2020 NFL Draft: New England Patriots 7-round mock

The New England Patriots have a dozen picks to get better as a football team in the 2020 NFL Draft. Here is the latest mock draft for New England.

It will be an interesting offseason for the New England Patriots. After seemingly living at the AFC Championship, New England failed to win a playoff game this past January. Many people believe the dynasty is over, but this franchise still has Robert Kraft as the owner, Bill Belichick as the head coach and perhaps most importantly, Tom Brady as the star quarterback.

While no member of this holy New England triumvirate is a spring chicken, the structure is in place for the Patriots to contend for a Super Bowl yet again. Though they may look to get better in NFL free agency, where the Patriots can make their biggest strides this offseason would be in the 2020 NFL Draft.

New England has 12 picks in the draft, including multiple selections in the third, sixth and seventh rounds. The Patriots have several areas they’ll need to attack in terms of team-building in this draft. So look for them to draft heavily along the offensive line, at key positions in the receiving corps, a few pieces to accent their already strong defense, maybe even a quarterback.

Historically, Belichick has done a better job of scouting other teams’ players in the league than with new entrants into the league. New England’s struggles at finding a wide receiver in the draft have become a running joke. So without further ado, here is the latest 2020 NFL mock draft for the Patriots. Who do they take to get better as a franchise?

First Round

Brady may want to play until he’s 45-years-old, but New England does need to start getting serious about drafting his successor, like, for real this time. One player who could be available to them at pick No. 23 in the first round is Utah State Aggies quarterback Jordan Love, one of the six signal-callers who could make this one of the greatest quarterback draft classes since 1983.

Love started three years at Utah State after redshirting as a freshman in 2016. Even though he played in the Mountain West, Love has plenty of starts under his belt to be ready for when his name is called at the professional level. At 6-foot-4, 225 pounds, Love has the build of Brady, but with probably slightly better wheels than the NFL’s GOAT.

In three years at Utah State, Love completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 8,600 yards, 60 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He also had 403 rushing yards on 170 carries for nine touchdowns. While his redshirt sophomore season was statistically better than his redshirt junior season, Love certainly did enough in college to merit being a fringe first-round pick in this draft.

If the Patriots do go with Love here, they will have drafted a potential successor to Brady. Though they may still be in on Jarrett Stidham, Love is the better prospect coming out of college. Love has a chance to be another strong NFL starting quarterback out of the Mountain West like Josh Allen, formerly of the Wyoming Cowboys, and Derek Carr, formerly of the Fresno State Bulldogs.

Second Round

New England does not have a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. The Patriots traded this pick to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for veteran possession receiver Mohamed Sanu before the 2019 NFL trade deadline. Atlanta has the No. 55 pick in the second round because of this high-profile trade.