{"id":5782,"date":"2024-12-08T12:33:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-08T12:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5782"},"modified":"2024-12-08T12:33:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-08T12:33:35","slug":"%f0%9f%9a%a8-hot-take-4-way-too-early-targets-for-patriots-in-2025-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5782","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udea8 Hot Take: 4 way too early targets for Patriots in 2025 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>Here&#8217;s who the Patriots should be looking at near the top of the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/X-way-too-early-targets-for-Patriots-in-2025-NFL-Draft.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"Will Campbell (LSU) and Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona) with silhouettes of Kelvin Banks Jr. (Texas) and Colston Loveland (Michigan) with a Patriots logo in the front and an NFL draft background\" \/><\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s good news and bad news for the New England Patriots as they start to turn their attention to the 2025 NFL Draft. The negative is that they\u2019ve played just a little too well of late to get the top of even a top-three pick. However, the positive is twofold. The team absolutely has its franchise quarterback in Drake Maye and even though the Patriots might pick fourth or fifth, there doesn\u2019t seem to be a no-doubt superstar at the top of this year\u2019s draft board, so New England\u2019s pick is as likely as any to hit big.<\/p>\n<p>So, the Patriots have a chance to bring in a real difference-maker in this draft, and the front office has one mandate: Get players to support Maye.<\/p>\n<p>Forget the pass rush, front seven, and the defensive back end. You can work on that in free agency and later on draft weekend. With the top pick, the team must get a pass-catcher or a protector for the signal caller of the future.<\/p>\n<p>With those as the only two options and the Patriots likely picking somewhere between No. 3 and No. 8 in the first round, here are four way too early targets for the Patriots in the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Offensive tackle: Will Campbell, LSU or Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3156988\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3156988\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Will-Campbell_f975aa.jpg?resize=150,84 150w\" alt=\"4 way too early targets for Patriots in 2025 NFL Draft\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3156988\">Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Picking in the top 10 will allow the Patriots to get one of the rarest commodities in the NFL Draft: A true franchise left tackle.<\/p>\n<p>This season, New England\u2019s two tackles, Vederian Lowe and Demontry Jacobs rank 63rd and 77th out of 77 qualified offensive tackles in PFF grades. To help protect Maye, the Patriots will need to replace both players moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Will Campbell and Kelvin Banks Jr. are both phenomenal talents with the potential to lock down their QB\u2019s blindside for the next decade or more. Campbell has given up just two sacks in the last two seasons and Banks has allowed three in his entire career. Either one of these Ots would be a great pick for the Pats and the NFL Scouting Combine will push one of these players to NE.<\/p>\n<p>For now, Campbell is the more versatile player, with the ability to play either tackle spots or even guard, while Banks projects as a pure LT. For that, the LSU blocker gets the slight nod.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Wide receiver: Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Drake Maye is staking his claim as the Patriots franchise QB with wide receivers Demario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, and Kendrick Bourne catching his passes. Second-round rookie Ja\u2019Lynn Polk out of Washington has been a non-factor this season with just 12 catches for 87 yards.<br \/>\nThe Patriots need to get Maye a No. 1 WR, and Arizona\u2019s Tetairoa McMillan looks like he could be that in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>McMillan is 6-foot-5 and has plenty of speed to separate from defensive backs on deep balls. On a relatively weak Wildcats squad this season, the big-bodied wideout put up 84 catches, 1,319 receiving yards, and eight receiving touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside Boutte and Polk, if he eventually comes good, a player of McMillan\u2019s size and strength could be a great top target in any wide receiver room.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Tight end: Colston Loveland, Michigan<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3156987\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3156987\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg?resize=300,169 300w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg?resize=768,432 768w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg?resize=1024,576 1024w, https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Colston-Loveland.jpg?resize=150,84 150w\" alt=\"4 way too early targets for Patriots in 2025 NFL Draft\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3156987\">Junfu Han \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>To set Tom Brady up for his second set of three Super Bowls in New England, the Patriots invested two 2010 draft picks in tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. This pair \u2014\u00a0before Hernandez\u2019s tragic off-field demise \u2014\u00a0created nightmare matchups all over the field and allowed the offense to flourish.<\/p>\n<p>In Michigan\u2019s Colston Loveland, Drake Maye could get the same kind of matchup problem that Brady had in Gronk. Loveland didn\u2019t put up great numbers this season with Michigan\u2019s terrible QB play, but the 6-foot-5, 245-pound field stretcher could be dominant at the next level with his size and speed.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Patriots 2025 NFL Draft targets must only be players who help Drake Maye on offense, which is why WR Tetairoa McMillan is one of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[370],"class_list":["post-5782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl-draft"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udea8 Hot Take: 4 way too early targets for Patriots in 2025 NFL Draft - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=5782\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udea8 Hot Take: 4 way too early targets for Patriots in 2025 NFL Draft - 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