2021 NFL mock draft: New England Patriots select Mac Jones

It turns out the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick are mortal. In 2020, the Patriots suffered through a 7-9 season. Poor, fellas. It was the franchise’s first losing season since 2000.

Now they’re left to pick up the pieces from Tom Brady’s wake, and it’s time for a new era of Patriots football to begin. To help forge the way, we’ve employed Pride of Detroit commenter tjwGOblue to act as interim general manager for the Patriots in our Community Mock Draft. The last time they picked this high in the draft—pick 15—was 2008, so this is a big task for Mr. GOblue.

Here’s the board he’s dealing with.

POD Community Mock Draft picks so far:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson
2. New York Jets: Zach Wilson, QB, BYU
3. San Francisco 49ers: Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota
4. Atlanta Falcons: Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon
5. Cincinnati Bengals: Rashawn Slater, OT, Northwestern
6. Miami Dolphins: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State
7. Detroit Lions: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU
8. Carolina Panthers: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State
9. Denver Broncos: Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama
10. Dallas Cowboys: Kyle Pitts, TE, Florida
11. New York Giants: DeVonta Smith, WR, Alabama
12. Philadelphia Eagles: Jaylen Waddle, WR Alabama
13. Los Angeles Chargers: OT Christian Darrisaw, Virginia Tech
14. Minnesota Vikings: DE Kwity Paye, Michigan

With the 15th pick in the Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the New England Patriots have selected Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

Here is tjwGOblue with the explanation.

The New England Patriots spent a boatload of money this free agency and have some decent players returning from the opt-out option. If one looks at their depth chart, the Patriots are ready to take back the AFC East. One question still lingers though: Who is the long-term answer at quarterback?

Cam Newton played admirably in a bizarro COVID year, but he’s far removed from his 2015 MVP season, and he’s only on a one-year contract again.

Enter Michael McCorkle “Mac” Jones. Look, he is not the sexiest pick, and I’m not going to regurgitate some impressive stats. One could easily argue he is the fifth-best QB in the class, but Bill Belichick has worked some magic before with lesser talent. Think of Matt Cassel, Brian Hoyer, and Jacoby Brissett looking like starting QBs in a Patriots uniform. Jones might just be a “game manager,” but Josh McDaniels can work with that due to his accuracy, touch, and strong pocket awareness.

With Cam Newton in the fold and some new shiny toys on offense, the Patriots have the luxury to sit Jones for a year to learn the offense. While Jones may not have the highest ceiling compared to the other QBs in this draft class, it won’t matter to the Patriots whose mantra is famously “Do Your Job.”

Erik Schlitt’s thoughts:

Having one of the top-5 quarterbacks fall to them at No. 15 would be an ideal situation for the Patriots and I agree with tjwGOblue that this picks makes sense in this situation. Even if the current Jones-hype is for real and he is selected near the top of the draft, I still think the Patriots would be ecstatic if either Trey Lance or Justin Fields fell to them here.

That being said, accurately projecting what the Patriots are going to do on draft day is a difficult task as they appear to be on a different playing field than the rest of the NFL and are highly unpredictable. Even in this current scenario, it wouldn't be surprising for the Patriots to ignore the seemingly obvious need in favor of a player who they believe to have a higher ceiling, like LB Zaven Collins (Tulsa), CB Caleb Farley (Virginia Tech), or CB Jaycee Horn (South Carolina).