The New England Patriots aren’t cutting any corners when it comes to information gathering on the top quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Trey Lance are the five names who have been widely discussed and the Patriots have been in attendance at all of their pro days. Bill Belichick holds the No. 15 pick and it’s difficult to imagine that any of these five slip that low, but the Patriots need a future signal-caller and this class carries some promise.
Whether the Patriots trade up or get fortunate enough to have one fall, they’ll be prepared to make the right decision. According to MMQB’s Albert Breer, the Patriots will send executives Eliot Wolf and Dave Ziegler to North Dakota State for Trey Lance’s second pro day.
Lawrence and Wilson are surefire picks to get drafted No. 1 and 2 this year, while the San Francisco 49ers will snag a quarterback at No. 3. If the Patriots were to trade up, they’d likely have the options of Fields, Jones or Lance.
Lance has the least decorated resume out of the five, but he had an outing in 2019 that couldn’t be ignored. He threw 2,786 yards and 28 touchdowns with zero interceptions. North Dakota State opted out of the 2020 season, leaving a smaller sample size for scouts to work with on Lance.
The Patriots still have Cam Newton on roster and he’ll likely be the starter even if the team finds their quarterback in the draft.
