MORSE: Patriots Mock Draft #5 and Thoughts About Dugger Signing
🕑 Read Time: 5 minutes
Posted Under: Patriots Mock Drafts
🕑 Read Time: 5 minutes
New England Patriots > Patriots Blog
Signing Kyle Dugger to a long-term contract is a step in the right direction. Dugger received the transition tag, which limited his free agency offers.
The reality was that the contract that Dugger signed made him a top 6 paid Safety in the league. He is not really worth a top six contract based upon his performance, but it is a signal to the other players on the team that you can receive a 2nd contract from the Patriots. This wasn’t the case before this year.
The Patriots had a very bad reputation of not signing their own drafted and developed players. If you wanted your money you had to go to another team.
According to Pro Football Focus, Dugger was ranked 68th among all safeties. Teammate Jabrill Peppers was ranked 5th. Dugger has $32M guaranteed and the possibility of earning a total of $66M. I hope that deal includes performance incentives.
Dugger can be better than the 68th ranked player. He is more of an in the box SS than a Free Safety and needs to improve his pass coverage. If he was strictly a Strong Safety like Peppers, he would have been ranked higher.
I don’t like him as the Free Safety. The coaches like his versatility and disguising him as a SS and then dropping him deep puts pressure on the opposing QB to make the correct read.
There is a redundancy here with 2nd year player Marte Mapu also playing the SS/LB position.
I would like to see Peppers, Matt Judon and Christian Barmore get signed to contract extensions.
The Draft is two weeks away starting on Thursday April 24th!
Here is my 5th Mock Draft, with one more coming the Tuesday before the Draft!
I am using NFL Draft Buzz Mock Draft tool for this one.
I didn’t have any decent trade offers. The best came from the NY Jets at #10 and included next year’s #1. In the end I didn’t want to help the Jets and it wasn’t enough for the #3 pick so I selected a QB.
The Heisman Trophy winner had a terrific year at LSU. He was surrounded by terrific WR’s, and his overall athleticism reminds scouts of Lamar Jackson. Daniels is a better QB than Jackson was when he was coming out of college. I was a little concerned about Daniels Pro Day performance. One scout ranted that it was the worst Pro Day performance he had ever seen. A Pro Day for a passer is a controlled environment. He is passing to his receivers that he is familiar with, not some strange player he has never worked with before. Daniels missed 5 out of 30 attempts, and those misses were really bad throws.
At his Pro Day, Daniels weighed 210 lbs. at 6’3”. He didn’t perform any field drills but has an estimated 4.52 40-yard dash per NFL Draft Scout. His listed weight at LSU was 193 lbs which is underweight for the NFL. He will grow as he gets older as did Lamar Jackson. Give him a red shirt year behind Jacoby Brissett and he will learn how to be an NFL QB.
Reports have come out this week that Daniels interview with the Washington Commanders didn’t go well. This coming from the Daniels camp. It was also reported that he preferred to play for the Patriots.
I don’t think McConkey will get past the KC Chiefs at #32. He cannot be covered and has the speed (4.39) to play on the outside. His 6.72 3-cone drill at the Georgia Pro Day is excellent and indictive of his quick foot speed. His only drawbacks are lack of size (5’ 11.6”, 186 lbs.) and small hands.
This was a tough choice between Paul and Kiran Amegadjie OT Yale. The big knock on Amegadjie is his lack of competition playing in the Ivy league. Paul on the other hand has 38 starts under his belt and didn’t give up a sack in 2023. At the combine, Paul ran a 5.13 40-yard dash and Bench Pressed 225#’s 30 times. At 6’7, 331 lbs., Paul is a big man and getting around him is a difficult thing to do. However, his run blocking needs some work.
Goncalves started 34 games for the Pitt Panthers. He was named Freshman All American after starting 5 games for Pitt in the 2020 season. Flexibility is a key for Goncalves as he is equally adept at playing Right or Left Tackle, making the perfect swing tackle. The 6’6” 327 lb. tackle was selected as a Captain in 2023. His biggest drawback is that he has short arms (33.5”). He is coming off a foot injury which cost him the last 8 games of his Senior season.
Yes, he is the son of former 13-year NFL Wide Receiver Ed McCaffrey and younger brother of SF RB Christian McCaffrey. He was originally a QB at Nebraska for two years and transferred to Rice as a QB. That was 3 years as a backup and Rice suggested that he switch to WR. As a Senior he had 58 catches for 723 yards and 6 TDs. In his 5th year of 2023 he had a spectacular season with 71 catches for 992 yards and 13 TDs, earning All-AAC 1st team honors. McCaffrey runs great routes and has good hands. At 6’2: 200 lbs., McCaffrey ran a 4.46 40-yard dash at the combine.
All had injuries cut short his Senior season at Michigan and in his 5th Year Senior season at Iowa. As a Junior at Michigan, he had 38 catches for 437 yards and 2 TDs. He transferred to Iowa and played in 7 games while making 21 catches for 299 and 3 TDs. At 6’4” 254 Lbs. he presents a big target. When healthy he is an excellent player. He was invited to the Combine but didn’t work out due to his knee injury. All didn’t participate in the Iowa Pro Day either. His estimated 40 time before the injury was a 4.73. He may be brought in for a Red Shirt year to recoup and recover from the injury.
The Patriots double up at TE with the selection of Reiman. Known more for his blocking the 6’ 5”, 271 lbs. TE ran an impressive 4.64 40 at the combine. His 28 reps at #225 and his 7.02 3-cone drill were equally impressive. As a Junior he had 17 catches and had 19 as a Senior. He just wasn’t targeted often, but when they did he had an excellent QB rating of 14.5 when targeted. Reiman received an invitation to the East / West Shrine game and looked very good in the practices and game. He could improve his blocking, where he doesn’t utilize his size enough.
Ali had terrific seasons in 2021 and 2023 running for 1401 and 1035 yards respectively. His YPC was 5.7 for both seasons. In those two seasons he had 23 and 14 TDs. He had a torn ACL in 2022 wiping out all but two games for Ali. The 5’11.5” 196 lb. running back has an estimated 4.4 40-yard dash time. Ali was listed on Bruce Feldman’s Feak List after “having 36” Vertical Leap, 10’ Broad Jump, Power Cleaned 335 lbs. and Squatted 500 lbs.”. “A rising name in this year’s draft process is Rasheen Ali, who Senior Bowl Executive Director Jim Nagy recently labeled a future Day 3 steal for whoever picks him. Nagy was an NFL Scout for 18 years. Including time with the Patriots. He got the job as the scouting director of the Senior Bowl in 2018. Ali was having a very good Senior Bowl practice week when he tore his bicep muscle. That injury will take 4-6 months recovery time, but Ali should be ready to go for the start of Training Camp.
SITE SEARCH
I hope Daniels is available because neither the other available QBs are worth a No.3 pick. They should take the best tackle, Joe Alt, or receiver Marvin Harrison if Washington takes Daniels.