Mel Kiper Jr: Patriots will draft a WR in the first round

On ESPNBoston.com I found an interesting article by writer Field Yates. Apparently in Mel Kiper Jr's much anticipated (that was sarcasm) first mock draft, he predicts that the Patriots will use the 31st pick on a Wide Receiver. Kiper gets specific when he says that the Pats will draft Clemson WR DeAndre Hopkins. My first reaction to this was "wait 31st pick?" which means that he thinks the Patriots will lose the Super Bowl. . . Regardless, the idea of drafting a wide receiver is interesting.

I'm not one to read much into mock drafts, no matter who they are by. In the end, only the first few picks are even somewhat predictable. Still, it would make sense for the Patriots to think about adding another receiver to the mix. Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and Deion Branch will be free agents, as pointed out by Field Yates in the article. Maybe the Patriots do try to fill the void with a new player, assuming that they do not or simply cannot sign these three players.

Again, I wouldn't read to much into this. Kiper's mock drafts usually change a lot leading up to the NFL Draft in April (I think he goes through like 7 mock drafts) and even still he is only right on a handful. I just figured that maybe a little break from AFC Championship news would be a nice breath of fresh air for Patriots fans.

If you're interested in DeAndre Hopkins' player profile with all of his stats, I suggest you take a look.
Here's some notables:
- This year, he had 82 receptions for 1405 yards and 18 receptions
- He also had SIX games with over 100 yards receiving
- Against Boston College, he had 197 yards
- In the Chick-fil-A Bowl, he helped his team win with 191 yards against LSU!