The clock is winding down on the preliminaries to the 2025 NFL Draft. All the mocks are filed, and speculation is at a fever pitch. It's all over but the shouting as the draft is here. For the New England Patriots, this is a make-or-break draft. The team has improved significantly in free agency, but if Mike Vrabel is to complete the makeover and fill the remaining holes, he has to ace the draft.
To do so, he not only has to draft consensus players at need positions with all of his top-five-round picks, but he also has to hit on most of them. Last year, the personnel group did the right thing by drafting offense, but they failed to draft—or add at all, for that matter—any left tackles. And except for Drake Maye, all the picks they made flopped. That won’t get it done for Vrabel if he wants to climb the ladder to the playoffs.
It begins with pick No. 4 and getting maximum value with that pick. The assumption here is that the top two positional players in the draft—wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter and edge rusher Abdul Carter—will be off the board by pick No. 4. If one is there, you take him. Absent that rosy eventuality, who should the Patriots pick? The choice is clear, but a polarizing one: it’s Ashton Jeanty.
Why Ashton Jeanty makes sense for the Patriots at No. 4
Jeanty is a wonder back
Taking a running back this high is frowned upon by NFL Draft pundits. Jeanty is the exception that proves the rule. He’s just too good to pass up. The 5-foot-8.5, 211-pound Rock of Gibraltar is a one-man offense. You can scheme to stop him, but you won’t. His 2,601 rushing yards in 2024, coupled with 29 touchdowns, are testimony to that fact. To a TD-lacking team, he’s like honey to a bee.
The 2024 Patriots lacked any explosive players—save one—and he played defense! Of course, that’s the mis-deployed Marcus Jones. No one threatened to bust a big gainer. Jeanty is the quintessential big-play running back. He represents a potential home run every time he steps on the field. You can scheme for him on every down, but you won’t stop him. He’s a force of nature.
Jeanty and Drake Maye are a scary offensive duo
Mike Vrabel has added a top wide receiver in Stefon Diggs, who—when healthy—can take the top off a defense on any given play. He’ll add one or two more in the draft. Drake Maye will have receivers this season. Those additions, plus a revamped offensive line (Vrabel is expected here to add two left tackle upgrades in the draft), will give Maye the accompanying cast he needs in the passing game.
Add Jeanty to Drake Maye’s pinpoint passing game, and it’s double trouble for NFL defenses. With little support in 2024, the precocious rookie still completed 66 percent of his passes. Expect 70-plus percent in 2025 if Jeanty shares his backfield.
Jeanty’s threat will supercharge the Patriots’ play-action and RPO game
Jeanty is the perfect complement to a young quarterback who—if fitted with the proper pieces—will rip NFL defenses to shreds. Both in their own right are stars in the making. Together, they’ll equate to a supernova. Jeanty’s runs will be devastating, and the threat of his running will be equally destructive. These two players offer the potential to achieve the unthinkable: a ticket to the playoffs in 2025.
If offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels morphs himself into a play-action and RPO-savvy coach and crafts an offense to use the full potential of running quarterback Drake Maye, the sky’s the limit for the 2025 offense. Play-action opens up the passing game, and RPO will open up everything—to either a lightning flash by Jeanty or a pinpoint pass by the ever-accurate Maye. An added benefit? The defense stays fresh, because the offense will be on the field that much more.
When the final vote is in—if Hunter and Carter are both off the board at pick No. 4, the Patriots should break the Raiders’ and Tom Brady’s hearts and take Ashton Jeanty. It’s the stuff that nightmares are made of for NFL defensive coordinators. And it’s guaranteed to ruin the draft for AFC East teams—especially the reigning champs, the Buffalo Bills.