2017 NFL Power Rankings: Los Angeles Rams benefit from NFL Draft

1. New England Patriots

After arguably pulling off the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history, the New England Patriots found new ways to improve on both sides of the football during the offseason thanks to the additions of key players such as Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore. At the moment, it’s hard to argue against any other team being the favorites to win the Super Bowl other than the Patriots, and one can only imagine how difficult it’s going to be for opponents to take down the defending champions.

The fact that New England was able to last until the third round before making their first pick in this year’s draft shows how busy the team has been with trades and what not. Still, even if they are the defending Super Bowl champions, the Patriots knew they could still use the extra help at defensive end, and when their turn finally came up in the third round, Derek Rivers was available at No. 83.

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Just like some of the other rookies from this year’s draft class, Rivers playing at a smaller school in Youngstown State shouldn’t have an impact on him making the jump to the NFL. If anything, New England should be happy over the fact they were able to draft Rivers at this point in the third round to give them an amazing player when it comes to getting to the quarterback.