The New England Patriots completed a quick turnaround under Mike Vrabel, and they are arguably the best team in the NFL right now. Sitting on an 11-2 record after 14 weeks, the Patriots are headed to the playoffs, and hopefully to the Super Bowl. If that happens, New England will be drafting at the end of the first round — a tradeoff fans will sign up for in a heartbeat.
While picking at the top of the first round has landed the Patriots building blocks Drake Maye and Will Campbell, there are always really good players at the end of the first round as well. A recent 2026 mock draft had New England selecting a few of those players.
Three FanSided NFL Draft experts each picked a prospect for all 32 first-round picks. For New England, picking at 32, the selections were Alabama edge defender LT Overton, Iowa offensive tackle Gennings Dunker, and Texas Tech edge defender Romello Height.
"Drake Maye could use another offensive lineman here, but the Patriots’ pass rush is one injury away from really falling off a cliff. In much the same way his mentor Bill Belichick built his defenses, Mike Vrabel could target multi-faceted, oversized defensive ends who can star at stopping the run like Overton."Mike Luciano
Patriots invest in the trenches in most recent 2026 mock draft
The theme was clear: continue to build up the trenches. That’s never a bad idea. The key to being good, and staying good, is dominating the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The question for New England will just be which line will they want to prioritize. One of the draft experts leaned offensive line, but the other two went defensive line.
As Luciano detailed, defense may ultimately take priority since depth on that side of the ball is the bigger need. The chosen defenders in this mock draft were Romello Height out of Texas Tech and Alabama’s LT Overton. Both defenders are key players on two College Football Playoff teams and have a ton of college football experience.
Height has been in college for six years, playing for four different schools, and Overton has played four seasons, split between two programs. That means they should be ready to be immediate contributors.
The Patriots would love to land an elite prospect at the end of the first round, but for now, they are focused on taking care of business so they actually do pick at the end of the first round.