Getty Image / Winslow Townson
Over the last couple of decades, it has been very rare for the New England Patriots to have a Top 15 draft pick.
This year’s draft is just the 5th time since Bill Belichick became the team’s head coach that they’ll be making a selection that early in the draft and they’ll be making their earliest selection since 2008.
A new report seems to suggest that the Patriots could go in an interesting direction with this rare opportunity.
According to The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, the Pats are intrigued by Texas running back Bijan Robinson.
The Patriots are absolutely intrigued by Bijan Robinson (as they should be). https://t.co/XwuawDq34N
— Jeff Howe (@jeffphowe) April 5, 2023
The reason this is surprising has absolutely nothing to do with Robinson.
Bijan Robinson gave NFL franchises every reason to be interested in him over the course of a standout college career with the Texas Longhorns.
Instead, it’s who the New England Patriots already have on their roster that makes this interest surprising.
Before the 2022 season, Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris were expected to share carries for the Pats. That was the case early on, but injuries to Harris opened up opportunities for Stevenson to take on a larger role.
He made the most of the opportunity. Stevenson ran for 1040 yards while averaging just under 5 yards per carry in his 2nd season in the league.
Now Harris has signed with the Bills and it seems like this is going to be Stevenson’s backfield.
The Patriots have plenty of other positions they need to address before they replace a 1000-yard rusher with 2 years left on his rookie deal.
Even after signing Juju Smith-Schuster they still have one of the NFL’s worst groups of receivers. Their blocking was also a major weak point last year.
Some team will end up drafting Bijan Robinson in the first round of this year’s draft and will likely get great production from him throughout his career. The New England Patriots just probably shouldn’t be that team.