Part of the fun of the NFL Draft is how unpredictable it is. Fans and experts make predictions for months, if not years leading up to each year's draft. And yet, there are so many times where teams completely defy all expectations. For example, look no further than the New England Patriots in 2022. Who can honestly say that they saw the Patriots taking little-known guard Cole Strange in the first round? If you did, then hopefully you bought a lottery ticket around the same time.
Entering the 2023 NFL Draft, New England seems just as unpredictable as ever. In fact, mock drafts can't seem to agree what the Patriots will do, as no single player has even 10% of mock drafts predicting them to go to New England. We have a decent idea of what positions the Patriots could target, but determining the exact player is another story.
With that said, here are three surprise players the Patriots could take with the 14th overall pick in the draft.
3. Zay Flowers, WR, Boston College
Wide receiver has been a problem for New England since the end of the Tom Brady era. Last season, Jakobi Meyers led the team with 804 yards and six touchdowns receiving, but he left in free agency, as did Nelson Agholor. DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne, the Patriots next two leading wideouts last season, combined for just 973 yards and four touchdowns. Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster should help, but this receiving corps could still use another upgrade.
Naturally taking a wideout in the first round is a common prediction for New England. One player who could be a good option is Boston College wideout Zay Flowers. Playing in the Patriots' own backyard, Flowers had a career season in 2022 with 1,077 yards and 12 touchdowns.
Flowers isn't exactly an uncommon prediction in mock drafts, but TCU's Quentin Johnston and Ohio State's Jaxon Smith-Njigba seem to be more popular choices. However, Flowers may be the best fit of the three due to his ability to make plays downfield.
“Flowers is my pick as the draft's best downfield separator,” wrote Evan Lazar of Patriots.com. “His ability to create explosive plays using his jitterbug quickness on catch-and-run chances and vertical double moves will inject immediate big-play potential. As steady as JSN would be in this offense, Flowers has a top gear missing from the current group while still offering quick hitters in the slot. After working with him at the Shrine Bowl, New England has an excellent feel for Flowers, the person, and the player.”
2. Anton Harrison, OT, Oklahoma
Offensive tackle is another position of serious need for New England. The Patriots' offensive line was a bit of a mess last year, and created problems for the offense on numerous occasions. Most notably, the Patriots finished dead-last in run block win rate at just 68%, per ESPN.
As a result, offensive tackle is right up there with wide receiver as the most common position for New England in mock drafts. However, Oklahoma's Anton Harrison seems to be an uncommon selection, usually only coming up if New England trades back. However, looking at the board ahead of them, Harrison may be the best tackle left.
As it stands now, three teams ahead of the Patriots need tackle help, those being the Bears, Titans and Jets. As such, the draft's top three tackles in Ohio State's Paris Johnson Jr., Northwestern's Peter Skoronski and Georgia's Broderick Jones could all be off the board by the time the Patriots are on the clock. If that happens, then either Harrison or Tennessee's Darnell Wright would be the best tackle available, and there's a solid case for Harrison.
“Oklahoma’s Anton Harrison is 6’4 315 lbs and was one of just five offensive linemen to run a sub-5 second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine last week (4.98),” wrote Mike Kadlick of CLNS. “He also looked smooth in the on-field drills – and his quick feet jump off the screen on film. He would project out to be New England’s franchise left tackle for years to come.”
1. Bryan Bresee, DL, Clemson
The other entries on this list are relatively uncommon picks, but they're at New England's two biggest positions of need. On the other hand, most believe that the Patriots don't have a big enough need on defense to use a first-rounder on it. In fact, of the 45 Patriots-centric mock drafts compiled by NFL Mock Draft Database, only eight of them have the Patriots going defense in the first round, and six of those have them taking a corner. However, one of those two exceptions has the Pats taking Clemson defensive linemen Bryan Bresee.
Looking at it deeper, though, New England could use an upgrade on the defensive line. The Patriots' current starting linemen are Deatrich Wise Jr., Davon Godchaux and Lawrence Guy. They aren't bad players by any means, but it's not exactly the best group in the league.
Bresee could help the Patriots add another punch to their defensive line. He's a naturally great run defender and he can help collapse the pocket on passing downs. This would certainly be a surprising pick for New England, but it might just work.
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