MORSE: Post Milton Trade Patriots Mock Draft
The Milton trade now requires the Patriots to draft a college QB.
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Posted Under: 2025 Patriots Draft
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I did this mock on Pro Football Focus Mock Draft Simulator and added the Joe Milton trade and the subsequent two draft picks that moved as well. I have already written how disappointed I was in the Joe Milton trade. The Milton trade now requires the Patriots to draft a college QB, and the worst outcome is that they may have to do that with the 171st pick which then makes the trade worse because they no longer have the 217th pick.
Round 1 Pick #4 TRADE to Las Vegas for 1st Rd #6 and 2nd Rd #40.
Both Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter are gone. This is the most likely situation. The Raiders move up to take Mason Graham and the Jags take Jeanty. I don’t believe the Jaguars will pass on T Armand Membou.
Round 1 Pick #6 Will Campbell T LSU– short arms be damned. The Tape don’t lie and for two years Campbell has been an elite player in the SEC. Would I like longer arms and a wider wingspan … yes. If Campbell can’t play Tackle in the NFL, then he will make a heck of a Guard. This is a safe but not a sexy pick. Campbell was also a two-time Captain at LSU.
Round 2 Pick #37 Grey Zabel T North Dakota State – A lot of people are going to say “who”? The 6’6”, 312-pound Tackle dominated the Senior Bowl Practices and was named the Most Outstanding Practice player by the coaches. He has the ability to play all three line positions. His most likely positions are Guard or Center because of short arms (32”). Zabel is only a Tackle in an emergency situation.
Round 2 Pick #40 Josh Conerly T Oregon – I am fixing this line problem once and for all. Conerly is a backup plan should Campbell not work out at Tackle. He was All-Big Ten Left Tackle, so he is no slouch. We could have our future O-Line with Conerly at LT, Campbell at LG and Zabel at Center.
Round 3 Pick #69 Treyvon Henderson RB Ohio State – The 5’10”, 205-pound back ran a 4.43 40 at the Combine. In his 4 years at Ohio State, he had 3,761 yards rushing. In 2022 he was a 1st Team All-Big 10. Henderson is also a very good receiver and pass blocker. He averaged 11.1 yards per catch for his career.
Round 3 Pick #77 Terrance Ferguson TE Oregon – The 6’5”, 247-pound TE, had a terrific career with the Ducks. He finished 4th all – time in receptions by a TE in Oregon history and 2nd in TD reception. At the Combine, Ferguson ran a very good 4.63 40-yard dash. One of his flaws is his non-existent pass blocking. Patriots Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are both over 30 and this year will be their 10th seasons.
Round 4 Pick #106 Devin Neal RB Kansas – Neal has a lot of wear on his tires as he has been the workhorse for the Jayhawks for the last 4 years. The 5’11”, 213-pound back ran just a 4.58 40-yard dash. That is a slow time by NFL standards. For three consecutive seasons Neal rushed for over 1,000 yards in each season. That’s the first time in Jayhawks history. Along the way, he shattered school records for career rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and 100-yard games. His career YPC is 5.7.
Round 5 Pick 144 Issac Teslaa WR Arkansas – You know my feelings about TeSlaa, he is one of my favorites in the draft. He is a big target at 6’4”, 214 – pounds and 10” hands. At the Combine he ran a very good 4.43 40-yard dash and a 6.83 3-cone drill. I want big fast WR with 40 under 4.5 and a 3-cones less than 6.83. Before signing Stefon Diggs, the Patriots had no receiver on the team that could do both. A year under Mack Hollins tutelage and we could really have something in TeSlaa.
Round 5 Pick 171 Tyler Shough QB Louisville – The Patriots now need a backup QB after the trade of Joe Milton. This is a bad year for drafting a QB. In my opinion, Milton was worth a 4th round pick in this draft, no matter how the Patriot’s Beat Writers are trying to spin it. Tyler Shough is an older player who played 7 seasons in college. He started at Oregon, transferred to Texas Tech where he played three injury riddled seasons. He has only played one season (2024) as a full-time starter. He threw for 3,195 yards and 23 TDs against just 6 Interceptions. Shough has the prototypical size at 6’5” 225-pounds and ran a 4.63 40-yard dash at the combine, the same speed of Joe Milton and just 10 pounds lighter. Both QBs are 26, with Milton having a full season of pro ball under his belt. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Shough go higher than this spot and that would leave the Pats in a world of hurt.
