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New England Patriots Pass On Travis Hunter Take Dt In Mock Draft

Bonisiwe Shabane
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new england patriots pass on travis hunter take dt in mock draft

The New England Patriots badly need a long-term No. 1 wide receiver to pair with young franchise quarterback Drake Maye. That is one area that they are expected to target aggressively during the upcoming NFL offseason. With that in mind, the Patriots are expected to have a very high pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Right now, they are projected to have the No. 3 pick if the season ended today.

Of course, there is one player at the top of the draft that every fan in New England would love to see the franchise get. That player is none other than Colorado Buffaloes superstar Travis Hunter. If the Patriots do end up getting the No. 3 overall pick, they could end up having a shot at Hunter. At the top of the draft, there is a chance that two quarterbacks would be taken back to back. In that scenario, New England would have the chance to select Hunter.

The New England Patriots may have missed the playoffs last season, but the future looks bright. They hired Mike Vrabel, have the No.4 overall pick in the NFL Draft and have their franchise quarterback already in place. Drake Maye was a Pro Bowler in his first season, albeit a replacement. The Patriots can invest the No. 4 pick into another position of need. One of their biggest priorities will be finding a weapon for Maye, but in FOX Sports' latest mock draft the Patriots passed up on Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter who was surprisingly available.

In the mock draft, Hunter was available at No. 4 after the Tennessee Titans selected Cam Ward, the Cleveland Browns selected Abdul Carter and the New York Giants selected Hunter's University of Colorado teammate Shedeur Sanders. The mock draft had the Patriots selecting University of Texas' offensive tackle Kelvin Banks. "While New England has several needs to address, the offensive line has to be the most crucial," wrote FOX Sports. "They were one of six teams this past season to have given up 52 sacks, and had the second-lowest pass block efficiency grade in the NFL in 2024 at 80.1, according to Pro Football... This season's Outland Trophy Award winner (given to the nation's best lineman) is a smart choice here."

Hunter is a two-way star. He could be an elite pass catcher for Maye while also providing help in the Patriots secondary. Positional need aside, he may be the best player in the draft. He led his conference in receptions and touchdowns and had 1,258 yards. He did that while also recording four interceptions, 11 passes defended, one forced fumble and 36 tackles as a corner. Passing on Hunter would surely be a question mark, but FOX predicts the Patriots will prioritize protecting Maye.

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is a defensive-minded guy. If the Patriots want to get back to the top, they'll have to improve their defense. However, with the No. 4 pick, a young quarterback who needs weapons, and a potential generational talent in Travis Hunter available, selecting the Colorado star would make sense. Hunter wants to play both sides of the football in the NFL. While he proved in college he could do it, perhaps that's wishful thinking.

Teams like New England could view that as a disaster waiting to happen. But even if the Patriots don't want to take a chance on Hunter, why wouldn't they improve their offensive line? One could make an argument that their line was a more significant issue than their weapons, despite both being a problem. As the prospect-evaluation period winds down, it's time for me to take a second crack at projecting Round 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft (April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin). Trades obviously will be a major element of the real thing next month, but just like in my first mock, I'm keeping everyone in their current draft slots. It appears the Titans continue to be open for business with the No.

1 overall pick. In this scenario, they stay at No. 1 and find their new face of the franchise. Sanders fits head coach Kevin Stefanski's run-first, heavy play-action attack quite well. I wouldn’t rule out a quarterback for the Giants here if Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders were available, even after the signings of Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. With the top QBs already off the board in this mock, New York lands the prospect many believe is the best player in the draft.

The Patriots have addressed needs on defense and at receiver in free agency, but they shouldn’t stop at Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins when it comes to adding more weapons for Drake Maye. We know Hunter can impact the game on both sides of the ball, but New England can’t pass on a chance to truly strike fear into defenses for the first time in a while... After landing second-year QB Drake Maye last offseason, the Patriots want to surround Maye with the best possible supporting cast. To that end, we could debate whether that means building through the trenches or pairing the second-year quarterback with an elite talent at wide receiver. Although the offensive line and pass-catchers are both critical to building a good offense, high-end wide receivers are one of the most sought-after commodities in the NFL behind only quarterbacks. Based on Pro Football Focus's wins above replacement metric, skill positions such as wide receiver and cornerback are considered the most impactful positions in pro football besides quarterback, speaking to the value of impacting...

