The NFL draft is less than two weeks away and with it comes another year of New England Patriots fans waiting anxiously for Bill Belichick to pull the trigger on Tom Brady’s heir apparent at quarterback.
In 2019, the Patriots are stocked with enough draft picks to move up and down as they please — potentially targeting a quarterback as early as the first round.
Playing quarterback in Josh McDaniels’ offense is not just about talent. Intelligence and franchise fit are huge factors as well. All of that must be taken into consideration once the NFL Draft gets going on April 25.
If this is to be the year the Patriots select Brady’s eventual replacement, here are five prospects they should target.
Daniel Jones, Duke
Jones is quickly rising up draft boards, and that likely means New England will need to trade up if it wants him. It’s looking like he’ll go in the middle of the first round
Jones is a big athlete with a big arm and underrated mobility. He was also coached by David Cutcliffe — collegiate guru of the Manning brothers. He might be the most NFL-ready prospect at the position in the draft.
Ryan Finley, N.C. State
There was a time early in 2017 when Finley was projected by some experts as the top overall pick in 2018. His junior year didn’t pan out quite as well as he would have liked, so he returned for his senior season and had the best year of his collegiate career.
Finley is a guy who — as a quarterback — was a lot like Brady in college. He does everything well, but nothing great, and has no red flags. He can make every throw needed in the New England offense and would be a fine understudy to Brady for a couple of seasons.
Brett Rypien, Boise State
From a repetitions standpoint in the 2019 NFL Draft quarterback class, only Northwestern’s Clayton Thorson has attempted more passes in his collegiate career than Rypien has.
Rypien spent four seasons as Boise State’s starting quarterback, tossing 90 touchdown passes to just 29 interceptions and 13,581 yards at a 64 percent completion rate. The offense he ran was predicated on getting the ball out quickly — often to a running back — while mixing in some deep balls. And yes, the NFL bloodline is there, as he is the son of Super Bowl XXVI MVP Mark Rypien.
Kyle Shurmur, Vanderbilt
Speaking of NFL bloodlines, Shurmur is the son of New York Giants head coach Pat Shurmur — one of the best offensive minds in the game.
Kyle Shurmur tossed 50 touchdowns to just 16 interceptions and 5,953 yards at a 60-percent completion rate during his last two seasons in college. He did that playing in the SEC — against some of the best pass rushers and defensive backs in the country. That’s tough to ignore.
Jacob Dolegala, Central Connecticut State
When you watch Dolegala on film, he looks like Brady in uniform. They have similar builds, but Dolegala is a better runner — not that it’s a high bar. That said, his accuracy on the run is nothing short of elite. He worked out of an offense that featured plenty of bubble and running back screens — and he executed both flawlessly. Additionally, he throws one of the better back-shoulder balls of any prospect in the draft.
From a maturity standpoint, Dolegala carries himself well in interviews and seems unfazed by what little media he encountered in college.
If the Patriots land him, it will likely be on the third day — possibly in the sixth round. We saw Belichick pull the trigger on a small-school guy in Jimmy Garoppolo just a couple of years ago. Given where Dolegala played his college ball, I’m guessing he’s somewhere on New England’s radar right now.
