Patriots' Top 2024 NFL Draft Targets
The New England Patriots have a franchise-altering decision to make with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
It is widely expected that the Patriots will land a quarterback on Thursday night in Detroit.
Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye have been the two most likely candidates to be selected by the AFC East side for months.
Maye, who is regarded by some analysts as the top quarterback in the draft class, could fall to the Patriots at No. 3 if the Washington Commanders like Daniels more.
There is even a scenario in which the Patriots buck most of the mock draft trends and land Michigan's J.J. McCarthy, whose stock has risen the most of any quarterback since the end of the college football season.
New England is most likely taking a quarterback, but it will have the choice to not do that and land the best prospect in the entire draft class in Marvin Harrison Jr. in a move that would shake up the entire first round.
Drake Maye
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Maye is rated as the No. 1 quarterback in the draft class by Bleacher Report's NFL scouting department.
That led to B/R's staff putting Maye at No. 1 in its most-recent mock draft, but based on everything out there ahead of the draft, Caleb Williams appears to be the Chicago Bears' selection.
That would put Washington in a situation where it has to choose between Daniels and Maye.
ESPN.com's Jordan Reid mocked Daniels over Maye and the UNC product to the Patriots at No. 3.
That is the scenario that could play out on Thursday and the Patriots would be happy with landing their quarterback of the future.
Since the Patriots whiffed on the Mac Jones pick in 2021, they will closely evaluate every quality of the quarterbacks available to them, and if they do not like one thing about Maye, they could stun everyone.
J.J. McCarthy
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McCarthy is the biggest wild-card of the first round.
The Michigan product was not considered a top-five draft pick in January, but now there is a real chance he could be selected that high.
Most mock drafts have McCarthy being the fourth quarterback off the board and someone the Patriots do not consider in any regard.
However, there is a scenario in play in which the Patriots are secretly in love with McCarthy behind the scenes and only reveal that on Thursday when the No. 3 pick is made.
Selecting McCarthy over Maye or Daniels would be viewed as a mistake by many. After all, he is the No. 33 prospect in the draft class, according to the B/R NFL scouting department.
Quarterback needs across the NFL outweigh any pre-draft prospect rankings, and if the Patriots are confident McCarthy can be their starting quarterback, he could be the pick.
Marvin Harrison Jr.
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The Patriots are the first team who could realistically select Marvin Harrison Jr.
The potential selection of Harrison would go against almost all pre-draft analysis, but it could be the best option on the board for the Patriots.
Harrison is widely regarded as the No. 1 overall prospect in the draft class and his success in the NFL is more of a sure thing compared to the quarterbacks who will be chosen on Thursday.
New England could take the best player available at No. 3 and wait on choosing a new quarterback either in the second round, or with a trade back into the first round.
In the worst-case scenario, the Patriots could have Jacoby Brissett start for one season and have Harrison as his No. 1 target.
It is not an ideal option given the wealth of quarterback prospects in the draft class, but it at least has to be considered with Harrison's talent.
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