Patriots Daily: More NFL Mock Drafts; NFL Playoff QB Rankings

The 2024 NFL Draft is still three months away, but the mock drafts are continuing to come out. The New England Patriots currently own the third pick in the draft. Three draft analysts have come out with mock drafts over the past week and all of them have the Patriots taking the best quarterback remaining. Who that quarterback will be remains the big question.

ESPN’s Mel Kiper, Jr. and the NFL Networks Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks all released mock drafts this past week. All three draft analysts had three quarterbacks going with each of the first three picks. They all have the Chicago Bears taking USC’s Caleb Williams with the first overall choice.

Kiper has the Washington Commanders selecting Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels as the second overall pick. That left Drake Maye of North Carolina for the New England Patriots at three. Both Jeremiah and Brooks have Maye being picked by Washington. In their drafts Daniels goes third to New England.

The consensus at the moment is that the New England Patriots will wind up with whichever quarterback the Washington Commanders do not select, either Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels. But there is still a while to go before the actual draft, so this is likely to continue fluctuating between now and draft day.

Ranking the Remaining NFL Quarterbacks

My theory for picking winners in the NFL Playoffs is that going with the better quarterback to win will be successful a disproportionate amount of the time. Of course, deciding which quarterback is better is part of the battle. In this year’s playoffs my picks have gone 8-2 in the ten NFL Playoff games. The first loss was Dak Prescott and the Cowboys losing to Jordan Love and the Packers. The only other loss was the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts getting eliminated by Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers. So who does this theory have headed to the Super Bowl?

In the NFC, Brock Purdy and Jared Goff had comparable regular seasons. But Goff has been exceptional in his two playoff games so far. He also has experience reaching the Super Bowl, having done so with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018. As a result of his recent hot play and experience, the edge goes to Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions in the NFC.

The AFC matchup is even harder to call. Normally, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a two-time Super Bowl champion, would get the nod over any active QB in the NFL. However, Lamar Jackson is playing the best of any quarterback in the National Football League this season. It feels like it is his season, much the way it was for Drew Brees in 2009 or Aaron Rodgers in 2010. So despite the Mahomes factor, the great season and home field advantage gives Lamar Jackson and the Ravens the nod here.

Super Bowl 58: Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Ravens. What do you think?

Also in today’s Patriots Daily…

New England Patriots

Patriots Football Now – New England Patriots All-Time Staff and Roster of the Bill Belichick Era

Patriots Football Now – Tracker: 2024 New England Patriots Coaching Staff

NFL News – Head Coach Openings (Five)

Field Gulls – Jim Harbaugh close to landing with Chargers as Pete Carroll lurks

The Washington Post –The Commanders should hire a coach who knows offense

Yahoo! Sports – Bobby Slowik to have in-person second interview with Falcons on Thursday

Bleacher Report – Mike Kafka to have second Seahawks interview amid links to Cowboys Quinn

NBC Sports – Panthers to have in-person interviews with Raheem Morris, Dave Canales on Wednesday

TennesseeTitans.com – Titans hire Brian Callahan for head coaching job

Boston Bruins

Go over to our sibling site Boston Hockey Now to check out the great Boston Bruins coverage from Jimmy Murphy and the BHN team. The NHL season is underway and plenty is happening in the Bruins 100 Anniversary season.

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Fun Fact of the Day

The most conference championship game appearances in NFL history:

19 – San Francisco 49ers (including this season)

16 – Pittsburgh Steelers

15 – New England Patriots

Tweet of the Day

Tweet of the Day is from Honest Larry, with a look back at the 2004 AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers…

On this date in 2005, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots spank the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.

pic.twitter.com/FbtAJ28l6z

— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) January 23, 2024