With the 4th pick in the Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, the New England Patriots select…
The New England Patriots are in full rebuild mode. With new head coach Mike Vrabel back in Foxborough, the Patriots went crazy in free agency in an effort to build a dynasty once again. They certainly have a lot of new faces in town, but if they are truly going to reclaim their spot atop the AFC East, they’re going to need to start drafting well.
That begins this year, and in the Pride of Detroit Community Mock Draft, we are giving that responsibility to POD commenter DetroitBrickSquad. As a reminder, here are how the picks have gone thus far:
- Titans: QB Cam Ward
- Browns: QB Shedeur Sanders
- Giants: WR/CB Travis Hunter
With the fourth overall pick in the POD Community Mock, the New England Patriots have selected Tetairoa McMillan, wide receiver out of Arizona. Here’s DetroitBrickSquad explaining the pick:
(DISCLAIMER: I made this pick before the Stefon Diggs signing so do with that what you will)
We spent a lot of money on our needs this year in free agency. Most of those needs were addressed on the defense and while I believe in picking the best player available, I see more of a need to secure the best offensive player available over the best defensive player available. T-Mac spent his collegiate years at Arizona and if you looked at his stats/tape, you would never guess that the Wildcats finished with a 4-8 record. T-Mac was the only bright spot with 84 receptions for a whopping 1319 yards and 8 touchdowns.
T-Mac is a prototype contested-catch receiver at 6-foot-5 and a light 212 pounds with amazing field awareness and YAC ability. His QB often threw up prayer balls for him and a ridiculous amount of hospital balls, yet T-Mac survived. His ball tracking, his agility, and his football IQ come together to create a true weapon for any offense, but with Drake Maye he has a chance to reach the next level. With the addition of Stefon Diggs to mentor him and an NFL strength/nutrition regimen at his disposal, T-Mac has all the tools to become a franchise WR1 at any position (primarily X or Z). T-Mac understands the game plan and can be utilized all over the field with an improved offensive line to give him the time for his routes to develop.
The downsides of T-Mac are all based on attributes that are coachable and will come with extra time in the weight room/film room, so I see a far higher ceiling for him than the media/public. T-Mac has heart, IQ, and grit and those intangibles can not be coached. This player will be a force for us for years.
I want to reiterate that this pick was made before the Stefon Diggs signing was announced. So with that in mind, what grade do you give this pick?
