Post-Round 1 Mock Draft: Patriots Address Need With Early Day 2 Pick

With the New England Patriots trading out of the first round and accumulating a second and third round pick, where they are now drafting may shake up what positions they target in the draft.

The Patriots' first pick of the draft will come at 37th overall, which is the fifth overall pick on Day 2. Before - when they had a first round pick and no second round pick - there was speculation New England might draft a linebacker, edge rusher, safety or even offensive lineman with their first pick. Now, you can throw another position into that mix: tight end.

In SI.com's post-round one mock draft, with the 37th overall pick they have the six-time Super Bowl champions taking Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet, who is the top prospect at that position in this year's class.

Here are the complete results for Rounds 2 and 3 of the mock draft for New England, which were selected by Kevin Hanson:

37. Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame

71. Jalen Hurts, QB, Oklahoma

87. Terrell Burgess, S, Utah

98. Van Jefferson, WR, Florida

100. Jonah Jackson, IOL, Ohio State

Drafting Kmet in the early second round is justified, as his value and the need for the position make the Patriots selecting him a sensible option. Kmet - who is the most well-rounded tight end in this year's draft class - would be a severe upgrade for a tight end group that currently consists of Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo.

Wide receiver Van Jefferson and safety Terrell Burgess are players that are consistently mocked to New England. Jefferson is fantastic off the line of scrimmage and has some of the best route-running skills in this year's historically deep WR class. Burgess is a versatile, athletic defensive back that could become the successor to Devin McCourty one day. And Jonah Jackson would add much-needed depth to the offensive line.

A recent trend we continue to see is the Patriots going with Oklahoma's Jalen Hurts in the third round. In this mock, he was taken with the Chargers' pick (71) that New England acquired when they traded out of the first round. Because Bill Belichick said during his pre-draft video conference that he will "take advantage" of his starting quarterbacks skill set - no matter what it may be - it hints at the Patriots head coach being open-minded to completely revamping the offense in the post-Tom Brady era. That means Hurts - who is a dual-threat QB that is very talented - could very well be an option for them despite not being the prototypical Patriots quarterback. And if Hurts were to come in and win the starting quarterback job, then offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would be asked to hit the drawing board to re-scheme New England's offense.