Round 7 Pick 220 Ty Robinson DL Nebraska – Robinson impressed me at the Senior Bowl. He is 6’5” 288 – pounds and ran a 4.83 40-yard dash. The Defensive Tackle played at Defensive End in the Senior Bowl practices and seemed to be in the backfield applying pressure on every rep I saw. In the 2024 season he was selected as 2nd Team All-Big Ten. The stats were 37 tackles, 12.0 tackles for loss, and 7.0 sacks. In this draft I have not selected any D-Linemen.
Round 7 Pick 238 Nick Martin LB Oklahoma State – I have mentioned this undersized LB in previous Mock Drafts. He was a tackling machine at Oklahoma State. Standing just 6’, 221-pounds he ran a 4.53 40-yard dash at the Combine. His vertical Jump was 38”, Broad Jump 10’ 3” and pit up an outstanding 26 reps on the Bench Press which was tied for 1st amongst LBs. In 2023 he was selected as 1st Team All-Big 12 when he posted 140 tackles (83 solo and 53 assists), 16 Tackles for Loss, 6 sacks and 2 INTs. In 2024 he was selected as a Captain. A knee injury limited him to just 5 games this year, but that 4.53 40 erased any doubts about his comeback from the injury. I have seen Mock Drafts that him being taken as high as the 4th round.
It is quite obvious that Milton did not want to sit behind Drake Maye, as it seems he considers himself equal or better than Maye. Mike Vrabel did not want that kind of distraction with Maye’s development and doesn’t want players on his team who don’t want to be here. Milton had to go, and by all accounts, it was Vrabel’s call to send him packing, not Eliot Wolf.
Let’s look at it from the trade value as dictated by the most popular Trade Value Charts. The Jimmy Johnson Trade Value Chart is the most popular. Milton was a 2024 6th round, pick #193, with a value of 12.6. An even trade would equal at least 12.6 points. The 2025 pick #171 is worth 21.4 points and you would subtract the 2025 7th round #217 (3 points) that we sent back to Dallas. The difference is 18.4. It appears the Patriots won this trade, but not so fast! If Dallas had to draft a QB this year to develop behind Prescott, where would Joe Milton be selected now that he has a year of NFL experience behind him. He has eliminated some of those flaws that caused him to drop to the 6th round as evident of what he did against the Bills in the final game. Yes, these were backup players and the Bills tried to lose by playing a vanilla Defense. Those players made an NFL team and weren’t some scrubs that are playing in the 4th quarter of a pre-season game.
Milton is bigger than Cam Newton and showed that he can be an effective runner. He still possesses the cannon arm and has corrected flaws such as never taking a snap under center before entering the NFL. We received very little in return considering the team-friendly contract he has. His 6th round contract has 3 years remaining at $1M a year. For these reasons I thought Milton should have been worth a mid-4th round pick with no further picks.
The Patriots traded him so that he wouldn’t be a distraction or threat to Drake Maye. They didn’t want to hear from Milton or his agent that he was as good or better than Maye and that he should have received a shot at being the starter. Bottom line is that Joe Milton didn’t want to play here, and they got rid of him. I suspect that everyone in the league knew this and that is why his trade market was non-existent.
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Pretty brutal. The Raiders are not giving up their 2 to trade up for Graham.
The Patriots are not taking 3 straight OL to start the draft.
Conerly isn’t making it to 40.
Shough isn’t making it to day 3.
Other than that, looks good.
I agree that Las Vegas would not move up to take Graham. It was the PFF software that generated that LV was interested in the pick and all I did was propose the outrageous trade which the software accepted. Then PFF software picked Graham. The value was with the 3 Offensive lineman. There are questions on whether or not Campbell can play Left Tackle because of the arm and wingspan length. Zabel was the top-rated player at that point in the draft. Some analysts think Conerly is the top tackle in the draft. He was a hedge against Campbell not… Read more »
Granted the league knew that the Pats were over a barrel when it came to compensation for Milton. If Milton turns out to be a starter at some point, then the teams that did not want to make a competitive offer will have shot themselves in the foot. The NFL overvalues draft picks many of which end up being duds.
If Milton was as good as Maye, he would have (1) started in college most of his stint there, and (2) not played 6 years of college to amass one year as a starter. (3) With a John Elway cannon arm, foot speed, and weighing in at a lean 250 and standing 6’5″ he’d have been a 1st round top 10 guy. But he failed all of that, accept he’s got the arm and physique measurables. (4) If he was any good at all, he would never have gone nearly undrafted by 32 teams. It’s a small world in the… Read more »
so basically use the 6th overall pick for a guard….
At pick #4 most likely one of 3 players will be available: Sanders, Hunter, or Carter. The trade value of that pick will be determined by the teams who are motivated to trade up for that available player among them.
That Milton trade will be regretted for yrs to come mark my words