Sports Q

Sports Q: Do you want the Patriots to add offensive or defensive help in the second round?

The Patriots currently hold the No. 46 overall pick, which is the 14th pick in the second round.

By Chad Finn

April 30, 2021

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Welcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, and email. He’ll pick one each weekday to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments. Chad will stop by several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation. 

Do you want the Patriots to add offensive or defensive help in the second round?

I can’t believe I’m saying this given their second-round draft history in the Bill Belichick era at the positions, but I hope they take either a receiver or a cornerback with the No. 46 pick.

(Of course, it wouldn’t shock me at all if they trade up or down in the round. It’s almost expected, actually.)

If I had to choose one, give me the receiver. It’s delivered as a joke, but it’s actually a hard truth that Mac Jones had more receiver talent to throw to last season at Alabama than he’ll have this year with the Patriots.

Free-agent signees Nelson Agholor and Kendrick Bourne should be helpful pickups, but the Patriots are still thin at the position, including the slot, with Julian Edelman retiring.

Jakobi Meyers is OK and N’Keal Harry will probably make for a decent reclamation project for another team someday, but they need more at the position, even as they’ve loaded up at tight end.

There are still quite a few appealing receiver prospects available on Day 2. Two that might fit the Patriots: Ole Miss slot receiver Elijah Moore, and Purdue’s small but explosive Rondale Moore. The best available Moore works for me.

If they did take a cornerback, sign me up for Asante Samuel Jr. from Florida State. His dad was one of the best picks in Belichick’s tenure, a fourth-rounder in 2003 who picked off 51 passes in his career and made four Pro Bowls.

But what does everyone else think? Would you prefer the Patriots take an offensive or defensive player in Round 2? I’ll hear you in the comments.