Here's part two of my final mock draft, focusing on rounds 4 through 7. If you missed part one, here's a brief summary of what I'm trying to do here.
So, I thought I'd pick a cluster of players in and around the Patriots' current selections and unload what I know and believe from watching the players. The list is culled from a cross-section of draft experts, and there can be a wide range of prospect placement on the respective. For instance, I have a player as a possible 6th-round fit for the Pats, but one scout tells me he believes that player will go in round three, and a second says he's more of a 7th-round/priority-free agent. That's quite the range. That's also the draft in a nutshell. Teams will winnow their draft boards to around 150 names or so, and no two boards across the league will be alike.
Away we go.
ROUND 4, PICK #103
Dadrion Taylor-Emerson (S), Cam Hart (CB), Malik Washington (WR), and Caeden Wallace (T) are all projected within this range. However, I see Hart as very system-dependent despite loving his physicality and length (he's 6'3" with the second-longest arms in the class). After the JoeJuan Williams crash and burn, I'm shying away from Hart. Was this a round later, and he's still on the board? I'm game.
Taylor-Emerson has grown on me as I've worked through this process. He got a full ride to Texas Tech to play defensive back despite not having played a snap of it in high school (he was an undersized running back). He had excellent ball production in his last three years, with ten interceptions and 33 passes defensed while playing free safety. Also, his nickname is "Rabbit" because he is quick and fast. Who doesn't want a guy nicknamed "Rabbit" on their team? I'll tell you who - people who hate fun. He's also played a ton of special teams, and as you get later in the draft and think guys will need time to develop, that's an essential skill set.
"Tough kid. Will stick his nose in there and get it bent, but will come back for more," said an AFC scout. "He's got a chance."
Washington is a hell of a lot of fun to watch. He's not a big guy (5'8 ", 191 lbs), but his thickness makes him a hard guy to tackle in the open field — or at least it did at Virginia, where he led the team with 110 catches for over 1,400 yards. He's a slot receiver of that size, and we know the Pats have a logjam at that spot (Douglas and Osborn play inside, Bourne, Smith-Schuster and Thornton do, too).
"More quick than fast, but he's damn quick," said a player personnel guy. "I hear a lot of talk about (Malachi) Corley and his skillset, but there are comps between the two, and Washington is the better receiver. Virginia needed him to make big plays, and he did."
Washington is also a returner, and with the new kickoff rules, teams are likely to boost a player by half a grade if he's good at it. Washington is.
Finally, Wallace (6'4", 314 lbs) could be an excellent fit if the Pats bypass a tackle in the first two days of the draft. He was a four-year starter on the right side at Penn State, played in the East-West Shrine game, and took a "30" visit to Foxborough earlier this month. Wallace has some potential to kick inside as a guard if needed. Picking him doesn't answer the need for an LT, but if Wallace is good enough, Onwenu could always kick back inside to right guard, where he's been at his best.
"He's a starting caliber player," said one assistant line coach. "Good athlete, packs a mean punch, and came into his own this past season."
At this point, Wallace is considered a better pass blocker than in the run game, but the tools are there for him to be well-rounded.
If the Pats wanted to go running back here, Tyrone Tracy, Will Shipley, and Audric Estime could be had in this range. I wrote about them two weekends ago in our NFL Notebook.
ROUND 5, PICK #137
Ok, now we're not quite getting into what I consider dart-throw territory, but we're close. Recent fifth-rounders include Atonio Mafi, Cameron McGrone, Justin Rohrwasser, Byron Cowart, and Ja'Whaun Bentley. Mathew Slater and Dan Koppen were the best players in this round under the Belichick regime. So it's not nothing, but the team has selected 16 players in the 5th since 2000, and only five were keepers (six if you include the rise and fall of Zoltan Mesko).
This is also where the consensus board no longer matters. At this stage of the draft, names are all over the place. So, I'm looking at the 2025 roster and seeing where there are voids. Try everywhere. Judon, Uche, Godchaux, Tavai, Jon Jones, and David Andrews are all currently scheduled to be free agents. Rhamondre Stevenson, Christian Barmore, and Jabril Peppers fall into that category (efforts will be made to retain that trio).
I've identified four players here: Jaheim Bell (TE), Hunter Nourzad (C), Jalyx Hunt (Edge), and Khristian Boyd (DT).
Bell met with the Patriots after a solid showing at the Senior Bowl. He's a unique athlete at the position, with the flexibility to work as an H back. He finished third among tight ends in yards after catch.
"Bell's not much of a blocker, but he's willing, so I trust you can get him to be passable on that front," said an assistant coach. "Plus, you're not using him in-line very much, at least not at this stage. He can help somebody as a receiver and eventually be more well-rounded."
