Patriots 4-Round Mock Draft: Mac Jones out, new franchise quarterback in

The NFL combine for what it's worth and the Mac Jones era in Foxborough are both now over. The combine numbers are now in and Mac is headed to Jacksonville for a measly 6th-round pick, no less. That's not exactly a great return for a former No. One pick who's only 25 years old, but it is what it is.

Let's see how the combine and its array of statistics may have impacted the Patriots' 2024 draft perspective. Some stats make sense for some players, others not so much. But they factor in and a look post-combine at the Patriots' first four rounds makes perfect sense. So here we go. Let's draft!

Note: Thanks to profootballnetwork.com for the use of their draft simulator.

Patriots select Jayden Daniels with No. 3 pick

With Mac Jones out of the picture, it's essential for the Patriots to re-stock the quarterback position. They waste no time in getting that job done. The first two picks are Caleb Williams of USC and Olu Fashanu, an offensive tackle from Penn State.

That leaves a choice of Drake Maye of North Carolina still on the board along with the best option, Jayden Daniels, a dual-threat touchdown-maker for head of scouting (aka acting general manager) Eliot Wolf, to decide upon.

Wolf sends the pick-up to Roger Goodell and selects Daniels, just what the doctor ordered for the listless and unproductive Patriots' offense. It stunk in 2023 and needs a makeover from top to bottom. The most important piece is the quarterback. Other pieces are also critical, but you can have them all, and if you don't have the key guy, you're out to lunch anyway.

So it's first things first for Eliot Wolf and the new Patriots' personnel and coaching operation, as well as it should have been, and Daniels is a great fit. He can do it all. He's a pinpoint passer completing over 70% of his passes in 2023 for 40 touchdowns through the air. He also ran for over 1000 yards and added another ten touchdowns. That's 50 all-told.

A home run first pick for Wolf.