New England Patriots find franchise QB in recent 2021 NFL mock draft

The New England Patriots find a new franchise quarterback in a recent 2021 NFL mock draft.

For the first time in a while fans of the New England Patriots are looking forward to the offseason instead of the post-season, as the Pats will not take place in the playoffs for the first time since 2008. With the regular season winding down, mock draft season is in full effect and seeing what the Patriots will do in these mocks is much more interesting than usual.

Heading into Week 17 action, the New England Patriots held the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Their draft position will likely change a bit, but they will be picking somewhere near the middle of the first round.

In a recent mock draft by Kyle Crabbs of The Draft Network, the Patriots’ pick at No. 15 overall stood out as extremely interesting. In this mock draft scenario, the Pats were able to land North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance. Here is what Crabbs had to say about the pick:

"Take all the things the Patriots want to do with QB Cam Newton and now imagine them doing so with a dynamic rookie who is only scratching the surface of his potential instead of the shadow of a former league MVP. If offensive coordinator (and presumed head coach in waiting) Josh McDaniels is super committed to running this hybrid offense that calls upon QB power and option at a higher degree than the rest of the league, you won’t find a more perfect landing spot for Lance, who did a ton of QB run work at North Dakota State. Next step? Get this man some weapons."

As a majority of North Dakota State’s season was canceled due to COVID, Lance only played in one game this season. On top of that, he was only a college starter for one year. How is an FCS quarterback who only started 17 games a first-round prospect? Well, Lance was absolutely incredible in his only college season and flashed an exciting NFL skill-set that gives him an extremely high ceiling at the next level.

Incredible 2019 season and legitimate NFL skill-set

In 16 games in 2019, Lance completed 66.9% of his passes for 2,786 yards and 28 touchdowns. Lance also went the entire season without turning the ball over once and was a dynamic runner with the ball in his hands. On the year, Lance carried the ball 169 times for 1,110 yards and 14 touchdowns. Simply put, this prospect can make a significant impact on the game with both his arm and his legs.

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The lack of games this season has caused Lance to slip down the 2021 NFL Draft board a bit. Here is still clearly one of the top four quarterbacks in the class (along with Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and Zach Wilson), but appears to be well behind the top three at this point. That being said, Lance still has the dynamic skill-set that made us excited about him as a prospect earlier in the draft process.

He has all of the arm talent in the world, ripping the ball into tight spaces with a quick release, great anticipation and high-level velocity when needed. Lance also slings a beautiful deep ball and his film is loaded with impressive NFL-level throws. Simply put, Lance has the arm to hit any throw on the football field and typically does so with impressive accuracy at all levels.

Add in his impressive speed, quickness and power as a runner and it is easy to see why Lance’s physical skill-set has scouts salivating. The New England Patriots have plenty of needs on both sides of the ball but nothing else matters if they cannot figure out their quarterback situation.

Lance is not a perfect prospect and he would probably benefit from a team investing in him and letting him learn from the bench for a year. That being said, it is impossible to ignore his ceiling at the quarterback position and the Patriots need a true franchise quarterback in the worst way.

Next. A new first-round 2021 NFL mock draft. dark

If the New England Patriots have an opportunity to land Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft, they must take the plunge. The team could bring back Cam Newton to start while Lance develops from the bench and likely takes over at some point during his rookie season. The Patriots would still have plenty of work to do but bringing in Lance would undoubtedly be a major step in the right direction.

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