Breaking down Patriots’ first three picks in ESPN’s latest mock draft

The NFL Draft is just a week away and New England Patriots fans are riddled with anticipation (and trepidation) about the team’s first-round pick. After all, they have several holes to fill and can only address one over the first 32 picks.

On defense, the Patriots have deficiencies at cornerback, linebacker and edge rusher. On offense, they’re shorthanded in the trenches, including the guard and tackle positions, as well as receiver (even after the DeVante Parker trade).

With Parker bolstering the WR corps and considering four of the five starting offensive line spots are filled, Bill Belichick and the front office would be better off addressing one of their defensive needs at pick No. 21 overall.

Since the Parker deal, most mocks have New England doing exactly that. But what about the second and third rounds? The team owns three picks inside the top 85, so they should be able to net a trio of immediate contributors.

With draft night right around the corner, ESPN’s Mel Kiper and Todd McShay partnered up to form a new three-round mock (subscription required). Let’s break down their picks for the Patriots, shall we?

Breaking down the Patriots’ picks in ESPN’s latest mock draft.

First up? Georgia linebacker Nakobe Dean.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that McShay mocked Dean to the Patriots. Throughout the pre-draft process, the ESPN expert has maintained the idea that Dean’s athletic profile and football instincts would be a perfect fit for New England.

Though undersized, Dean packs a punch as a tackler and had a propensity for making splash plays with the Bulldogs in the nation’s best conference.

With Trent McDuffie, Daxton Hill and Jameson Williams all off the board, McShay had the Patriots pass on Andrew Booth, Zion Johnson and George Karlaftis in favor of shoring up the linebacker position. It’s a risk given some of the game’s best LBs weren’t first-round picks, but McShay thinks it’s one worth taking.

In the second round, Kiper mocked Memphis OL Dylan Parham to the Patriots. A former two-star recruit, Parham made 51 starts in college and has experience at both guard sports and right tackle, though he projects as a guard in the NFL.

Over the last two seasons, Parham allowed just one sack, four QB hits and 14 hurries over 1,047 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus. With a 9.0 relative athletic scored that placed him 122nd out of 1,215 lineman that have tested since 1987, Parham has all the makings of a future three-down guard.

Fans would have liked to see the Patriots take a cornerback in Round 2 after they went linebacker in the first, but it’s worth noting Kyler Gordon, Kaiir Elam and Roger McCreary were all off the table by pick No. 54, respectively.

The only qualm we have with the Parham pick is that Georgia WR George Pickens was still available. Other than that, there’s a lot to like about Parham.

In the third round, New England finally addresses the cornerback position in the form of LSU product Cordale Flott. While there’s a lot to like about Flott’s future given his size, length and ability to cover the slot and perimeter, he’s widely viewed as a developmental cornerback.

His athletic upside is undeniable, but at just 175 pounds he’ll need to put on serious weight between now and the start of next season. If he doesn’t, he’ll get bullied at the top of routes and have a tough time making open field tackles.

Kiper and McShay could obviously run circles around us as far as draft analysts are concerned, but this would be admittedly a puzzling strategy for the Patriots, given linebackers and offensive linemen could be found at any point in the draft. And not taking a CB until Round 3 (No. 85 overall) seems like an unnecessary risk.

What do you think, Patriots fans? Would these first three picks be a good haul for New England?

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