2019 NFL Draft: New England Patriots 7-round mock
By Conor Dorney
Round 5: No selections
Round 6: No selections
Round 7
With Devin McCourty and backup Nate Ebner both slated to hit free agency following the 2019 season, the Pats could spend a pick in the later rounds on safety depth.
Oregon’s Ugo Amadi is one player who may fit the team’s plans and while he isn’t the biggest or most physically-imposing defensive backfield presence, Amadi has excellent quickness, awareness and special teams value. He has a knack for creating turnovers and was a model of durability, playing in all 51 of the Ducks’ games over the past four seasons.
If you’re looking for one of the best and most tenacious blockers in the 2019 NFL Draft, you may just turn your attention to a wide receiver out of Old Dominion, Jon Duhart.
Duhart (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) is a physically impressive outside receiver who can wow you on tape with his tenacity as a blocker. Still, he is much more than that, however, possessing some solid footwork and route-running ability as well as legit speed that can eat up space on opposing defensive backs in a hurry.
Duhart was one of the standouts of the Senior Bowl and I expect him to have an excellent NFL Combine. There’s a real possibility he ends up going as high as the fourth round but if he falls to this general range, expect the Patriots to do everything they can to bring him to Foxborough.
The Patriots’ strategy for finding pass rush help this offseason will have a lot to do with how the market in free agency, as well as the first round of the draft, plays out. The potential departure of Trey Flowers could obviously make the position more of a priority, but New England could also defy conventional logic and instead target an edge player in the late stages of the draft.
NFL Power Rankings: Post-Super Bowl edition. dark. Next
Penn State’s Shareef Miller (6-foot-5, 259 pounds) has plenty of desirable traits but still lacks the consistency and repertoire of some of the other pass rushers in the class. Despite this, Miller still posted 5.5+ sacks and 10+ tackles for loss in each of the last two seasons for the Nittany Lions.
Miller is just the type of player who the Pats can afford to be patient with and develop in their system, and one who could help out situationally until he’s ready for a more full-time role.