And with the 15th pick in the 2021 NFL draft the New England Patriots select….
Ahh the words Patriots fans are longing to hear, with much more concern, wonder, trepidation, and perhaps even downright fear than maybe they have for a long time.
Another thing that has definitely not happened in a long time (possibly ever) is the top four picks in a draft being quarterbacks, online Michigan betting sites such as GambleOnlineMichigan.com feature the best options for bookmakers that give odds on who they might be. You have to go back to 1999 to where quarterbacks were the first three picks in the draft with Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith. Now if you’re simply talking the first round, then yeah just in the last decade, 2018 and 2020 were both years of four quarterback picks with Baker Mayfield, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold and Lamar Jackson taken in the first 32 of 2018 and Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa and Jordan Love wrapping up 2020. But the actual top four picks? Are we heading to crazy town this season?
More ghosts of histories past shows the Patriots first round picks being rather tackle (defensive and offensive) orientated. Not exclusively of course, and you could argue a lot of that was due to the success of Tom Brady at quarterback. A young new talented quarterback was not required early in the draft for quite a while, and the last time the Patriots addressed any quarter back selection in the first two rounds was pick 62 in 2014 with Jimmy Garoppolo.
But how different is 2021, right!?
Cam Newton and Jarett Stidham are still in the fold, but the production for both in 2020 left a lot to be desired. The question is what could they produce in this coming season; many fans are still very skeptical that it will not be much at all, and so fans look to the quarterback draft prospects with crossed fingers (and some of them, toes too!).
The situation is: the top four picking teams, Jacksonville, New York (Jets) San Francisco and Atlanta could all take a quarterback and pretty much could do with taking a quarterback. The next few picks, Cincinnati, Miami, Detroit and Carolina are arguable teams that wouldn’t be in the market for a rookie ball thrower. Selection number nine goes to Denver, the next team on the list potentially requiring a quarterback.
We are already seeing the jump of a previously second round rumoured player Mac Jones being in the choice of those top four (to clarify, some people predict him being taken third by San Francisco); could we see second or third round quarterbacks coming off the board within the first thirty two? Did I say next stop crazy town already?
With ten draft picks this year and a closing window of roster spots it isn’t in the realms of impossibility that the Patriots trade up. This year’s draft class is heavy with talent at certain non quarterback areas and although free agency spend was high there are still a few holes the Patriots could do with filling with some of the fruitful young talent.
So here we are, single digit days away with so many unheard ofs in this up and coming draft. Fans agonize as we await that loaded sentence and just know there is a seriously good chance the pick will be… a tackle!
