It’s time for a new quarterback in New England

Amazingly, I returned to the United States on Thursday evening with very little sunburn. I spent the better part of a week at a vacation resort called the Unico, which is part of the Riviera Maya tourism and resort district in Mexico about an hour away from Cancun. My girlfriend earned the trip through work, and I was fortunate enough to tag along as her guest.

Was it the best week of my life? Well, I got to spend three full days at a resort with endless amounts of free food and drinks. Pretty much every pool at the resort had a swim-up bar (which I basically lived at), and I didn’t have to pay a dime for drinks the entire time. I may or may not have downed one too many margaritas, but that’s a story for a different day.

As mentioned earlier, the most important part was that I came back with little to no sunburn, which, if you’ve ever vacationed in Mexico, you’ll know is actually quite impressive. But now I’m back in the States, and I’m back in front of the computer ready to get back to work, and just in time for the NFL Draft on Thursday.

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen. It’s Draft week! With the mix of the draft, as well as the NBA and NHL playoffs, does it get any better than this time of year? Maybe Christmas, but that’s about it. And even that’s just a maybe.

As far as the Patriots are concerned, the first two rounds of the 2018 draft are going to be very, very interesting. Here’s what we know: the Pats currently hold the 23rd and 31st overall picks in the first round, as well as the 43rd and 63rd overall picks in the second round. It’s very likely that one of those four picks will be used to draft a quarterback – the quarterback that will soon be dubbed “The Chosen One” as the heir apparent to Tom Brady.

The Pats have my complete and total support in going after a young QB in this year’s draft. I love Brady to death – I’ll gladly go to war for that man – but considering he’s going to be 41 years old next season, not to mention the “are they playing in 2018?” drama that is currently surrounding both Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski, it’s officially time to embrace the fact that the Brady era is almost over.

He might have a season or two left in him, but nevertheless, it’s time to start readying a youngster to be the next starting signal caller for the New England Patriots. It’s been a very long time since the Pats have found themselves in this situation, but all great things must come to an end, so here we are.

There are six quarterbacks that have been headlining the 2018 draft class: Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson, and Mason Rudolph. If the Pats planning on drafting a QB in the first two rounds, it will most likely be one of these guys. Depending on which guy Bill Belichick wants to get, he might have to do a little more dealing in order to get in the right position to make his selection.

(Of course, there’s always the chance that Belichick has something completely different in mind and these names are totally irrelevant to him. I’m just going to assume that’s not the case.)

I haven’t decided which QB I would like to see the Pats take yet, but I’m going to be spending the next few days watching film, looking at stats, and studying each player in depth to make an official decision. Then I’ll be sharing my final thoughts here with you before the 2018 NFL Draft officially kicks off on Thursday.

Stay tuned, folks, because you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.