Patriots Mock Draft 1.0: New England Has Obvious Dream Scenario

What are the New England Patriots going to do with the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft? We will try and answer that question in this five-part mock draft series — starting with the absolute dream scenario.

The Patriots put themselves in a decent spot as they enter final preparations for the draft.

New England addressed several needs in free agency, finding players (Milton Williams, Harold Landry, Robert Spillane, Carlton Davis) who fit the defense it expects to run under Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams. What does that mean as it relates to the No. 4 pick, though, especially considering the remaining needs at offensive tackle and wide receiver?

“I don’t think anybody could be able to say for certain what they’re going to do right now,” Vrabel said at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. “People always ask, ‘Who are you going to take?’ Well, tell us who goes one, two and three and I’ll have a better idea to tell you what we may do at four… I don’t think we would have a great idea (of who we will pick).”

We see a few different ways this thing can play out.

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The Patriots can’t make their final choice until the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants all set things in motion. However, it’s tough seeing any other scenario turning out better than this one.

The New England Patriots select wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter with the No. 4 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Hunter is the victim of some pretty mean prospect fatigue.

We aren’t strangers to seeing elite talents enter the NFL, but players who are expected to fundamentally change the game don’t exactly fall out of trees. Hunter is that guy — while also coming out of the most attention-seeking program in the country — so anything short of reaching never-before-seen heights will be viewed as a disappointment by many.

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New England has the fortunate distinction of being desperate, though, meaning it’ll take just a fraction of what everyone views as Hunter’s ceiling. The Patriots are still in need of an elite outside threat on the offensive side of the football, while a third lockdown cornerback would push the defense into an elite category.

Hunter was the dream scenario back when everyone thought the Patriots would own the No. 1 pick, so why would that change? Don’t overthink it, folks.

We made picks and trades across all seven rounds, so it isn’t just about Hunter. You can find the full results via PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator, and our reasoning, below:

New England made just one trade in our first mock draft, though it did come fairly early.

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The San Francisco 49ers were eager to move up to address their need for a cornerback, parting with the No. 43 and No. 100 picks to jump five spots and select Florida State’s Azareye’h Thomas. We felt comfortable sliding back and giving up a late selection to facilitate the deal — grabbing the same player we had our eyes on in the first place.

Josh Conerly is one of the many late-first- or early-second-round offensive linemen who should be on your radar. Minnesota’s Aireontae Ersery, Ohio State’s Josh Simmons and NC State’s Anthony Belton are the others, but with the former two gone by our second pick, we ended up taking the high-ceiling Oregon prospect.

It’s not the perfect selection, but it does fill a need after we swung for the fences at No. 4.

Alfred Collins, Billy Bowman and Jeffrey Bassa were our defensive choices and served as no-brainers as they fell to spots we might necessarily not expect them to in real life. Collins has the ceiling of players like Milton Williams and Christian Barmore, so we couldn’t help ourselves. Bowman would provide a true centerfield option on the backend of the defense, which is needed alongside the likes of Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Marte Mapu. Bassa is a quintessential fit on the second level of the defense, having already met with the club at his pro day.

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We didn’t really think twice about any of these.

Ozzy Trapilo and Drew Kendall felt right after playing for Doug Marrone at Boston College in 2024, with the former having the tools to potentially push for a starting spot as a rookie. Arroyo is another system fit, looking primed to be plugged into an old role that is coveted by Josh McDaniels — which was previously given to the likes of Aaron Hernandez and Jonnu Smith. Allen is a do-it-all back who could provide some much-needed depth behind the likes of Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson.

The Patriots need to focus on players who could potentially develop into cornerstone pieces, and we believe each of these players fits in that mold.

Do you like this series? If you’re enjoying draft content, leave us a comment and follow @KeaganStiefel on X for more!

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