The New England Patriots have an opportunity to add a talented player to their roster in two weeks at the 2024 NFL draft, as the team currently has the third overall pick.
It's always important to look back at the history of past drafts to see what type of talent has been selected with the draft pick, and the third overall pick, as expected, has brought in some solid players over the last decade like Will Anderson (2023), Derek Stingley (2022), Quinnen Williams (2019) and Joey Bosa (2016).
However, there's a commonality between all those players - they're on the defensive side of the ball.
New England should be looking to add to their offense, and specifically, in this draft, they should be looking to add a quarterback.
The last impactful offensive player selected with the third overall pick just happens to be a quarterback, but it was Matt Ryan back in 2008. Since then, teams have whiffed on Trey Lance (2021), Sam Darnold (2018), Blake Bortles (2014) and Trent Richardson (2012).
De facto general manager Eliot Wolf is likely looking between the three quarterbacks that are expected to go after Caleb Williams - North Carolina's Drake Maye, LSU's Jayden Daniels and Michigan's J.J. McCarthy.
Do any of those guys feel like the one to buck this trend? What about trading back? Has that been more beneficial?
Teams have traded down out of the third pick four times since 2010.
- Last year, the Arizona Cardinals gave up the third pick (Will Anderson) and pick No. 105 (traded again but used on Kelee Ringo) to the Houston Texans for pick No. 12 (traded again but was used on Jahmyr Gibbs), No. 33 (traded again but used on Will Levis) and a first and third in 2024.
- In 2018, the Indianapolis Colts gave up the third pick (Sam Darnold) for No. 6 (Quenton Nelson), No. 37 (Braden Smith), No. 49 (traded again but was used on Dallas Goedert) and a 2019 second (Rock Ya-Sin).
- In 2013, the Oakland Raiders gave up the third pick (Dion Jordan) for pick No. 12 (D.J. Hayden) and No. 42 (Menelik Watson).
- In 2012, the Minnesota Vikings gave up the third pick (Trent Richardson) for No. 4 (Matt Kalil), No. 118 (Jarius Wright), No. 139 (Robert Blanton) and No. 211 (traded again but was used on Scott Solomon).
New England still has to take the shot if they feel the player is worth it, but it's always good to have information from the past to use.
