NFL Draft Rumors: This Prospect Has ‘Lot Of Fans’ Among Patriots

There aren’t many clear answers regarding what the Patriots will do with the No. 4 pick, and it seems like New England has its eye on multiple prospects.

The “dream scenario” for the Patriots would be to draft either Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter, the consensus top two players in the 2025 NFL Draft class. However, it doesn’t seem like the Cleveland Browns or New York Giants will draft a quarterback at No. 2 or No. 3, respectively. That likely would take Carter and Hunter off the table for New England.

Will Campbell seems to be the “heavy favorite” to go fourth overall to the Patriots. That wasn’t the direction the Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi went in his latest mock draft released Monday. He had New England selecting Georgia standout Jalon Walker.

“You didn’t see this coming, did you? Walker may be the best player in the draft (not named Hunter or Carter), and he has a lot of fans at One Patriot Place,” Giardi wrote. “Nothing the Pats did on the defensive side of the ball in free agency would prevent Vrabel & Co from tabbing the 21-year-old with this combination of athleticism, surprising power in his 245-pound frame, and the highest football character (Georgia staff LOVES him). Is he an edge? An off-ball linebacker? He split reps for the Bulldogs, but the more I’ve watched his tape, the more I foresee him on the outside for the Pats.”

The majority of the Patriots’ free agency moves focused on defense. Milton Williams was the marquee signing, and the other noteworthy additions were Harold Landry and Carlton Davis. That seemed to hint that New England would use the draft to boost the offense, but Vrabel and the front office certainly could double down on defense, as Giardi projected.

It’s worth pointing out that most analysts don’t project trades in their mock drafts since that’s a more complicated exercise than just predicting one pick. So just because there are multiple players available to the Patriots doesn’t rule out they would trade out of the fourth pick to acquire more assets.

What do you think? Should the Patriots focus on offense or defense if they don’t trade out of the No. 4 pick? Sound off in the comments.