Patriots Drafting WR In First Round Would Be Huge Misstep

Patriots Drafting WR In First Round Would Be Huge Misstep originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . I understand analysts and fans' eagerness to look at this New England Patriots depth chart and feel the need to pencil in a wide receiver selection in the first round of this month’s NFL Draft.

However, this board just does not justify the selection. There are only four wide receivers that analysts can come to a consensus on using a first-round selection, and that is Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson, USC’s Makai Lemon and National Champion Omar Cooper Jr. But when you get down to the Patriots' selection at No.

31, the field becomes a little bare. There is Texas A&M wide receiver K. C.

Concepcion, who is knocked for inconsistent hands (20 career drops) and unwillingness to make catches through contact, and Washington’s Denzel Boston, whose lack of elite athleticism is impossible to get by on film. The prospects are exciting enough, but with their limitations, there is not as much separating the top of the class from the more than 10 other receivers expected to go in rounds two and three alone. When looking at the edge rushers, however, there is a much steeper fall-off when you get past the first nine-or-so prospects, who could all be first-rounders.