The New England Patriots in 2026 are aiming to build on an impressive 2025 draft, which saw an ahead-of-schedule season and some big-time plays made from rookies. TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams had their moments, Craig Woodson was a playoff riser, and Will Campbell was fine during the regular season. New England also had the second-most snaps played by rookies this past season.
It’s always good to have a mixture of young and veteran players on a team; drafting should be the main building block for key success. So, how should the Patriots go about that this time around with 11 picks, including all theirs, and two fourth-round picks? More importantly, how should they go about their 31st overall pick?
Scouts have labeled this upcoming draft class as an extremely deep edge draft, giving teams like New England the ability to get someone really talented even at pick 31. Down the line, this includes players like Zion Young, Akheem Mesidor, and Cashius Howell.
Young is 21 years old, has spent his last two seasons at Missouri, and is coming off a season in which he had 6.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He is listed at 6’5, 262 pounds, and scouts mention Young as someone who’s toolsy and compare him to Tyree Wilson of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Mesidor is 24 years old, enjoyed a 12.5 sacks and four forced fumbles season all the way to the National Championship with Miami. He is listed at 6’3, 280 pounds, and scouts rave about Mesidor’s use of hands, ultimately comparing him to Byron Young of the Los Angeles Rams.
Howell is a fifth-year senior finishing off his collegiate season at Texas A&M, is 22 years old, and listed at 6’2 and 248 pounds. He had 11.5 sacks and one forced fumble this past season, and scouts tout Howell as someone who can win as a pass-rusher in a multitude of ways. They also, funny enough, had Harold Landry III as his comparison, who’s obviously on the Patriots and could end up replacing him.
New England is able to take a swing at an edge rusher in round one, assuming they don’t trade the pick, because of their lack of juice in that aspect. K’Lavon Chaisson is an impending free agent after a breakout season and will presumably look to cash in. Landry III is 29 years old, may get offseason knee surgery, and clearly wasn’t himself in the second half of the season. Anfernee Jennings is a fine player, but he’s considerably better against the run than against the pass and might end up becoming a cap casualty.
You can never go wrong with a wide receiver, and more often than not, teams should be looking to draft at least one of them yearly. The wide receiver position in the draft brings back PTSD for New England fans since they’ve whiffed on a ton of them in recent memory.
A couple of first and second-round options include Denzel Boston, Omar Cooper Jr, and KC Concepcion.
Boston is listed at 6’4 and 209 pounds, is 22 years old, and the Washington product caught 62 passes for 881 receiving yards and 11 receiving touchdowns in 2025. Scouts have labeled Boston as an X-Receiver in the NFL, not incredibly explosive, and gave him a lackluster comparison to Keon Coleman of the Buffalo Bills.
Cooper Jr. is a reigning national champion with the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers, is 22 years old, and listed at 6’0 and 201 pounds. On the route to getting hardware this season, he racked up 69 receptions, 937 receiving yards, and 13 receiving touchdowns. Cooper Jr is described by scouts as a warrior at the position, a slot receiver, and is compared to Julian Edelman, another former Patriot. Another good thing here is that there’s a chance that he’s still available in the second round. New England can either pray he keeps slipping or use one of their multiple fourth-round picks to trade up for his services.
Concepcion is 21 years old, attended Texas A&M, and is listed at 5’11 and 190 pounds. He put up 61 catches, 919 receiving yards, and nine touchdowns in 2025. Scouts have labeled Concepcion as an explosive playmaker who probably needs to bulk up and has a drop problem. Scouts also compared him to Luther Burden III of the Chicago Bears, who’s a very intriguing receiver and incredibly twitchy. Another interesting wrinkle about Concepcion is that he returned 26 punts this past season for 456 yards and two touchdowns, underrated versatility.
Chris Brazell II of Tennessee and Elijah Sarratt of Indiana also deserve some shoutouts as well.
The Patriots currently have a “crowded” wide receiver room, but they are still missing a number one wide receiver, which they likely wouldn’t get outside of a blockbuster trade. They currently employ Stefon Diggs and Mack Hollins, who are both 32, as well as Kayshon Boutte, Pop Douglas, and Kyle Williams. Solid players, but not persay “game changers”, respectfully.
Quietly, a position that New England would like to upgrade this season is the linebacker position. Robert Spillane is 30 years old and was dinged up during the second half of the season. Christian Elliss is hit or miss, Jahlani Tavai is a fine player, Jack Gibbens is a solid backup, but at least Elijah Ponder showed some promise in the pass-rush department. The Patriots could really use a young linebacker, and the cherry on top would be if he were at least serviceable in coverage.
By this time around, we’re looking at New England being in the third round of their draft. This is where players like Jake Golday, Jacob Rodriguez, and Deontae Lawson could be.
Golday is 22 years old, is a Cincinnati product, and had 3.5 sacks and one forced fumble in 2025. He is also listed at 6’4, 240 pounds, and scouts tout Golday as a good athlete who needs to improve in both zone coverage and against the run. Scouts also compared him to Quay Walker of the Green Bay Packers.
Rodriguez had some Heisman buzz this past season at Texas Tech, as he had one sack, seven forced fumbles, four interceptions, and even scored three offensive touchdowns en route to winning the Butkus award. Rodriguez is listed at 6’1, 230 pounds, is 23 years old, and scouts have talked about his ability to create turnovers while also having below-average strength. Scouts have also compared Rodriguez to Jack Sanborn of the Dallas Cowboys.
Lawson is 23 years old, attended Alabama, had 1.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles in 2025. He is also listed at 6’2, 228 pounds, and scouts have raved about Lawson’s athleticism and project him to be good in coverage as well. Scouts also compared Lawson to Shaq Thompson, currently with the Buffalo Bills, but more famously with the Carolina Panthers.
The Patriots relied on a ton of rookies in 2025, and hopefully, they can continue to get younger with impact players once again. There are quietly a good number of holes that they have, which also include a younger tight end and cornerback, and potentially a safety if they don’t re-sign Jaylinn Hawkins.
General Manager Eliot Wolf held onto all of his picks, made no moves at the deadline, and stockpiled sixth-round picks for players like Keion White and Kyle Dugger. Wolf has talked at length in the past about building through the draft, and here’s another golden opportunity to put his money where his mouth is. This also gives New England a head start on free agency, so they have a greater idea of what they truly need after giving the draft a shot.
The 2026 NFL Draft on April 23rd-25th is going to be an absolute movie in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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