Latest 7-Round Mock Draft lays foundation for Patriots' future

This year's Draft is New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo’s chance to put his fingerprint on this team. Despite having “money to burn,” he focused on re-signing New England’s free agents, with a few veterans to fill out the roster and add competition at a few positions.

No starting left tackle signed—no trade for a superstar receiver. There is no new face of the franchise under the center. If Mayo gets any of those players, they will come through the draft.

The 2024 NFL Draft will lay the foundation for the New England Patriots’ future success, or failure

A lot of criticism was directed at former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick for poor draft classes, particularly over the past few years. While it would be easy to say Belichick set the bar low, the pressure is on Mayo, director of scouting Eliot Wolf and company, not just to have a successful draft but to crush it.

If Belichick’s process was so bad, this new collaborative approach to scouting should yield better results. And the differences should be obvious.

One position Patriot Nation wants prioritized is wide receiver. The fan base will understand not taking a receiver with the third overall selection, but not selecting one in the second round will aggravate many.

A gut feeling is the Patriots will be more predictable with their selections. That probably won’t work to their advantage, as other teams would have a better sense of poaching New England’s draft targets.

Which prospects do the Patriots like? It’s anyone’s guess, though Mayo has been a little too chatty in my opinion. I don’t project trades, but I expect New England will trade down at least once to acquire more selections.

Not everyone will be happy with the results, but we won’t know for sure if this class will be good until 2027. If Mayo and Co. are running that draft, then we will see the answer.