Patriots Mock Draft 5.0: New England Lands QB, Supporting Cast

What are the Patriots going to do with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft? That’s exactly what we’ve tried to answer in this five-part mock draft series. New England has options, and this is the final one we’ll explore ahead of April 25.

Mock Draft 1.0 | Mock Draft 2.0 | Mock Draft 3.0 | Mock Draft 4.0

It was quite exhaustive getting to this point, folks.

The Patriots will be on the clock in two short days, and when they finally make a decision at No. 3 it will signify the end of a rather obnoxious process of working through their possible options. Is it best to draft a QB? Is it best to trade down and accumulate draft picks? Could they somehow do both?

It’s a lot to consider, but at the end of the day, we were always going to come back to this scenario.

The Patriots select UNC quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

New England has been involved in quite a few smokescreens lately, especially as it pertains to trading back, but the most likely outcome Thursday is having Drake Maye hop on a private jet heading for Warwick, RI.

The Vikings could try and make things messy by offering the Patriots that “bag” they seem to covet, but to this point, it doesn’t seem they’re willing to meet Eliot Wolf and Jerod Mayo’s demands.

Maye offers the Patriots another opportunity at landing their franchise signal-caller, likely needing some time before he’s given the opportunity to take the reigns. It’ll be a process, but it’s hard to pass up a QB. Maye’s classmates in this scenario also include some players who will be pivotal to his potential success moving forward.

We took and old-school approach to this mock, bypassing trades and selecting players where New England currently sits. It ended up being an eight-player class, which we took using PFF’s Mock Draft Simulator. You can find the results, and our reasoning, below.

Maye is the star here, but landing someone like Ladd McConkey would be pivotal in this step of New England’s rebuild. It’s hard to justify taking a quarterback so early when you have questions about his supporting cast, but McConkey is the kind of wide receiver who will immediately step onto and NFL field and serve as a top-flight security blanket. He’s the key to this draft being successful for the Patriots.

Kiran Amegadjie is a wild card. He’s far from a finished product, but he might be the only guy available at No. 68 that has an opportunity to develop into a legitimate starter on the left side. It’s a gamble.

Ben Sinnott is a favorite in this series. He’s the perfect guy to come in and contribute in a lesser role before breaking out ahead of Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper in year two, and perhaps even sooner. He’ll have a role, it’s just a question as to how quickly he can develop it and how expansive it will be. Bub Means is another throw at the wide receiver dart board, who has experience with Patriots assistant coach Tiquan Underwood from their time working together at Pittsburgh. Isaac Guerendo is the fastest running back in this draft, which is exactly the kind of high-upside trait the Patriots should be targeting in skill position players.

Gabriel Murphy has met with the Patriots on a couple of occasions. He slots in as the lone defensive pick. Joe Milton III is a fun option to fulfill our desire to draft multiple QBs. He’s got a cannon, so it’ll at least be fun watching him in camp.

How do we feel about this mock, Patriots fans?