Patriots land quarterback, tight end in Pro Football Focus mock NFL Draft

There’s speculation the New England Patriots could add a quarterback in Round 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft, and that’s what the folks over at Pro Football Focus say will happen in their latest mock.

It’s almost impossible to truly gauge what New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is aiming to do in the NFL Draft, and this year will be no exception.

Does Belichick replace now-Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady with the heir apparent? Or do the Pats roll with second-year pro Jarrett Stidham to at least see what the former fourth-round pick can do in a full-time starting role?

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There’s a strong argument to let Stidham be the guy under center this season, while Belichick focuses his efforts in this year’s draft to reconstruct portions of the defense while adding weapons to support the young quarterback.

Or whoever winds up taking over the job long term.

According to Pro Football Focus’ latest three-round mock NFL Draft, however, Belichick will use the No. 23 overall pick on Brady’s replacement. The suggestion? Utah State’s Jordan Love:

"Drafting Love to New England makes sense for a couple of reasons. The first is that the Patriots’ current starter was an unheralded fourth-round pick who earned a middling 72.2 grade in last year’s preseason. The second is that Love is seen as a boom-or-bust prospect with all the tools to be an elite quarterback. Him busting would likely result in the Patriots becoming major players in the Trevor Lawrence/Justin Fields sweepstakes."

Drafting Love does make sense for a handful of reasons, yes. But there are also plenty of reasons why it doesn’t.

First, the mock automatically assumes Love would win out the starting role over Stidham and the veteran, Brian Hoyer. While that’s a fine assumption, the idea of Love “busting” isn’t something Belichick would put up with over the course of a full season.

And it certainly doesn’t feed the notion of using back-to-back first-round NFL Draft picks on quarterbacks, the first on Love and the 2021 selection on Lawrence or Fields.

Instead, one might imagine Belichick setting the groundwork around the quarterback position, first giving Stidham at least a chance to prove himself before gambling a Round 1 pick on a prospective signal-caller.

Again, though, we’re diving into the mind of Belichick. It’s impossible to do.

With no picks in Round 2, PFF’s mock heads over into the third round where the Patriots do something they essentially should do: upgrade some skill positions. To do this, PFF has New England grabbing Dayton tight end Adam Trautman:

"Trautman is really the lone all-around tight end the Patriots can nab at this point. He’s a crafty route-runner already and dropped only two passes on 72 attempts all last season."

Unlike last year, the 2020 NFL Draft isn’t particularly deep at tight end, and the position was a complete void in the wake of Rob Gronkowski‘s retirement. Trautman has some solid pass-catching abilities, although he’s not exactly the best blocker and will need some route-running refinement at the pro level.

Then, with the Patriots’ first compensatory pick of the draft, PFF has New England grabbing the 5-foot-11, 193-pound cornerback out of Notre Dame, Troy Pride.

Pride ran a solid 4.40 40-yard time at the NFL Combine, showing some decent vertical abilities with a 35.5-inch leap — solid for a defensive back under six feet tall. There are some inconsistencies with his game, yet Pride has a good deal of positives to suggest he can work his way into a starting role within a couple of years.

The 2020 NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday, April 23.