Remarkably, a player in this year's draft can play both receiver and corner at a high level. From this perspective, the dream draft scenario for the Patriots is that reigning Heisman winner Travis Hunter falls in New England's laps at the fourth-overall pick. Hunter teaming up with Maye to form a formidable QB-WR duo would be ideal. However, as the draft inches closer, it's getting difficult to envision that scenario happening for the Patriots. At the top of the draft, the Titans seem locked into Miami QB Cam Ward with the number one overall pick. But the Patriots would need the next two picks to be Hunter's college quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, and pass-rusher Abdul Carter to land Hunter.

Currently, Hunter makes sense for both the Browns and Giants, who have premier pass-rushers under lucrative multi-year contracts. New York, who controls the Patriots fate with the third-overall pick, already paid edge rusher Brian Burns and drafted Kayvon Thibodeaux fifth-overall in 2022. If he doesn't go in the first two picks, the Giants feel like a Hunter team. Patriots insider Phil Perry is back with his latest mock draft where the Patriots select Travis Hunter with fourth overall pick. The Patriots went into free agency with the goal of having all of their needs filled prior to hitting draft weekend. But coach Mike Vrabel said last week that there's still time to find the kinds of contributors they're looking for, including those they know they need at receiver.

Subscribe to NBC Sports Boston's podcast network to hear our Insiders bring you the latest insights on your favorite teams! "We'll continue to look at the wide receiver position as it relates to free agency, explore every option with other teams, and potentially then we'll get to the point where we're looking at the... "There's just a lot of time, and I know that everybody is like, 'It's over in free agency.' It's never over." On his first day back at the office following the New England Patriots’ late-season bye weekend, Jerod Mayo expressed his optimism about himself as a head coach and the team in general despite a... During his weekly radio appearance on WEEI, Mayo was asked whether he believes he’ll become a successful NFL coach. “One hundred percent,” Mayo responded.

“I know I’ll be successful. One hundred percent. And look, you’re going to go through these trying times. Like, that’s what it is. And the mark of a true leader is being able to navigate this and knowing that you’re going the right way. And I truly believe that we are going the right way.

In the short term, it may be disappointing, but in the long term, we’re doing it the right way.” Following the bye, attention turns to Arizona. HC Jerod Mayo on @WEEI: https://t.co/rKYrK6UrZb pic.twitter.com/ooEUzGX1IJ Send this article to your social connections. Send this article to your social connections. Begun the mock draft wars have: With the Patriots set for another losing season — currently tied with the Jets at 3-10 for last place in the division — much of the attention has...

Specifically, fans wonder what pick the Patriots will have in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft, and who New England might select given such a prized opportunity. The avalanche of mock drafts haven’t fully started, but ESPN’s Field Yates took an early swing on Wednesday, releasing his 1.0 version. In it, Yates has the Patriots ending up with the third overall pick (though he noted that the order was based merely on the standings through Week 14). More importantly, he projects that New England will select Colorado superstar Travis Hunter. April 2, 2025 / 8:48 AM EDT / CBS Boston The 2025 NFL Draft is now just weeks away, though we really don't have much clarity on how things will go at the top the draft board.

The uncertainty with the first three picks has made it hard to figure out who the New England Patriots will land with the fourth overall selection. "You tell me who goes 1-2-3 and I'll tell you who goes four," Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel joked with reporters at the AFC Coaches breakfast at the NFL annual meetings in West Palm... If two of the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, and/or New York Giants draft quarterbacks over the first three picks, the Patriots will have a chance to draft either Penn State star edge rusher Abdul... If only one quarterback goes in the top three, the Patriots won't have that opportunity, but they should have their pick of a few talented offensive linemen. However, each of those linemen bring some question marks at the next level. It's all made for an interesting Mock Draft season, as mockers try to figure out how the top of the draft board will shake out on April 24.

In the latest round of mocks, many draft experts see the Patriots snagging one of the most fascinating players in NFL Draft history.

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