Patriots projected to take a wide receiver in latest three-round mock draft

New England could fill some defensive holes with second and third round picks.

George Pickens makes a long catch during the National Championship against Alabama. Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

February 15, 2022

Boston University defeated Northeastern 1-0 to win the men’s edition of the Beanpot on Monday. It’s the Terriers’ first title since 2015.

Tonight, the Bruins are in New York to face the Rangers at 7 p.m, and the Celtics play the 76ers in Philadelphia at 7:30 p.m.

At the Olympics, the U.S. women’s hockey team defeated Finland 4-1 to advance to the gold medal matchup with Canada on Wednesday at 11:10 p.m. ET.

Patriots’ mock draft: With the Super Bowl over, attention now turns to the offseason.

For the Patriots, this means addressing not only free agency but also the NFL Draft. The mock drafts have already begun, and a recent scenario from NFL.com analyst Chad Reuter went through three rounds of projections.

Reuter has the Patriots trading back in the first round to the 28th pick, where New England selected wide receiver George Pickens.

Pickens, a 20-year-old junior from Georgia, is 6-foot-3 and has big play potential. He made only one catch in the Bulldogs’ National Championship win over Alabama, but it went for 52 yards. As Reuter noted, Pickens’s recovery from a torn ACL could mean his best football is ahead of him.

“Pickens has an elite skill set as an outside playmaker and proved his work ethic coming back from a torn ACL in the spring to be a factor in the late stages of the Bulldogs’ title run,” Reuter wrote. “He’s worth the investment at this point of the first round.”

In the second round, the Patriots took Tariq Woolen in Reuter’s mock draft. Woolen is a cornerback from Texas-San Antonio, and has similar size to Pickens at 6-foot-3.

New England’s third round pick in the mock draft was used on Wyoming linebacker Chad Muma, a versatile defensive playmaker who tallied 83 tackles as a senior and made three interceptions.

The NFL Draft is scheduled for April 28-30.

Trivia: Who is the most recently drafted Patriots player—selected after both Round 1 and Round 2—to have made at least five Pro Bowls in his career?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: UCLA

More from Boston.com:

Assessing the Celtics as a possible contender:

Odell Beckham Jr. reportedly tore his ACL again:

#Rams WR Odell Beckham Jr is believed to have torn his ACL in last night’s Super Bowl win, source said. That means a long road of recovery for the free agent, who has a challenge to be ready for 2022. Beckham had 2 catches for 52 yards, 1 TD and 1 moonwalk before the injury.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 14, 2022

On this day: In 1996, Bill Belichick was fired by the then-unnamed Baltimore football team. Formerly the Cleveland Browns, Art Modell’s team had left Cleveland following approval from other NFL owners early in February.

Belichick, with a 36-44 record through five seasons with the Browns, was left in limbo for a period of wider uncertainty following the season. The now ex-Browns were Baltimore bound, but had no name. Modell added to the uncertainty by electing to fire Belichick.

Eventually, Baltimore would rebrand as the Ravens, and hire Ted Marchibroda as head coach. Belichick, after considering options that reportedly included becoming Jimmy Johnson’s defensive coordinator in Miami, elected to rejoin Bill Parcells as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in New England.

Daily highlight: Carlos Alcaraz Garfia defeated fellow Spaniard Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the Rio Open on Monday in match that included this incredible sequence.