New England Patriots’ Options In The NFL Draft

By Jordan Long

The New England Patriots are preparing for the NFL Draft. The first-round is Thursday. The Patriots will select 23^rd and 31^st assuming they don’t move up or out of the first-round.

The Patriots have plenty of options of who they could select at 23^rd and 31^st. They will pick the best available player. New England should really look at an offensive lineman. The line didn’t protect Brady well with 42 sacks allowed. They lost one of their top tackles Nate Solder, who decided to sign with the New York Giants.

Kolton Miller could be available. He played his college football at UCLA. He would fit on the team. Miller is 6 foot 8 inches and 310 pounds, a big offensive lineman whose strength would help protect Brady to throw the football .

The Patriots may also look at a quarterback during the first-round. Lamar Jackson’s name has been linked to the Patriots.   Jackson would be the quarterback of the future.   He spent his college football days at Louisville and was a dual threat. Jackson can throw the football and had 9,043 passing yards and 69 touchdowns. Jackson rarely turned the football over with only 27 interceptions. He can also run the football with 4,132 rushing yards and 50 touchdowns. Jackson might be the best player available for the Patriots. They may not be able to pass him up.

New England could also look at defense. Linebackers Rashaan Evans and Leighton Vander should still be on the board. Evans played 4 years at the University of Alabama. He was able to tackle and bring the running backs down behind the line with 23.5 tackles for a loss. Evans also sacked the quarterback with 15 sacks. Those stats will help the Patriots defense.

Leighton Vander can also pressure the quarterback. He didn’t have as many sacks as Evans but had 5 in his career with Boise State. Vander didn’t miss tackling an opponent in the open field with 188.

These are a few of the options for the New England Patriots. If they don’t like what they see at 23^rd or 31^st, they could also trade down or out of the first-round. The Patriots will look to improve their team during the NFL Draft.