Patriots Draft Behren Morton: Reach or Steal in Seventh Round?

The New England Patriots added another backup to learn behind equally-as-young starter Drake Maye this season, choosing Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton in the seventh round of this year's draft. Morton, a hyper-athletic player who's dealt with his fair share of injuries in the past, joins the Patriots as the third quarterback on the depth chart behind Maye and backup Tommy DeVito.

The Patriots didn't give up a lot of draft capital to acquire Morton, using their third-to-last selection (234th overall) to draft him. The 24-year-old signal caller had taken a trip to Gillette Stadium earlier in the offseason, clearly impressing the Patriots coaching staff enough to warrant getting a draft-day phone call.

"It was a great visit," Morton told reporters after being drafted last week on a video call. "The facilities up in New England were awesome. The coaches were great. A lot of one-on-one time with coach (Mike Vrabel). It was great, really enjoyed my time up there. I'm excited to get up there."

But did the Patriots reach on Morton? Could they have found another diamond-in-the-rough quarterback that slipped through the scouting cracks?

Here's what several of the popular big boards had the Texas Tech captain ranked prior to the draft, with a pair of them not even putting him on their list.

Bleacher Report -- Not Ranked In Top 300
CBS -- 365th Overall
ESPN -- 463rd Overall
The Athletic -- Not Ranked In Top 300
Pro Football Focus -- 315th Overall

Texas Tech quarterback Behren Morton — Texas Tech's Behren Morton runs against Oregon State during a non-conference football game, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, at Jones AT&T Stadium. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

So obviously according to the big boards, the Patriots definitely reached for Morton. But in the seventh round, where you're drafting players to guarantee them a spot and have them avoid undrafted free agency, the idea of reaching isn't really in the mind of the scouting department. Vice president of player personnel Ryan Cowden confirmed that the front office has a rule about comparison of big boards, and it's clear that New England felt comfortable taking Morton with one of their final picks.

What did they like about him? Well, his ability to move up in the pocket and extend plays is a plus for an older prospect. Injuries have hurt him, as a shoulder problem and a broken leg hindered his development in Lubbock. Despite that, he racked up 8,986 passing yards and 71 touchdowns over 42 career games. Morton became the first quarterback in program history to throw for more than 2,500 yards and less than eight interceptions in back-to-back seasons.

"I've been banged up and put up with a broken leg and bum shoulder," Morton said. "But people have counted me out, and this is kind of an opportunity for me to prove people wrong. To get this opportunity by the Patriots, I am going to take full advantage of it for sure."

"That's the first thing that stands out, is the toughness," executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said. "He played through a lot of stuff. He's been beat up, but he's played through a lot of stuff. He's got a live arm. He's really smart. He's been productive. He's played a lot of football, and he's a really good fit for the type of offense that we want to run."

Verdict?

There were other quarterbacks still on the board, including LSU's Garrett Nussmeier, UConn's Joe Fagnano and Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia. So while some people might put the term "reach" next to Morton's name, there really wasn't much other quarterback talent still left when the Patriots came up to pick.

Clearly, Morton had made quite an impression for the Patriot to draft him much higher than what plenty of draft pundits had him placed (or if they had even ranked him at all). New England loved him enough to make him the emergency third quarterback in 2026, and Morton will come in and try to love the area just as much.

"My time when I was up there for just a couple of days were awesome," Morton said. "I'm fired up to be there. I'm a competitor. I'm going to elevate the room for sure. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make this organization better."

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