NFL Draft Expert Unintentionally Confirms Why Patriots Should Draft QB

Daniel Jeremiah wasn't directly asked about the situation the New England Patriots find themselves in. But in explaining a league-wide trend, the NFL draft expert unintentionally confirmed why the Patriots should draft a quarterback at the top of the 2024 NFL Draft.

"There's the two schools of thought," the NFL Network analyst said during a video conference with reporters Wednesday.

"You build up the entire roster and drop the quarterback in the mix, and you're good to go. The other part of it is, if you have a chance to get what you believe is a premier quarterback, even if the rest of your team isn't in place, you're going to have the pressure to go ahead and make that move."

Holding the third overall pick in 2024, the Patriots are facing that pressure. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has deferred to de facto general manager Eliot Wolf and first-year head coach Jerod Mayo, though Kraft expressed his desire to land a "top-rate quarterback." Mayo kept the door ajar for New England to potentially trade back. But it still feels that would be the wrong move to make.

Jeremiah all but confirmed.

"I think there is definitely something to the superstar era of the quarterback we're in right now, particularly in the AFC," Jeremiah said. "It's just hard, when you're in draft meetings, and you're looking at it going, 'These are the quarterbacks we have to run through. We can build a talented team and a balanced team, but at the end of the day, those big games, especially if we get into the tournament, are going to come down to can our quarterback compete with their quarterback and make the throws they need to make to go win something?'

"That's kind of the pressure on these teams, 'We don't have one of those guys. We're always in search trying to find one.' I think the consistent playoff teams have consistent quarterback play."

Jeremiah's comments aren't ground-breaking, of course. It's long been a trend that the teams with the best quarterbacks are the most likely to be there in the end.

Wolf himself even mentioned the league-wide trend regarding the best quarterbacks more or less always being drafted in the first round. There are a few examples where that's not the case, but C.J. Stroud, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Josh Allen, and Patrick Mahomes serves as quality examples.

The Patriots could put themselves in the mix with those teams in the near future if they draft a franchise-altering quarterback next Thursday. Whether that is Jayden Daniels, who Jeremiah has heard is most likely to be drafted by the Washington Commanders, Drake Maye or J.J. McCarthy remains to be seen.