place to find college football prospects worth keeping your Patriots-happy eye on throughout the season. Welcome to Week 5.

The idea behind this series has always been to highlight possible areas of need for the New England Patriots.

We found an extremely clear one this week, so we’re going to highlight one possible option to fix that problem while including a pair of prospects who are the freakiest at their position in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Kalel Mullings (#20), RB/FB, Michigan
Week 5: @ Nebraska (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX)

It would make way too much sense for the Patriots to draft Mullings.

The West Roxbury, Mass. native grew up rooting for Bill Belichick’s squad, comes from a favorite collegiate program of the Patriots and has played running back, fullback and linebacker in his time at Michigan. He even threw a pass last season. He’s an athlete, with his most likely role in the NFL coming on special teams.

If he does see time on offense, it would likely come in the backfield, with his role at Michigan mostly being in goal-line situations. He might not be the best option for New England (we’ll get into those next week) but drafting Mullings would certainly make for the best story for Patriots fans.

Patrick Paul (#76), OT, Houston
Week 5: @ Texas Tech (3:30 p.m. ET on FS2)

The Patriots have had a ton of success drafting 6-foot-7 offensive tackles from Houston. They’re one-for-one.

The Patriots selected Sebastian Vollmer in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft and saw him hold down the right side of their offensive line for the better part of a decade. Paul could be the next in line, only his best fit comes on the left side where he can eventually replace Trent Brown.

We’re essentially just working down the list of tackle options in the upcoming draft, with Paul up next.

Jer’Zhan Newton (#4), DT, Illinois
Week 5: @ Purdue (3:30 p.m. ET on Peacock)

Newton might be the best interior defensive lineman in college football, and that could mean he’s the first defensive player off the board come April.

Would the Patriots be willing to reach that high for him? Yeah, probably.

He recorded 29 tackles, 33 assists and 14 tackles for loss in his junior season. He produced 54 total pressures as a rusher, which included 32 QB hurries, 18 QB hits and four sacks on the year. He’s fun to watch.