The New England Patriots have a number of holes they'll need to address through the draft, including the most important position on the field - quarterback.
However, in Lance Zierlein's newest mock draft for NFL.com, he has the Patriots skipping out on drafting Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy to get more picks and still adding a top offensive threat.
Zierlein projects New England trades back from No. 3 to No. 6, swapping picks with the New York Giants, and selecting LSU wideout Malik Nabers. Zierlein doesn't project what the Patriots also get in return for the move down, but he does say it would be more than a normal draft value chart would be considering New York would be trading up for a quarterback.
Nabers, 20, was a unanimous All-American and First-team All-SEC selection in 2023. In 38 career games over three seasons for the Tigers, he recorded 189 receptions for 3,003 yards and 21 touchdowns.
The 6-foot, 200-pound wideout is considered to have the highest ceiling of any player at the position in this year's draft. Zierlein also compared him to Justin Jefferson, who may just be the best receiver in the NFL today.
It could be argued that New England's biggest need behind the quarterback is wide receiver. Their room currently consists of Kendrick Bourne (coming off an ACL), DeMario Douglas, K.J. Osborn (new addition), JuJu Smith Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, Jalen Reagor, Kayshon Boutte, T.J. Luther and Kawaan Baker.
No matter who is throwing the ball to that group, they'll likely struggle. So, here they could add a dynamic weapon for whoever's under center when the season starts, and potentially grab a quarterback later in the draft if they like one of them.
