Will Patriots Address QB Position on Day 3 of NFL Draft?
Three rounds, five draft picks, and no quarterbacks selected by the New England Patriots.
Bill Belichick used four of his draft picks on Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft to address two of his biggest needs, which were a linebacker/edge defender and tight end. The Patriots added Michigan's Josh Uche and Alabama's Anfernee Jennings to their defense and Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene to their tight end room.
But there's still a position they reportedly planned on addressing leading into the draft but have not done so after two days: quarterback. NFL Media's Ian Rapoport said prior to the draft that New England planned on using a "premium" pick on a QB, but those picks have come and gone and no quarterback was selected. Now as the team heads into the third and final day of the draft, they have six draft picks and plenty of quarterbacks to choose from.
So will they select one?
Director of player personnel Nick Caserio might have hinted at that possibility following the second and third rounds of the draft Friday night.
"We're going to have a third QB on the roster," Caserio said via a video conference call. "Where he comes from and how he gets here have yet to be determined."
Maybe looking at the remaining quarterbacks on the board and draft picks for New England can give us a better answer.
Here are the top remaining quarterbacks on the draft board according to SI.com's big board:
1) Jacob Eason, Washington
2) Jake Fromm, Georgia
3) Anthony Gordon, Washington State
4) James Morgan, FIU
5) Cole McDonald, Hawaii
6) Jake Luton, Oregon State
7) Nate Stanley Iowa
And here are the Patriots' remaining draft picks:
5th Round: No. 159
6th Round: No. 195, No. 204, No. 212, No. 213
7th Round: No. 230
Because New England has four sixth round draft picks, it's possible that Bill Belichick may attempt to package some of those picks together to move up into the fourth round and select either Washington's Jacob Eason or Georgia's Jake Fromm. After Eason and Fromm the talent pool dips a bit at the quarterback position, so so if New England wants to take value early on Day 3, grabbing either Eason or Fromm would be the smart choice.
Aside from quarterback, the Patriots should add a reserve offensive lineman or two, a receiver, and a kicker before the draft ends. That means there should still be picks left for them to address the quarterback position in some form or fashion on the final day of the draft. But as we realized leading up to the draft, trying to guess who the six-time Super Bowl champions will select at QB is a hard thing to determine.
