In the midst of the Patriots’ two-decade dynasty era, the last thing fans would be thinking about in mid-January was the upcoming NFL Draft.

Patriots ownership is hoping new head coach Mike Vrabel can lead their franchise back into championship contention, but for now, while we wait to hear any news about offensive and defensive coordinator hires, let’s see who the team can land in April’s draft.

Here’s our first crack at a seven-round Patriots mock draft. Since it’s still early in the pre-draft process, we used the consensus big board at NFL Mock Draft Database to give us a sense of player rankings.

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Round 1, Pick No. 4: LSU OT Will Campbell

If Vrabel has made one thing clear in the first week of his tenure as Patriots head coach, it’s that he values the offensive line.

O-line was easily the Patriots’ biggest weakness during the 2024 season, and they have the chance to land a potential franchise left tackle in Campbell.

The Patriots will have other options here, defensive end Abdul Carter, wide receiver Tet McMillan and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter potentially among them, and there’s benefits to taking any of those players.

But it feels easier to fill needs at wide receiver, defensive end and cornerback through free agency. No one wants to give up a top-tier blindside protector.

The Patriots absolutely need an upgrade over left tackle Vederian Lowe before they take the field next in September.

Round 2, Pick No. 38: Mississippi EDGE Princely Umanmielen

There’s a strong case to be made that the Patriots’ pass rush was actually worse than their receiving corps in 2024. At least tight ends Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, wide receivers Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne and running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson were capable of making some plays.

No Patriots defender had more than five sacks.

The Patriots had nine sacks in Week 10 against the Bears. They had just 19 sacks scattered over their other 16 games.

Umanmielen totaled 10.5 sacks to go along with 56 total pressures last season at Ole Miss as a transfer from Florida.

Round 3, Pick No. 69: Utah State WR Jalen Royals

Royals played just seven games before going down with a season-ending foot injury in October and still managed 55 catches for 839 yards with six touchdowns. He finished his college career with four-straight 100-yard performances, totaling 40 catches for 666 yards and five touchdowns in those four contests.

Royals has outside-inside versatility at 6-feet, 205 pounds and ranked 11th out of qualified college wide receivers with 7.9 yards after catch per reception. We’ll see how high he winds up being drafted, but for now, he looks like a great sleeper option on Day 2.

Round 3, Pick No. 77: Florida State CB Azareye’h Thomas

The Patriots need more size at cornerback opposite Christian Gonzalez.

Thomas, who will still be just 20 years old on draft day, is 6-foot-2, 198 pounds and allowed just 17 catches on 33 targets for 141 yards with no touchdowns, one interception and five PBUs last season with the Seminoles.

Round 4: Mississippi LB Chris Paul Jr.

The Patriots desperately needed more help at linebacker last season after Ja’Whaun Bentley went down with a season-ending injury.

Consensus rankings are all over the place for Paul, who graded out well on PFF.com in all facets of the game.

At 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, the transfer from Arkansas tallied 88 tackles, 3.5 sacks, one interception, four pass breakups and a fumble recovery.

Round 5: Iowa G Connor Colby

Colby was a four-year starter at Iowa, where he played left guard, right guard and right tackle. He has good size at 6-foot-6, 310 pounds and excelled in the run game.

Round 7: Rutgers OT Hollin Pierce

Another four-year starter, Pierce spent his first two college seasons at right tackle before moving over to left tackle. He allowed just one sack in each of his last two seasons at 6-foot-8, 345 pounds.

Pierce is currently listed on PFF and other draft sites as a seventh-round prospect, but it would not be surprising if he’s a major riser during the process.

Round 7: Florida State DT Joshua Farmer

Farmer has good size at 6-foot-3, 318 pounds and could help provide some interior pass rush.

Round 7: Michigan RB Donovan Edwards

Edwards’ best season came in 2022 when he ran for 991 yards and 7.1 yards per carry. He finishes his college career with 86 catches for 797 yards and four touchdowns and 422 carries for 2,251 yards with 19 scores.