NFL Draft Insider Floats Plan To Address Patriots’ Biggest Needs

The Patriots, in all likelihood, will take a quarterback with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Is that the best way for New England to maximize its assets, though?

It’s been argued to death either way. The Patriots could either take the QB and figure everything out later, or trade back to maximize assets and start to build the roster before adding a signal-caller down the line. It really just depends on preference, but for those hoping UNC’s Drake Maye or LSU’s Jayden Daniels call Gillette Stadium home next season, there’s officially an argument for your preference.

Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Media held a pre-draft press conference Wednesday, addressing the most pressing questions relating to next Thursday’s draft. He was asked if the Patriots could possibly address wide receiver and tackle, their two biggest needs outside quarterback, if they take either Maye or Daniels at No. 3.

The answer? Yes.

“I think you can definitely address those positions, it just becomes what order you want to do it in,” Jeremiah told reporters. “When you start looking at the tackles, and you start looking at where (the Patriots) are — No. 34 in the second round and No. 68 in the third — if you’re looking for tackles at No. 34 it’s almost a little bit of no man’s land.

“I would keep an eye on a name like Jordan Morgan. He would probably factor in there. … That would be the name there in the second round, and when you look at wideouts, at pick No. 68, I think there’s a chance some of these wideouts get pushed down a little bit just because the sheer number of them. You might be looking at someone like a Malachi Corley, who is a big time run after catch guy out of Western Kentucky.”

Morgan is an intriguing option, because despite having some of the better production out of the top tackles in the class, he’s firmly seen as a second-round pick. Is that because other guys have better tools, or are we missing something? It remains to be seen.

Corley is a prospect everyone likes to some extent, it’s just a wonder if he can fully tap into the whole “wide receiver” thing and become more than just a yards after catch threat.

The Patriots going quarterback, tackle, wide receiver with their top three picks wouldn’t be surprising in the least. Is this the pair they’ll go with to follow up the QB, though?