Nourzad has giant hands and excellent arm length for the center position. He's an older prospect (6th-year senior, 24.5 years old). Nourzad initially attended Cornell and played right tackle before transferring to Penn State and moving inside, first as a guard, then as a center, in his final season. Needs to get a little stronger to handle some of the behemoths he'll see in the NFL, but isn't afraid to mix it up.
"Smart kid (has a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell), and solid in all facets," said a scout. "Has some nasty in him. I like those kinds of guys. He's a starter in this league."
Hunt is a fun prospect. His RAS (raw athletic score) ranked 143 out of 1637 DE from 1987 to 2024. He has a crazy wingspan, big mitts, and long arms. Went to Cornell as a safety, then transferred to Houston Christian, moved to edge, and filled out to 252 pounds.
"You're going to have to teach him the finer points of being an edge player, but he is some kind of athlete. You can't miss him on tape," said an assistant coach. "I'd bet on the traits, and I'd bet on the kid."
Boyd, like Hunt, could be higher on specific team's boards, though his arm length is a concern. He starred at Northern Iowa, which is not exactly a football hotbed, but if you're good, the league finds you.
"Run stuffer," said an NFC scout. "Not easy to move."
ROUND SIX, #180 AND #193
Decamerion Richardson (CB), Nathaniel Watson (LB), Bub Means (WR), and Qwan'tez Stiggers (CB, CFL) are candidates here. Richardson and Watson have taken "30" visits to NE.
Richardson is tall (6'2"), long, and fast (4.34 40), but not super quick. In addition to the Pats, several teams have brought him for visits late in the process. That could be an injury-related follow-up or an improving position on horizontal boards. He's a sound tackler, has good recovery speed, and can be "a pain in the ass" when he's tied to the receiver's hip because of his wingspan (per an NFC assistant coach).
Watson is also a Mississippi State product (like Richardson). If Mayo and Covington want to get more athletic at linebacker, I'm not sure Watson is their guy, despite his good testing numbers. The tape doesn't show a 4.63 40 and a 7.34 three-cone. But if they wish for another thumper and occasional blitzer (21 sacks since 2021), he fits. He's a sure tackler, has a nose for the football (watch him patiently find gaps and close on the ball carrier), and has played a lot of football collegiately (57 games, 39 starts).
As for Stiggers, he has an incredible backstory: He dropped out of tiny Lane College in 2020 after his father passed away, then played in a professional 7-on-7 league in 2022. He had his tape sent to the CFL, and after a tryout, was signed by the Toronto Argonauts and quickly became one of their better players in 2023, winning the league's Rookie of the Year award.
The obvious concern is a lack of experience, especially high-level experience, but Stiggers wants all the smoke (as the kids say). Competitive, aggressive, and built like a brick bleephouse. Pats have had some success with Mike Pellegrino coaching up the corners. Stiggers is worth a shot because a J.C. Jackson/Malcolm Butler-like player could be there.
Means (the player I mentioned in the open with the wide range of outcomes) played under Pats' WR coach Tiquan Underwood at Pitt and is a converted cornerback (freshman year at Tennessee). He's not polished - not by a long shot - but he has all the physical gifts you'd want in a receiver.
"He's got a chance to be value-add as a depth piece early," a college scouting director told me. "But you can envision a scenario in which he blossoms if he works on the little things and, with route running, some of the big things, too."
ROUND 7, PICK #231
With fewer underclassmen declaring for the draft, NIL money, and the extra year granted because of COVID, it's lean down here. Very lean. Like "eat a sandwich" lean. Or two. And a whole bag of chips. Most guys would prefer not to get drafted at this stage and entertain free-agent tryouts.
Give me guys with traits or measurables that make them unique or a smaller college player who needs some work but has the tools. For instance, LT Travis Glover Jr. out of Georgia State. Fifty-seven starts, most at left tackle. Was invited to the Hula Bowl then got called in mid-week for the Senior Bowl.
"I went out there and proved that I could play at a high level," he told the Draft Network. "I competed with the best of the best in Mobile. It was a big opportunity for me. I really wanted to prove that to NFL scouts. I don't think anybody noticed a difference in my level of play."
Others that intrigue here: RB George Holani of Boise State ("He runs angry," said an AFC scout), RB Frank Gore Jr. (yes, his dad is the former NFL star, and he's "a tough son of a bitch," said that same scout), T Giovanni Manu from Canada ("He's a massive human and unmolded clay," said an AFC assistant coach), NT Evan Anderson of Florida Atlantic, CB Willie Drew of Virginia State, Colorado State CB Chigozie Anisuem (he and Drew like to play press-man), Emany Johnson, safety out of Nevada, and UAB WR Tejhaun Palmer.