Sanders’ Stock Falling Could Drastically Alter Patriots Draft Plans
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With the #4 overall selection heading into this upcoming 2025 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots are likely focused on trying to make sure they come out of it with a blue-chip impact player to take into next season.
The only problem is, things are starting to shift at the top of the draft board and there may not be one there by the time they’re ready to pick.
The MMQB’s Albert Breer reported Tuesday night that the mindset of the teams ahead of New England has altered a bit, which could complicate things for the Patriots in the coming weeks.
“It’s starting to feel to me like there’s less and less of a likelihood that Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter get to the Patriots,” said Breer during his appearance on NBC Sports Boston Tuesday. “The Browns and Giants have at least given off some signals over the last week or two that they could take position players, Hunter, Carter, at #2 and #3, and then double back on day 2 and get quarterbacks.”
Part of this has to do with how the quarterback class for this year has shaped up. Normally at this time of year, there are at least a couple of quarterback-needy teams looking for a starter, and we’ve generally seen at least a few guys who are considered players who would go in the top 3-4 draft slots. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case this year. There aren’t as many quarterbacks that teams seem to feel are worthy enough to select that high, and it’s starting to reach a point where it could throw things off for a team like New England.
Up to this point, both Cam Ward and Shedeur Sanders were considered to be the top two quarterbacks, with CBS’s most recent mock draft seeing both Tennessee and Cleveland, respectively, take them in the upcoming draft.
They then have Abdul Carter – who reportedly was set for a visit with the Patriots – going to the Giants, who recently added Russell Wilson. That would see Travis Hunter then land in New England.
Both Eliot Wolf and Mike Vrabel have spoken highly of Hunter as of late, and he was the player that CBS had the Patriots selecting at #4 overall.
Still, the wild card in this appears to be Sanders. Breer points out that teams don’t seem to think that highly of him, and it could ultimately come down to fit, just like it did with Bo Nix last year. That could also mean that it’s not a stretch to see him make a significant slide down the board.
“Falling is not the right term. I just think maybe some of us in the media are catching up to the way the team’s I think of him,” said Breer. “And I look at him a lot like Bo Nix last year in that I think if you pulled all 32 teams, there would probably be over 20 of them that do not view him as a first-round talent. I’m not saying top five talent, first-round talent.”
“He doesn’t have elite arm strength. He’s not a great athlete. He’s not overly big. There are a ton of flaws there. And so I think the comparison, again, to Bo Nix here is there were a lot of teams that felt that way about Bo Nix last year, so it had to be about fit for Nix. If Nix doesn’t go 12 overall to the Broncos, he might fall out of the first round altogether. But there was a team there in Denver with a coach, Sean Payton, that were a perfect fit for him. The rest doesn’t matter. He winds up going top half of the first round, was a rookie of the year candidate. So for Shedeur, I think that’s where you’re at.”
Needless to say, it sounds like Sanders’ stock is dropping, and it’s possible that the Browns could pass on him and join New York in taking a position player.
Some might think that won’t happen, but things feel like they might be a little different these days in Cleveland compared to past years. Browns owner, Jimmy Haslam, recently admitted the “swing-and-miss” they took on Deshaun Watson, and it sounds like they’re finally ready to move on. That would mean that a quarterback would seemingly be on their list of priorities.
But when it comes to the draft, Haslam also recently said they’re not just going to take a quarterback for the sake of taking a quarterback. Based on Vrabel’s recent comments about his time with the Browns last year, one other interesting thing to consider is that it does sound like they’ve finally got some competent people in the building. Those same people may have Haslam warming up to the idea of being somewhat patient in this process, and based on his comments, they appear ready to explore other options. That could mean they may shift to a long-term plan where they possibly decide to bring in an impact player like Hunter this year, knowing that they can go back to the well next year, whether it’s through the draft or free agency.
Another option might be, knowing Vrabel’s connection, maybe they strike a deal with New England for Joe Milton. That seems to be an ideal scenario for Milton, who a recent report by MassLive’s Mark Daniels and Karen Guregian revealed, “A source close to the quarterback said Milton would prefer to be on a roster that best gives him a chance to compete for the starting job.”
With the Browns, and with newly signed Kenny Pickett as his competition, that opportunity would certainly be there. The same MassLive report said that New England has received multiple inquiries for the young quarterback, which could also mean that his stock could rise high enough where the Patriots could come away with some additional valuable currency in this draft.
For the Browns, add in someone like Milton and an athlete like Hunter, and Browns fans could certainly end up with a little more to be excited about. If Milton falters, the addition of Hunter would still give them a player who would put them ahead of the curve for any future quarterback.
If both Hunter and Carter are off the board, the Patriots would certainly be in a tough spot.
Tackle would likely be next on their list and the feeling seems to be that LSU’s Will Campbell and Missouri’s Armand Membou are both good players, but not necessarily worthy of going at #4 overall.
At the same time, if the Patriots opt to trade down, they have to be careful not to slide down far enough where the guy they want slips out of their reach. To this point, Campbell does appear to be a player they like, although the discussion about his arm length and the potential of him having to possibly move to guard in the NFL has also been a topic of conversation.
Still, Vrabel doesn’t necessarily agree with that. When asked this week about Campbell, he can’t see how anyone wouldn’t view him as a tackle given that he’s already faced guys in the SEC who will become NFL players, and he absolutely held his own.
“Yeah. I think you have to,” said Vrabel when asked if he viewed Campbell as a tackle. “I don’t understand how you could watch him play in the SEC, which is the best conference in college football, against guys that are going to get drafted at that position. So I don’t think you have to project it. You can just actually watch and say, there’s the snaps at left tackle evaluate it, see what you think.”
Meanwhile, Membou is a player who has primarily been a right tackle, but Vrabel also believes there could be some versatility there.
“Well, I think they’re great, young, talented players that have great film,” he said of both players. “Will’s got a lot of snaps at left tackle. Membou has played right, but there’s a lot of guys that have played right and left, and switch. Those are two good young players to talk about in that conversation. But there’s others throughout the draft as well.”
Either way, the Patriots can’t come out of this draft without shoring up that side of the line, nor can they risk not coming away with an impact player given their lack of high end talent on their roster.
But given how things are playing out, it’s going to be complicated. Vrabel has talked a lot this week about the team’s ability to pivot and do what they’ve needed to when it came to adding players in free agency, repeatedly praising that approach as they’ve started building the roster.
It sounds like that may need to also be their game plan with #4 overall pick, and that could create some interesting scenarios that will continue to play out over these next few weeks.
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