2013 NFL Mock Draft: New England Patriots select Margus Hunt, Quinton Patton

The New England Patriots look poised for a busy second day of the 2013 NFL Draft with two second-round picks and two third-round picks following a trade with the Minnesota Vikings. Our look at 2013 NFL Mock Drafts published today continues, as we take a look at the mock draft done by Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks.

Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

With the 52nd pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Don Banks has the New England Patriots selecting SMU Mustangs product Margus Hunt. I always hate how analysts have the Patriots selecting Hunt, and the only thing that I hate more is when the justification states something to the effective “This is SUCH a Patriots move.” Yeah, well why don’t you do that with other teams, huh? Just bother me. I really like Banks’s mock drafts, but I didn’t like how he had the Pats picking Hunt and especially dislike how he reasoned it out.

You know what that means? The Pats will end up taking Hunt, and I’ll end up looking very foolish. I still won’t like the move, but I’ll come to grips with it at some point. Maybe it is a “Patriots move”. Maybe I’m just being too stubborn.

Anyway, he had the Patriots taking Quinton Patton with their second second-round pick, and this is a move I’m in favor of. I think we’ll see the New England Patriots take a wide receiver off the board in the first round, and then they will also take a receiver in the third. Banks writes that the Pats need a vertical threat, and this is true. Patton, however, isn’t a vertical threat in my eyes. He can stretch the field when needed with solid speed, make no mistake, but Patton is so good all-around that he isn’t close to being a true deep threat. Patton doesn’t stand out in one particular aspect of the game, but he is solid at everything. I mean, you will rarely see Patton drop a pass, he does a good job of moving the chains, and he is a very precise route-runner.

If the Patriots want a true deep threat, then the pest vertical threat in this draft is Oregon State Beavers wide receiver Markus Wheaton.

Banks has the New York Jets pulling the trigger on Geno Smith, the Miami Dolphins snapping up Patriots WR target Robert Woods, and the Buffalo Bills wisely picking up Justin Hunter. The Tennessee Volunteers product is a popular mock to the Bills, and he will most likely not fall far enough for the Patriots to take him. Despite my heavy criticism of the Hunt pick, Banks’s mock draft is well-worth reading as we head into the second day of the 2013 NFL Draft.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.