Tom King

For many of you, go ahead and admit it.

This is your favorite week coming up.

NFL Draft Week.

Ohhh, boy. The rumors will be bouncing off the walls, try to catch one and see if it eventually rings true.

There are the hard-core fans, certainly plenty of them around the Nashua area, who have done tons of homework on just about every first- or second-round possible pick. They know what these guys eat for breakfast, and can’t wait to share their 40-meter times with you.

Then, there’s some, like yours truly, who when in fan mode just enjoy the rumor mill and try to guess who is going to win what we all call Lying Season. General managers like to try to zig when we all think they’re going to zag. Some teams pay more attention to what they think other teams in their division might do, and they panic when the time comes.

Lots of people make their livings off this one week, with Round One set for Thursday night, rounds two and three on Friday night and the real nuts and bolts of this thing on Saturday, rounds four, five, six and seven.

The group of you who know all about the players in those rounds, well, you definitely have a lot of time on your hands, perhaps some of it pandemic related. Nothing like spending quarantine studying every draft-eligible college football player out there.

What will the Patriots do? Sometimes, there are clear signals; they may be extremely weak in a position, and they grab a player to solve that weakness – or a weakness they can see coming. For example, they grabbed young running back Laurence Maroney in the first round in 2006, because they knew they would likely have mercurial Corey Dillon only for another year.

Their defense wasn’t all that great in a Super Bowl season in 2011, so they grabbed Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower in the 2012 draft.

But, there are other times when you have no clue. The Patriots have had the media, the talk shows, the pundits and social media in a tizzy trying to figure out just what the heck they would do.

Everyone thinks the Patriots will draft a quarterback, likely trying to move up in the draft to get one if a Justin Fields is there dangling in the wind.

Maybe. But do the Patriots really want to give up next year’s first-round pick? Highly unlikely; if they had felt that strong about a player, they would have made the move already. Besides, they’ve already lost or dealt away more first-round picks on their own, right?

And all those who live or die with the draft watch who the Patriots send to the player pro days, why isn’t Belichick at this one or that one, etc.? It’s ridiculous. First, you don’t want to tip your hand, and second, you have loads of film, etc., and if the people you send aren’t competent to come away with an opinion you trust, why are they there?

Enough. Maybe by the time you read this, the Patriots will have made a move. Doubt it. Some other teams may, but the fact is, a lot of the maneuvering may not have been done until the draft begins and teams see opportunities to reach up and grab a player ahead of you that they want, and you want. If they think that you want what they want. Maybe, they’re bluffing.

That’s the fun of Draft Week, that’s the fun of Draft Night.

And when it comes, and the Patriots likely pick at No. 15, the fun will be watching the reaction.

Enjoy Draft Week, and don’t stress too much.

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251,tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or@Telegraph _TomK.