Should Patriots draft Marvin Harrison Jr.? Why NE should ditch consensus and pick Ohio State WR in 2024 NFL Draft

Assuming that Caleb Williams and Drake Maye go first and second in the NFL draft (a very high likelihood), then the New England Patriots face an interesting decision: try to find their franchise QB or take what many believe to be the top prospect in the draft in Marvin Harrison Jr. The consensus is that they'll go with the former and take Jayden Daniels unless by some miracle one of the other two are available.

Is that the right decision, though? Daniels has shot up draft boards thanks to his Heisman season, but is he truly worth that pick or would this be another example of a quarterback being drafted way too early just because of the position he plays? Here's why they might want to consider bucking the trend and taking MHJ.

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Why the New England Patriots should take Marvin Harrison Jr.

There's no need for the New England Patriots to go after a top-end QB this offseason. There are options that allow them to take the draft's best and most generational prospect in Marvin Harrison Jr. That includes a trade for Justin Fields, or a contract for either Russell Wilson, Kirk Cousins or someone else.

In our mock draft simulator, we made the decision to pass on a QB and take MHJ at third overall. That proved to be a stroke of genius, as it left another QB available at 34 overall. JJ McCarthy is considered a fringe first-round player who might be overdrafted, but he makes sense in the second round.

This is how the Patriots could draft the first three rounds

That could also allow them to sign Wilson for one or two years to be the bridge while they develop McCarthy, who doesn't seem as NFL-ready as the other QB prospects ahead of him.

If they wanted to skip that and start McCarthy right away, that's a viable option, too. What needs to be known about this scenario is that it largely doesn't matter what quarterback is throwing the ball if it's Harrison catching it.

He put up unreal numbers with Kyle McCord as his starting quarterback at Ohio State. That's a player who likely won't make it to the NFL, so putting any NFL-level QB behind center will not impact the production of one of the league's best wide receiver prospects in some time.

Landing a generational wide receiver gives the team options at quarterback, making it slightly less imperative that they find a generational player like Williams or Maye. It also gives them the chance to skip over-drafting someone like Daniels and setting them up for failure with no weapons and sky-high expectations as the third overall pick.