In roughly 24 hours, the New England Patriots, along with the other 31 teams, will add a pool of young players to their roster with the hope of improving over the year prior.
New England finished 2023 with a 4-13 record, which was their worst season since 1992. The results got head coach and general manager Bill Belichick fired after two decades with the team.
Before the seven-round event starts on Thursday night, let's project who the Patriots could end up with at the conclusion of Day 3.
For this exercise, we used the Pro Football Focus mock draft simulator. Here's who New England wound up with.
Round 1, Pick 3: QB Drake Maye (UNC)
New England clearly needs a quarterback of the future, as their room currently consists of Jacoby Brissett, Bailey Zappe and Nathan Rourke. That's not going to inspire anyone once they get onto the field.
Maye has the potential to be a franchise-altering pick. The 21-year-old started the last two years for UNC winning ACC Player of the Year in 2022 and earning Second-team All-ACC honors in 2023. In 30 career games, he completed 64.9% of his passes for 8,018 yards and 63 touchdowns.
Round 2, Pick No. 34: WR Keon Coleman (Florida State)
New England is lacking a true No. 1 wide receiver, and to be honest, they're probably lacking a true No. 2.
Coleman could fit the mold for the Patriots after three seasons split between Michigan State (2021-22) and Florida State. He earned Third-team All-Big Ten in 2022 and First-team All-ACC in 2023.
In 34 games, he brought in 115 passes for 1,506 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Round 3, Pick No. 68: WR Jermaine Burton (Alabama)
The Patriots, in the third round, do for Maye what they never did with Mac Jones, and surround him with weapons.
Burton played two years for the Georgia Bulldogs before spending his final two seasons at Alabama. He won a championship during his time with Georgia.
In 50 games, Burton recorded 132 receptions for 2,376 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Round 4, Pick No. 103: OT Dominick Puni (Kansas)
New England could use starters and quality depth at tackle, as Chukwuma Okorafor, who's never played left tackle consistently, could be the starter if the season began today.
Puni (6-foot-5) started his collegiate career at Central Missouri, playing left and right tackle over four seasons for the team. After transferring to Kansas, he made First-team All-Big 12 in 2023.
Round 5, Pick No. 137: TE Theo Johnson (Penn State)
After adding Mitchell Wilcox in recent days, the Patriots have a decent top three at tight, but they could use some decent use.
New England could wait and select Johnson here, who spent four seasons at Penn State and was invited to the Senior Bowl.
In 34 games, he recorded 77 catches for 938 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Round 6, Pick No. 180: QB Jordan Travis (Florida State)
The Patriots should be looking to take multiple shots at quarterback in this draft just in case. Hopefully, one works out.
Travis started his collegiate career at Louisville before transferring to Florida State for his last five seasons. He earned Second-team All-ACC honors in 2022 and First-team All-ACC honors in 2023. Had he not suffered a knee injury at the end of the season, he could've brought the Seminoles into the College Football Playoff and may have gone higher in the draft.
In 49 games over six years, Travis completed 62% of his passes for 8,715 yards, 66 touchdowns and 20 interceptions while rushing for another 1,950 yards and 31 scores.
Round 6, Pick No. 193: CB Johnny Dixon (Penn State)
It's never a bad idea to take late fliers on cornerbacks. If there's one thing the Patriots holdover from the Belichick era, it's the ability to find some real diamonds in the rough at the position.
Dixon spent two seasons at South Carolina before transferring to Penn State for his last three. He earned Third-team All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and was invited to the Senior Bowl.
During his time at Penn State, he recorded 59 tackles (10.5 for a loss), 15 passes defensed, 7.5 sacks, three interceptions and two forced fumbles.
Round 7, Pick No. 231: K Will Reichard (Alabama)
After watching Chad Ryland struggle each week he went out to kick, it would be negligent not to bring in another kicker this year.
Reichard spent five seasons at Alabama, helping them win a national championship in 2020, earning Second-team All-American in 2020 and 2023 and Second-team All-SEC in 2022.
On 100 field-goal attempts in college, Reichard made 84% of them, and he made 87% since his first season.
