Henry McKenna
AFC East Reporter
It used to be that Bill Belichick would tsk-tsk the media for asking him about prospects slated to go in the top five of the draft. He was rarely interested in discussing prospects which were entirely unattainable for him.
Well, the Patriots are now drafting in the top five. And Belichick is no longer with the team. It’s a strange new world, one in which New England is one of the most influential teams at the 2024 NFL Combine.
The Patriots will have director of scouting Eliot Wolf running the show. New head coach Jerod Mayo might not even set foot in Indianapolis. Let’s look at several prospects who might be interesting to New England as the team figures out what to do with the No. 3 overall pick and how to plan the rest of its draft.
Quarterbacks
Drake Maye, UNC
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Maye are expected to go 1-2-3 in the draft, and all three QBs are reportedly skipping workouts and throwing at the combine. If the Patriots stay at No. 3 overall, Maye is the one who could be there for the taking. As they evaluate his tape and interview him in Indy, the Patriots will have one important question in mind: Can he make the leap that Josh Allen and Justin Herbert made? Maye is a high-potential, low-floor prospect, which might scare some teams because his development will require careful and intense work by him and his future employer. And that doesn’t always go well. Just look at Zach Wilson.
Jayden Daniels, LSU
No prospect had a more meteoric rise than Daniels last season. He is a top–three lock and is much closer to Williams in projections than most think. But he’s also a tough evaluation because of how different his film was in 2023 compared to his other four college years. And then there’s another question: What do you do with a guy who spent five years in college? Because he looked terrific in his final year. So on one hand, he showed just how much he can learn and develop….
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2024-nfl-combine-13-prospects-patriots-should-watch-this-week
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Publish date : 2024-02-27 17:28:41
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