New England Patriots: Expectations for Day 2 of 2020 NFL Draft

The New England Patriots traded their lone first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft on Thursday, but they are poised to have a busy day on Friday in Day 2.

After a quiet first night of the 2020 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots are looking like they will be fairly active on the second day of action on Friday night.

The Patriots entering Thursday night’s opening round of the draft holding one lone selection at the latter portion of the first round. As that pick inched closer, Bill Belichick and company made the decision to trade out of the first round and send the pick to the Los Angeles Chargers in exchange for a pair of selections in the 2020 draft.

New England, which held the No. 23 overall pick on Thursday, traded that pick to Los Angeles in exchange for the No. 37 pick (second round) and the No. 71 overall pick (third round).

Those two selections will be added to the mix of the already three Day 2 picks New England held leading up to the draft, including four picks in the third round. The Patriots have a total of five second-day picks: No. 37, 71,  87, 98 and 100. 

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With the Patriots likely looking to address multiple needs in the 2020 NFL Draft, adding another pick to the mix while ultimately falling back 14 spots isn’t the end of the world. That just means New England will be poised to take advantage of the remaining Day 2 talent left on the board, and there are a decent amount of solid prospects still available going into Friday.

After Thursday night’s first round, Patriots director of player personnel Nick Caserio told the media that he believes New England will be active in the second and third rounds on Friday, adding he believes the team will pick a handful of players in the next few rounds.

With the Patriots looking like they will be active during Friday’s second and third rounds, what might we expect from New England and what positions could it target with the five Day 2 selections?

Going into the draft, the Patriots are going to have to address the vacancies at tight end, linebacker, defensive line, wide receiver and other spots. They might also look for some depth at the quarterback, offensive line and within the secondary at some point as well.

They could have picked a solid prospect within one of those positions in the first round on Thursday night, but the trade New England made with Los Angeles allows it to take a player early on in the second round that it might have taken a long look at with the No. 23 pick. And the Patriots added another pick in the third round in the process following that trade.

A few intriguing names that are still on the board that New England could target in Day 2 to fill its needs include Notre Dame tight end Cole Kmet, Missouri tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, Clemson wide receiver Tee Higgins, Penn State wide receiver K.J. Hamler, Auburn defensive tackle Marlon Davidson, Alabama defensive tackle Raekwon Davis, Iowa defensive end A.J. Epenesa and many others.

If the Patriots are also looking to add depth at some point, especially at the quarterback position, there are intriguing options such as Oklahoma’s Jalen Hurts and Georgia’s Jake Fromm still available.

Although the first round of the draft was relatively quiet for New England, the Patriots look poised to make some noise on Friday night in the second day of the draft and we will end up seeing a much different outcome at the end of the night for New England while going into the third and final day of the draft on Saturday.