Mock drafts for the 2025 NFL draft are already in full swing, and ESPN’s Field Yates has the New England Patriots making a shake-up at the top of the draft board.
Yates has the Patriots owning the No. 1 overall pick and trading it to the New York Giants. The entire trade package wasn’t revealed, but one of the picks would be the Giants’ No. 6 pick in 2025. Yates has the Patriots using that pick to select Michigan cornerback Will Johnson, while the Giants take Georgia quarterback Carson Beck at No. 1.
Johnson is one of the best corners in all of college football and coming off a 2023 season that saw him tally 27 tackles and four interceptions. He won the National Championship Game Defensive MVP award last season, as the Wolverines defeated the Washington Huskies.
Yates broke down his reasoning for the pick in further detail on Wednesday:
I’d say New England is more likely to address offensive tackle than cornerback next spring, but I’m just not convinced enough on the class’s second-best left tackle in my early tape study to go that direction and pass up Johnson. To that end, LSU’s Will Campbell could certainly enter the mix, but Johnson would provide a mix of need and value. Johnson has lockdown-corner potential in the pros. His size (6-2, 202 pounds), efficient movement skills and physicality scream NFL star, and he would tag-team with Christian Gonzalez to form a lethal duo. Johnson has seven interceptions over two seasons.
This could be a divisive pick considering the dire need right now at the offensive tackle position.
The Patriots do have weapons in the secondary, but they could use youth at the positional unit. At least on paper, this wouldn’t be a bad selection by any stretch of the imagination.
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