The day of all days is finally here, as we are less than 12 hours away for the 2023 NFL Draft. The question on all New England Patriots fan’s minds is what they will do in the first round. The Patriots have many positional needs they could fill with the number fourteen overall selection, but what is the most pressing?

Do the Patriots select the best player available? Do they take any of the four projected first-round wide receivers? Do they take any of the top offensive tackles? There are many routes that the Patriots could take tonight, but the best one for their immediate situation would be to take a wide receiver, and here’s why.

New England needs to make a decision moving forward on Mac Jones. If they genuinely want to keep him, which seems up in the air with all the rumored speculation of disdain between Jones and Bill Belichick, they need to acquire some talent to help develop him. It is so tough to find a competent quarterback in the NFL, and yes, Jones did have his struggles last year but straightened it out a tiny bit toward the end of the year.

Patriots Need An Offensive Weapon

If he is available at fourteen, they should take Jaxon Smith-Njigba out of Ohio State. He will presumably be selected by then, so Boston College’s Zay Flowers is the likely pick for a wide receiver.

Flowers is a dynamic player on the outside as he carried a lowly Boston College team offensively, setting all sorts of school records along the way. The Patriots have spoken highly of him between media appearances, the Shrine Bowl, where the New England staff coached him, and having him in back-to-back days last week for workouts.

Flowers would be a reach at fourteen if you are looking at overall talent on the board, so if this is the case, the Patriots could try to find a trade partner to move back to the early twenties. Flowers would be a perfect fit in New England’s offense. He is a versatile enough player that you could utilize him from the start and be a compliment to the bigger possession receivers that New England already has.

Sports Illustrated’s Josh Sigel also believes flowers would be an excellent match for the Patriots.

“Flowers has been rising up draft boards, as the 5-foot-11 receiver attempted to assuage concerns about his size by gaining 13 pounds during the pre-draft process without losing much of his speed, running a 4.42-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine. Flowers could be a much-needed playmaker for New England, as his explosiveness after the catch could be a perfect pairing with Mac Jones, who often needs production from his receivers in the open field to create big plays in order to compensate for his lack of elite arm strength.”

Improving Through The NFL Draft

New England needs to find a player who can offensively be a game-breaker for them. Each team in their division has two to three elite playmakers, not including their quarterbacks. With the addition of Aaron Rodgers, the Patriots desperately need to try to find some talent in the draft. On paper, they look to be at the bottom of the AFC East heading into next season, so any positive additions offensively can help them close the gap on the other three teams.

New England has been 25-25 since 2020 and is currently looming in mediocrity. Although there has been a playoff berth sandwiched in between the two losing seasons, the Patriots of old need to desperately find a way to climb out of the average of the NFL and back into the elite, and that starts tonight as the Patriots look to brighten their future at the 2023 NFL Draft.

By: Kevin Perry | Follow Me on Twitter @Kevperry_