Trying to figure out what Bill Belichick might do the night before the draft is complicated. Making a guess as to who he might select in September is borderline madness. Nonetheless, we’re going to take a shot here and project Austin Bryant to the Pats.
New England doesn’t like to pay big money for edge rushers, but they’re happy to draft them and play them on rookie contracts. Bryant’s production is a little obscured by all of the talent surrounding him at Clemson.
Some of you might be surprised to see Bryant go off the board before teammate Christian Wilkins. The latter Tiger is capable of playing both defensive tackle and defensive end, but the Patriots need a more classic edge rusher. That’s why they’ll give the nod to the better athlete.
If Belichick doesn’t go with an edge rusher, he could definitely look to add help in the secondary or at wide receiver. In this mock, the value is too strong at defensive end to ignore. We may not have the right guy here, but we’ve correctly pegged the need New England needs to fill.