2013 NFL Mock Draft: New England Patriots trade pick to Eagles
The New England Patriots best bet in the 2013 NFL Draft might be to trade down, and that’s exactly what the final 2013 NFL Mock Draft on NFL Mocks has the Patriots doing. I usually take a look at the mock drafts published on the FanSided.com main page, but I want to embrace all the pre-draft craziness and take a look at the 2013 NFL Mock Draft published by Sayre Bedinger on NFL Mocks.
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Bedinger’s mock drafts are always entertaining, and his opinions on prospects are always unique. Although he doesn’t tell us what the Patriots get in return from the Philadelphia Eagles, Bedinger does tell us that the Patriots deal away the 29th pick to the Eagles so that the Eagles can take E.J. Manuel off the board.
The Florida State Seminoles signal-caller has been heavily linked to the Eagles in the pre-draft rumor mills, and Manuel is the hottest name at QB heading into the draft. Chip Kelly could feel pressured to trade up and get his man, and I’m sure the Patriots will field phone calls from several teams looking to snag “their guy” at quarterback before he falls to the second round.
Manuel seems like a reach to me in the late first round, but as we saw with the Miami Dolphins last year in their selection of current starter Ryan Tannehill, teams will do whatever they take to get their guy. Especially when that said team feels threatened by another team poaching the QB they want to snag.
Two of our AFC East rivals nab quarterbacks in this mock draft, and it’s no surprise which two take passers. The New York Jets used their second first-round pick to take West Virginia Mountaineers star Geno Smith, which was a bit of a surprise to me (there are only minor rumblings of this move happening). Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills decision to secure Ryan Nassib in the late first after trading with the San Francisco 49ers comes as no surprise.
This mock draft had a ridiculous amount of trades, as the Dolphins moved up into the top ten to take Tyler Eifert to be their long-term guy at TE. I would never trade up to take Eifert in the top ten, even if Dustin Keller only has one-year left on his deal. Another AFC East-related trade saw the New York Jets and San Diego Chargers swap the ninth and 11th picks so that the Chargers could reach for D.J. Fluker and fill their pressing need at tackle. The Jets decided to take Barkevious Mingo, who seems like the most likely pick for the Jets at this juncture.
I would recommend checking out this mock draft, because it truly does embrace the draft-day craziness, and Bedinger did a really nice job with the tough task of delivering a mock draft.
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