NFL News

Home

Teams

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Power Rankings

Image credit: ClutchPoints

Patriots’ perfect 2025 NFL Draft fit

Originally posted on NFL on ClutchPoints
By Bailey Bassett | Last updated Apr 24, 2025 10:21 AM ET

The New England Patriots are in a rough patch of their history. After two decades of being a dynasty and perennial contender, they’ve only won eight total games over the last two seasons. Luckily, New England finally found Tom Brady’s replacement at quarterback, as Drake Maye looks like he should be a star. The Patriots are drafting fourth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft, and they still have some holes at different positions that they need to fix.

Patriots’ positional needs

The Patriots filled their biggest need by finding the long-term answer at quarterback, but Maye was left without much help as a rookie. Although the quarterback flashed signs of stardom, life wasn’t easy on him because he had almost nobody to get the ball to who could make a play for him.

The Patriots had arguably the weakest receiving corps last season and one of the worst rushing attacks. Demario Douglas led all receivers with only 66 receptions, and two of the top three pass catchers on the team were tight ends. Additionally, Rhamondre Stevenson has seemingly taken a step back over the last two seasons since rushing for over 1,000 yards as a sophomore.

Most teams with young quarterbacks try to surround their signal-callers with plenty of weapons in order to make the adjustment to the professional game easier. That wasn’t the route the Patriots took last year, but they need to get Maye some help this year. Maye’s offensive line protection was even suspect last season.

The team did make some offseason moves to address these issues. Stefon Diggs was brought in as a veteran presence in the receiver’s room, and Garrett Bradbury and Morgan Moses were signed to bolster the pass/run protection. However, those are somewhat underwhelming additions. Diggs and Mosses have surpassed the age of 30 and are, therefore, well past their primes. It can be argued that the team overpaid for both of them, too.

Meanwhile, the Patriots added five impressive starters to their defense. Clearly, offense should be the priority during the NFL Draft, and luckily the team has a premium draft pick to bring in an offensive star.

Patriots’ perfect 2025 NFL Draft fit

Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) makes a catch at the University of Colorado NFL Showcase at the CU Indoor Practice Facility. Michael Ciaglo-Imagn Images

The Patriots have the fourth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Luckily for them, the NFL is a quarterback-driven league, which means there is a good chance that quarterbacks will be taken with two of the first three picks. Cam Ward is the Tennessee Titans’ likely number one overall pick, and while reports are all over the place on where Shedeur Sanders will be drafted, there is a good chance that the Colorado product will go two or three to either the Cleveland Browns, the New York Giants, or to a team trading up.

That means one of Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter will likely be ripe for the picking in the fourth slot. Carter and Hunter are viewed as the two best overall prospects in this draft class, and Hunter perfectly fits what the Patriots need. Hunter was Sanders’ teammate at Colorado, and he completed one of the best Heisman-winning seasons of the 21st century in 2024.

Hunter is a unique prospect, as he played on both sides of the football in college. It is unclear if the two-way star will be able to keep it up on both sides at the professional level, but he seems committed to the idea. The Patriots should be intrigued by this, but they should be particularly excited about what he can bring as a receiver.

Even with the addition of Diggs, the team still needs a number one option for Maye. Hunter is incredibly fast, he has reliable hands, and he can make magic happen when carrying the football. The Patriots should definitely use Hunter full-time on offense, and they should at least try him out as a full-time cornerback, too.

At cornerback, Hunter would have Christian Gonzales lining up on the opposite side of him. Gonzales is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, so Hunter would both be able to defend second options, which would take some of the pressure of being a two-way star off of him. He might be targeted more than he was in college, too, which means he’d be able to make more plays on the ball. Quarterbacks often avoided throwing his way in college, but Hunter has great ball-hawking skills.

If Hunter is off the board by the time that New England picks, Carter would be a great consolation prize. The team should be concerned about both players getting picked before they are up, though. If that were to happen, the team would have some really tough decisions to make.

This article first appeared on NFL on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: