- Left tackle remains the biggest need on either side of the ball for the New England Patriots: New England should take advantage of its early draft position to select the draft’s top pass protector.
- Day 2 of the draft will be rich with offensive skill players: The New England Patriots can address wide receiver, tight end and running back on Day 2.
- 2025 NFL Draft season is here: Try PFF's best-in-class Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2025's top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
With the third pick of the 2024 NFL draft, the New England Patriots selected North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye. New head coach Jerod Mayo had designs on slowly bringing Maye along as the understudy to veteran Jacoby Brissett, but as was the case for most things on the field for the club last year, things did not go according to plan.
After a 1-4 start in which Brissett threw just two passing touchdowns (and the New England offense managed more than one offensive touchdown in just one game) and had five turnover-worthy plays, he was benched in favor of the rookie. While Maye showed some of the flashes that convinced the Patriots to draft him third overall, the rest of the season was filled with typical rookie struggles and continuity issues on both sides of the ball, and New England matched their 4-13 record from 2023.
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A new era (well, sort of)
Mayo was let go at the end of the season, and Mike Vrabel was installed as the new head coach. Vrabel played for New England from 2001 to 2008 and is in the Patriots’ Hall of Fame. He was the Tennessee Titans‘ head coach from 2018-2023, winning NFL Coach of the Year honors in 2021. After being fired at the conclusion of the 2023 season, he joined the Cleveland Browns for last season in a consulting capacity.
Serving as his offensive coordinator this year will be another familiar face to Patriots fans, Josh McDaniels. He was last seen in Las Vegas, serving as the Raiders head coach in 2022 and 2023 until he was let go on Halloween. This will be his third stint as the Patriots' offensive coordinator, and 2024 will mark his 19th season with the club.
Looking at McDaniels’ only full season with the Raiders, they were very much a pass-first team, as even after adjusting for RPOs, they ran the ball just 38.6% of their offensive plays, which ranked 27th in the league. The Raiders worked from the shotgun on 52.5% of their snaps, the fifth-lowest percentage in the league. Last season, the Patriots worked from shotgun on 68.5% of their offensive snaps, 11th most in the league. While McDaniels is likely to ask for more work from under center from Maye this season, considering the young QB’s history, a near-50/50 split would be a surprise.
One piece of the offense I expect to see a significant uptick in is deep shots (throws of 20-plus air yards). In 2022, the Raiders ranked fourth in the league, throwing the ball deep on 14.7% of throws, while the Patriots tested opponents deep just 10.0% of the time, ranking them 25th. Despite last season, throwing the ball deep is far from foreign to Maye, as his Tarheels took shots on a whopping 19.6% of passes with him at the helm in 2023, the sixth-highest percentage in the Power Five.
Maye proved to be one of the most dangerous deep ball throws we’ve seen in recent college memory, as both his 56.0% adjusted completion rate and 97.1 passing grade on deep balls ranked him first in all of FBS. As is often the case, however, what holds true in college doesn’t necessarily hold true at the professional level. Last season, Maye graded just 68.9 on deep throws, and his 36.7% adjusted completion rate ranked just 27th out of 33 QBs with at least 30 deep attempts. While adjusted completion rate is a truer measure of accuracy than a traditional completion percentage, it’s important to add the context that on only five of his 20 deepshot misfires did his target create more than a yard of separation from his primary defender.
Free-agent upgrades
The Patriots made full use of their cap room in free agency by making a number of key signings on both sides of the ball this March. Every level of the defense was addressed, highlighted by Eagles Super Bowl hero interior defender Milton Williams, edge rushers Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson, and CB Carlton Davis III.
They made similar gains on offense with veteran wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, former Vikings center Garrett Bradbury and longtime steady starting RT Morgan Moses. While these additions should improve the all-around level of play of the offense around Maye, there is still plenty of room for an injection of youth via the draft.
Completing the offensive line
The one clear remaining glaring weakness on the offensive line after the first run of free agency is at left tackle. Vederian Lowe was the primary starter last season and returns for 2025, but he struggled significantly throughout. His 55.7 pass-blocking grade on true pass sets ranked 48th out of 57 tackles with at least 400 pass-blocking snaps, and his 45.8 run-blocking grade ranked 47th out of 48 tackles with at least 300 run block snaps.
