Phil Perry's final 2021 seven-round Patriots mock draft
Analyzing the Patriots roster as currently constructed may render a few surprise takeaways. The first being, if Bill Belichick is looking to contend in 2021, how many jobs are available on his team?The number may be smaller than you think.We know this is how the Patriots under Belichick look at the draft. Of course they break down each available individual player, rank them by position, then slot them into their appropriate spots on their final "vertical" board.But they also look at players in the draft against players currently on the roster. Can Player X really make the club based on how his position is stacked on the current roster? After a whirlwind spending spree during the initial free-agency period, there aren't that many obvious openings for rookies.Quarterback is one, of course. Receiver. They could use a corner for down the line in case JC Jackson or Stephon Gilmore (or both) move on in the near future. They would benefit from adding a tackle.But using all 10 picks seems unlikely. There probably aren't 10 (of what will eventually be 53) jobs available on Belichick's roster.So in this seven-round mock you'll see a couple of trades by Belichick, consolidating picks to climb the board and land players he wants for specific roles early on draft weekend.
We get into this choice in more detail in our first-round mock from earlier this week. Evaluators love Waddle's score-from-anywhere explosiveness and his ability to contribute in the kicking game. It'll be interesting to see if he lasts into the teens since he's one of the most dynamic talents in the class. But his size (5-10, 180 pounds) may prevent him from being taken in the top 10, where usually the physical specimens at the position with more size come off the board.
It's also a deep receiver class, which means some teams in need may be willing to wait for the second or third rounds where plenty of good pass catchers will still be available. Would trading up for Justin Fields and taking another receiver (Ole Miss' Elijah Moore, Purdue's Rondale Moore, Western Michigan's D'Wayne Eskridge) make more sense?
Sure. But Fields went off the board before the Patriots could nab him, and so getting Waddle -- one of the best players in the class -- is a nice consolation prize.
The Patriots don't view outside-the-pocket athleticism as a must at the game's most important position, and they'd be proving that with this pick. They do value production against good competition, though, as well as accuracy and decision-making.
The issue is Trask isn't among the best in the class when it comes to putting the football where he wants. His accuracy numbers within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage are among the worst in the class, according to Derrik Klassen of NBC Sports Edge and Football Outsiders. Pro Football Focus ranked his accuracy (67.4 percent accurate) within 10 yards at 50th in the country. But scouts believe he moves well within the pocket, even if he's not a threat to break outside, and he made a real leap from 2019 to 2020 behind what was just an average offensive line.
Most I've spoken to believe he's worthy of a second-round pick. In this mock, Texas A&M's Kellen Mond went off the board before Trask, making Trask the seventh passer selected. Is he a future starter? Maybe not. But he throws with enough touch, and he's shown enough savvy within the pocket to find out.
Here's the second significant move up for Belichick in this draft class. Combining two of their three fourth-rounders and a later Day 3 choice (they love using fifth-round picks in trades) the Patriots are able to essentially replenish the third-round pick they gave up to move up in the first round. It should come as little surprise that a cornerback with size, elite quickness and a strong Senior Bowl performance was their target.
St-Juste was the highest-graded corner in the one-on-one and team drills Mobile, Ala., this year, per PFF. And at 6-foot-3, 202 pounds his three-cone (6.63 seconds) and shuttle (4.00 seconds) were outstanding.
He has the length (33-inch arms) to press at the line of scrimmage and eventually develop into a top-two option. Until then, he could serve in a specialty role against bigger-bodied pass-catchers in case Joejuan Williams isn't viewed as a great fit for those kinds of assignments.
