Poll: If Pats get top-2 pick, what should they do with it?
The New England Patriots exited their Week 11 bye with the No. 3 overall pick in the NFL Draft standings. It's right where they entered the week, though they've received a few favors in recent weeks.
For starters, Kyler Murray made his return to action in Week 10, guiding the Cardinals to a win. He nearly followed it up with another upset victory over Houston on Sunday, and while the Cards fell short, they look like a team plenty capable enough of grabbing at least a win or two the rest of the way.
Tommy DeVito granted the Pats another gift on Sunday when he tossed three TD's to lead the G-Men past the Commanders to their 3rd win of the season. That gave the Pats a bit of breathing room for the No. 3 pick entering this week's "must lose" contest in the Meadowlands.
The current draft standings are: 1. CHI (via CAR), 2. AZ, 3. NE, 4. CHI (their own) and 5. NYG.
According to ESPN analytics, the odds of getting the No.1 pick heavily reside with the Bears, thanks to that Carolina pick, as the Panthers look as incapable as the Pats of winning games the rest of this season. ESPN gives Chicago a 56.4% chance of claiming the top pick, followed by Arizona at 18.9%, the Giants at 13.1% and then New England at just 5.2% odds.
It feels like those analytics are being awfully kind to the Pats chances at picking up wins in Weeks 12-18. I mean, have they paid attention lately?
Sitting at #3 as they currently are, there's a good chance that could secure the Pats the chance at drafting one of the top-2 QB's in either Caleb Williams or Drake Maye. Chicago has the rest of the season to figure out exactly what they have with Justin Fields, but if they feel good to move forward with the third year QB, the Bears would likely turn to WR Marvin Harrison Jr. with the first pick, to pair with Fields.
The same can be said about Arizona, who still owes a lot of dough to Murray. Of course, the possibility of either team trading out of the slot remains, thus allowing another QB-needy team to leap ahead of New England.
But let's say the Pats continue their losing ways and end up with one of the first two picks on the board. With all the options at their disposal, and at least one of the two prized QB's guaranteed to be on the board when they're making the selection, what direction would you want the team to take?