As a result, left tackle represents the most immediate need for the Patriots roster at large, not to mention a critical one for a young signal caller trying to make significant strides in Year 2. LSU’s Will Campbell is an option for New England’s first pick at No. 4 overall, but with his size concerns and mediocre play against the run in college (70.5 run-blocking grade last year), Missouri’s Armand Membou is the cleaner option.
Membou blazed a 4.91-second 40-yard dash and registered a 34-inch vertical jump at the combine while also posting an impressive 31 repetitions on the bench. While he played right tackle at Missouri, his athleticism suggests he is more than capable of sliding over to left tackle. On 392 pass-blocking reps last year he did not surrender a sack or a hit to his quarterback. He also excelled on run plays, posting an 86.7 grade in the discipline. Probably the most encouraging part of his run blocking is the fact that he posted positive grades on at least 19.9% of outside zone, man and inside zone plays, demonstrating that he is not scheme dependent.
Day 2 playmakers
With the most glaring need on the offensive line addressed, the Patriots can focus on adding more weapons with their three Day 2 picks.
While the free-agent additions of Diggs and Hollins will hopefully aid the development not just of Maye but of Ja’Lynn Polk as well, the Patriots still need a bigger-bodied weapon outside. Iowa State’s Jayden Higgins could be just that and would be a smart pick at No. 38.
Ranked 39th on the PFF big board, the 6-foot-4 214-pound Higgins impressed with his explosiveness at the combine, running a 4.47-second 40-yard dash and jumping a 39-inch vertical. His play on the field in 2024 was even more impressive, as 66 of his 87 grabs went for first downs, nine for touchdowns, and he used his huge frame to snag 14 of 24 contested balls sent his way. He is a solid route runner for a man his size and projects as one of the few natural “X” receivers in this draft class.
As I similarly suggested with Chicago on Tuesday, the Patriots would also do well to take advantage of this class’ depth at tight end and running back. With a likely renewed focus on more traditional offensive concepts from under center, tight end Mason Taylor makes perfect sense with pick No. 69.
Son of Hall of Famer and longtime Dolphin Jason Taylor, this LSU prospect is possibly the most natural in-line TE in the class, competent and experienced as a blocker and dynamic as a receiving weapon. (Mason) Taylor ran an impressive 4.65-second 40-yard dash at his pro day while also showing off his agility with a 7.06-second three-cone time. He turned more heads earlier in the pre-draft season with his route running during Senior Bowl practice, as he was, at times, uncoverable.
He played a whopping 460 in-line snaps for LSU last season and was outstanding, specifically on pulls, where he graded positively on 25% of reps. As a receiver, he racked up 54 catches for 545 yards, 247 of them coming after the catch and 100 coming after first contact.
The Patriots have veterans Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper currently in the stable, but they would do well to add a legacy youth to the room.
That leaves pick No. 77 to tap into the RB class. Current starter Rhamondre Stevenson flashed his elusiveness last season with 41 forced missed tackles, but 17 of them came in two games against the Bengals and Jets, two of the worst run defenses in the league, and his six fumbles had him in and out of the doghouse all season. He also offered little in terms of dynamism in the passing game, as he registered just one explosive reception.
UCF’s RJ Harvey ranks 69th on the PFF big board and was a dynamic weapon for the Knights, both rushing and receiving. He averaged 0.3 missed tackles forced per rush attempt (compared to Stevenson’s 0.2) with 54 of his 231 carries going for at least 10 yards. On 39 combined receptions over his last two seasons, he forced 24 more missed tackles, tallying first downs on 20 of them and touchdowns on five. A significantly more dynamic athlete, Harvey ran a 4.40-second 40-yard dash at the combine, which was not a surprise to those familiar with his film.
A MIXTURE OF VETERAN LEADERSHIP AND YOUTH
The Patriots are clearly in a state of transition, but in Year 2 with Drake Maye working on his rookie contract, they need to start making significant strides. A solid free agency period yielded veteran leadership on both sides of the ball, but in order to put Maye in the best possible position to succeed, he needs more young talent developing alongside him.
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