5 Biggest Pats Draft Needs

Once again the Patriots used free agency to fill in the depth of their roster and at least a baseline level of talent at (almost) every position. With plenty of options still on the market there will be more free agency additions, but likely only short-term fixes.

For long-term needs the Pats will stick to the draft and though they won’t be handcuffed by critical immediate needs, they must look to the future at these five positions.

TE2/3: Having an intriguing partner for Gronk, who I’m just assuming is good-to-go for 2019, is always good insurance and provides the ability to go easier on Gronk. Right now, they sure could use one of the talented tight ends from Iowa but are unlikely to get either at 32. Maybe someone like Kaden Smith from Stanford is an option.
X-WR: Let’s face it, despite Phillip Dorsett’s return on a one-year deal and the WR position is one big question mark and there isn’t the bevy of former first-rounders that were intriguing last year. The Patriots have long gone the bargain route at WR, with Aaron Dobson being the last significant draft pick spent and missed since Chad Jackson. Malcolm Mitchell was a flash in the night sky for a season and now the need is still dire for short and long term. Parris Campbell from Ohio State could be an explosive fit who could at the very least take Cordarrelle Patterson’s role from last season. At best he emerges as the every-down receiver. At this point, multiple WR picks makes a lot of sense.
EDGE: John Simon and Dietrich Wise on early downs then Michael Bennett coming on for third downs isn’t terrible but the hole left by Trey Flowers is still very real. There’s some interesting prospects on the roster, led by Derek Rivers and this year’s edge class seems top-heavy making a leap unlikely. Michigan’s Rashan Gary would be an intriguing first-round pick.
QB2: With 12 picks the Pats will do whatever they want in this year’s draft. The very top might be out of reach but not much else is. They’ll jump up and down and get the guys that fit the best. There’s nothing more vital to the franchise than finding and developing a potential successor to Tom Brady and the sooner they find him the better. Will Grier from West Virginia could be a second day pick worth developing.
OT3: It’s assuming a lot that Isaiah Wynn is going to return from tearing his Achilles and be a Trent Brown-level tackle in 2019. It also might be assuming a lot that Marcus Cannon has got a 16-game season in him for the first time since 2014. Tackle remains a very big question mark with the uncertainty on the left side and the almost-31 Cannon entering the last year of his deal, not to mention the wide-open third tackle job. Andre Dillard might be the kind of guy worth moving up in the first round for.

These five spots are the most intriguing on the roster and the true needs outside them are few (I’d also spring for a defensive tackle). But with QB, TE and WR topping the list it’s an exciting time. Nothing like gets the fanbase going like WEAPONZ and PASS RUSHERS!