In the 2021 NFL draft, the New England Patriots had the 15th selection in the first round, and with that pick, they took Alabama quarterback Mac Jones. New England very well might have been the only team interested in choosing Mac Jones anywhere near that high, but the pick made sense for Bill Belichick.
Jones was not (and remains not) overly athletic, but he was an accurate passer at Alabama and had a strong enough arm to resemble Tom Brady physically.
While this article is about who New England should have taken instead of Jones, I don't want to be crazy and say, "New England should have moved up to pick five and chosen Ja'Marr Chase!" Or, New England should have traded pick 15 and gotten a young Joe Montana in return. That kind of thinking is too easy and, well...lazy.
Instead, I will simply stay a pick 15 and name three players the Patriots had a position need for and should have taken instead of Jones. It also should be noted that the 2021 first round did not work out well for a lot of teams.
Remember that the New York Jets chose Zach Wilson at number 2. Regarding touchdown passes thrown and passing yards accumulated, Jones still ranks second in the draft class.
No. 1 - Patriots should have chosen guard Landon Dickerson
Even in 2021, the Patriots needed a guard. And in 2023, the issue was worse. Partly, this is due to Belichick seemingly not having a clue as to how to draft guards, as Cole Strange was chosen much higher than expected in 2022 and has been awful. New England could have just taken Dickerson, and the Alabama product would have helped stabilize the interior of the Patriots' offensive line for the foreseeable future.
Instead, Dickerson fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round, where they chose him at number 37. Dickerson has been a full-time starter for three years and has made the Pro Bowl the last two seasons. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Dickerson was the 16th-highest-graded guard in the NFL for the 2023 season.
While Strange gave up the same number of sacks (3) as Dickerson did this year, Dickerson's number of sacks came in 284 more pass-block snaps. Plus, taking Dickerson would have meant the Patriots did not have to choose Strange the following year. Maybe the Patriots would have, in theory, over-drafted Dickerson in 2021; what did they do with Strange in 2022, who many pundits had going in the third round or later?
No. 2 - Patriots should have gone with running back Najee Harris
The Bill Belichick way was not to take great offensive skill positions too high in the draft. I guess you did not want to run the risk of being too explosive offensively (unless Tom Brady was the quarterback and the team had a future Hall of Fame tight end as well).
It was better to fill in with journeymen, wide receivers, and running backs who could be used up. To be fair, Belichick took Sony Michel in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft, which did not work out as well as hoped.
But Michel was gone by 2021, and the Patriots needed a running back. Harris also would have been the perfect build for the Patriots as he is 6'1" and 240 pounds and surprisingly fast for his size. He is not exactly Derrick Henry, but he is not far off, either.
The Pittsburgh Steelers instead took Harris at pick 24, and he has never failed to rush for fewer than 1,034 yards in his three seasons. He has proven to be a decent receiver. Harris has 185 receptions in his career.
What makes matters worse in hindsight is that even though Jones was decent in his rookie year and made the Pro Bowl, he was not exactly perfect. Harris being in the backfield would have made nearly any other quarterback's job just as easy. And in 2023, when Jones fell apart, and Bailey Zappe proved himself to be an excellent long-term backup at best, Harris singularly would have made the offense better and could eat more clock, keeping the defense fresher. But in 2023, the Patriots need to draft a quarterback high as well as a running back.
No. 3 - Patriots should have taken running back Javonte Williams
Another running back choice? Well, yes. The problem with the 2021 NFL draft is that while Mac Jones has turned out to be a lost boy, many of the other high draft picks - post-pick 13 when the Los Angeles Chargers took offensive lineman Rashawn Slater - did not pan out well either.
Only four players have made at least one Pro Bowl after Jones was taken. Two of those players are Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Lions and Talanoa Hufanga of the San Francisco 49ers. St. Brown was chosen in the fourth round, and Hufanga was in the fifth.
My point is that while the Patriots made a bad choice taking Mac Jones, many other teams also made bad choices. Or there just weren't a lot of quality players to choose from. Javonte Williams, though, is a quality player, and he fell to the Denver Broncos in round 2 at pick number 35. Poor Williams was chosen by a bad offensive team and deserved better, but he would have been right at home on the 2023 Patriots, too.
Williams can run the ball and is explosive, but he would have been a fantastic pick-up by New England because of his versatility. His catch-rate is 79.7 percent for his career, even though he played with a rotation of quarterbacks in 2021 and a downward-spiralling Russell Wilson the last two seasons.
Williams might not have been the workhorse that Najee Harris is, but imagine him in place of the current version of Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott was a once-great running back who is used up. Williams would have been fresh for the Patriots in 2023 and allowed the offense to be 3 points better. That might have won several games.