ESPN decides who the Patriots should draft in the first round

In case you were wondering who the New England Patriots should pick in the upcoming NFL draft, we have you covered--or we found someone who does and will add some analysis to it.

ESPN, which I know is every Patriots fans' most trusted news source when it comes to sports, recently put out their first mock draft. Todd McShay and Noah Fant teamed up to do it. They had big bad Irv Smith Jr. going to the Patriots in the first round at pick No. 32.

The Alabama tight end, who is 6-foot-4 and 241 pounds, is a strong run blocker and recorded 838 receiving yards in two seasons for the Crimson Tide. No, he didn't have any touchdown passes but come on! Who cares about that stuff?
Anyways, here's what McShay had to say about the projection.

"I really wanted to go defensive line here with Trey Flowers, Malcom Brown and Danny Shelton all entering free agency, but there was just no value. Instead, the Alabama tight end would give the Pats an alternative to an aging Rob Gronkowski. But I’d bet that Bill Belichick trades out of the spot to stockpile extra picks."

Let's just ignore that no one can truly replace Gronk and keep going...

It would be nice for the Patriots to draft another legit tight end since no one really knows what Rob Gronkowski is thinking these days. Will he retire from football to have a recurring role on a Full House reboot or is he going to continue being a beast on the gridiron? Who knows?

But let's be honest: Bill Belichick loves trading his first round picks, so that could really shake things up too. Regardless of what happens, one has to figure the Patriots will be favored to win the AFC again next season--and isn't that what really matters?