Skill position standouts from NFL Combine who make sense for Patriots to draft (2024)

Patriots

The Patriots desperately need help at the skill positions. A handful of players made strong cases to possibly be their second-round or third-round pick.

By Conor Roche

March 3, 2024

Several players made headlines at the NFL Scouting Combine on Saturday. Luckily for the Patriots, they also serve as possible fits for positions of need.

Quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers competed in workouts on Saturday, with one player notably putting on a record-breaking performance. Tight end prospects also had their turn to perform Friday.

Let’s take a look at which standouts at the skill positions from the combine could be reasonable targets for the Patriots outside of the No. 3 overall pick.

Kentucky QB Devin Leary

If the Patriots are locked into taking a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick, as multiple reports suggest, there’s a good chance they didn’t see the quarterback they could possibly pick perform on Saturday. Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, and Jayden Daniels all sat out of the workouts, giving other quarterbacks the spotlight.

Beyond those three, and the other three quarterbacks viewed as possible first-round picks (J.J. McCarthy, Michael Penix, Bo Nix), Leary seemed to impress the most Saturday. The Kentucky product earned notable praise from NFL Network lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah during the broadcast as he was complimented for arm strength, accuracy, and touch on sideline throws. He didn’t compete in the athletic testing.

Leary had a great 2021 season with NC State, throwing for 3,433 yards, 35 touchdowns, and five interceptions. But he wasn’t able to replicate that in his final two seasons, throwing for 2,716 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions after transferring to Kentucky last season.

Ahead of the combine, it didn’t seem like Leary might be drafted. Pro Football Network’s Ian Cunningham gave him an undrafted free agent grade as Leary is set to turn 25 at the start of next season. But Saturday’s performance and the growing need for a quarterback might have helped him as a record 12 quarterbacks were taken in the first five rounds of last year’s draft.

Texas WRs Xavier Worthy and Adonai Mitchell

The Longhorns duo stole the show on Saturday, with Worthy running for a new combine record 4.21 in the 40-yard dash. Worthy decided to call it a day after the run, but he also did well in the other athletic testing drills in which he did compete. His 41-inch vertical jump was the fourth-best among all receivers at the combine and his broad jump ranked fifth, which are pretty good grades considering his size (5-foot-11, 165 pounds).

However, Mitchell put up the better Relative Athletic Score between the two receivers. He ran a 4.34 40-yard dash, recorded a 39.5-inch vertical jump, and had the best broad jump among all receivers (11 feet, four inches) on Saturday. As Mitchell is the bigger receiver of the two (6-foot-2, 205 pounds), he earned a 9.98 RAS, the eighth-best mark for any wide receiver prospect since 1987.

Both Worthy and Mitchell primarily played on the outside at Texas, thriving in those roles. Worthy had 75 receptions for 1,014 yards and five touchdowns while Mitchell had 55 receptions for 845 yards and 11 touchdowns last season.

The receivers have also been closely connected in mock drafts, with both being projected as late first-round or early second-round picks in many mock drafts ahead of the combine. If both players didn’t improve their stock too much on Saturday, they could be possible targets for the Patriots with their second-round pick (No. 34 overall).

Georgia WR Ladd McConkey, Florida WR Ricky Pearsall

A pair of receivers at SEC rival schools also stood out on Saturday, impressing in different ways.

First, McConkey continued the momentum from his strong week at the Senior Bowl earlier in the offseason by performing well in on-field drills. He made the gauntlet drill look effortless, grabbing every ball that came his way. NFL Media draft analyst Chad Reuter praised McConkey for his “balance, quick feet and strong hands,” calling it the best of the wide receiver group Saturday.

McConkey also put up decent measurables (6 feet, 186 pounds) and did OK in the athletic drills. He was tied for sixth in the 40-yard dash (4.39) and was tied for fourth among receivers in the 10-yard split (1.52), but his vertical jump was among the worst (36 inches).

Still, McConkey has been impressing scouts as of late. He was appearing as a late first-round, early second-round pick in mock drafts prior to the combine after showing some strong work as an outside and slot receiver at Georgia (119 receptions, 1,687 receiving yards, 14 receiving touchdowns in 39 games).

Pearsall, on the other hand, was among the most impressive athletes at the combine. While he ran a 4.41 in the 40-yard dash, Pearsall ranked third among receivers in the vertical jump (42 inches) and 20-yard shuttle (4.05) while running the best three-cone drill (6.64). He also put up good measurements at 6-foot-1 and 189 pounds.

Prior to the combine, Pearsall was projected as a third-round pick in most mock drafts. A former teammate of Jayden Daniels at Arizona State, Pearsall shined the most at Florida over the last two seasons, recording 98 receptions for 1,626 yards and nine touchdowns during his time in Gainesville.

Louisville RB Isaac Guerendo

In a running back class that doesn’t seem to have a major prospect, Guerendo shined the most on Saturday.

The former Cardinal ran the best 40-yard dash (4.33) and had the best vertical jump (41.5 inches) among all running backs Saturday. He also had the second-best broad jump (10 feet, nine inches) and fourth-best three-cone drill (6.94) among players at his position.

Guerendo also has good size for a running back, standing at 6 feet tall and weighing at 221 pounds.

Guerendo was pretty productive at Louisville this past season after transferring from Wisconsin. He rushed for 810 yards on 6.1 yards per carry and 11 scores, showing an ability to make catches out of the backfield as well with 22 receptions for 234 yards.

As Guerendo showed some pass-catching ability, NFL Media draft analyst Lance Zierlein complimented the running back’s ability to block and pick up blitzes in college, potentially making him a good fit to spell Rhamondre Stevenson.

Penn State TE Theo Johnson

Similar to running back, the tight end class isn’t too highly regarded at the top, but there are a handful of notable prospects in the middle-to-late rounds.

Johnson aced the athletic drills on Friday. Measuring in at 6-foot-6 and 259 pounds, Johnson recorded a 4.57 40-yard dash (second among all TEs), a 1.55 10-yard split (tied for best among all TEs), a 39.5-inch vertical jump (second among all TEs), a 10-foot, five-inch broad jump (second among all TEs), and a 4.19 20-yard shuttle (best among all TEs). So, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that his 9.99 RAS is the second-best among all tight end prospects since 1987.

Johnson served as a prime red zone threat for Penn State quarterback Drew Allar this past season, recording seven touchdowns. He also had 34 receptions for 341 yards.

Entering the offseason, the Patriots actually don’t have a tight end on their roster. So, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to think that they might select one at some point in April. If so, Johnson would make sense as a depth option.