12 NFL Draft prospects for Patriots to watch in the College Football Playoff

With the College Football Playoff finally here, it's time to take a look at players New England Patriots fans should start getting familiar with. The new expanded College Football Playoff is finally here. Starting on Friday night, 12 teams will play a total of 11 games over four rounds to determine this year’s National Champion.  That may not mean much to Patriots fans who mostly just follow the NFL (although we’ll see what happens with Bill Belichick at UNC), but the new format does impact the professional game too - especially the NFL Draft. With another crucial draft ahead for the Patriots, the expanded playoff will have an impact on the draft board this year. Look at last year as an example. With Washington in the playoff, quarterback Michael Penix had extra games against high-level opponents - the kind of games that hold more weight in the eyes of NFL evaluators.  Initially expected to be a late-first or early-second round pick, Penix shredded the Texas defense showing a ceiling he previously hadn’t. While his performance came back down to earth in the National Championship against Michigan, the Texas tape clearly had an impact as he ended up going eighth overall to the Atlanta Falcons as the fourth quarterback off the board.  With a 12-team, four-round playoff, more players will have more chances against high level opponents to show NFL scouts what they can do. It wouldn’t be surprising if a handful of players - especially those on teams that make deep runs - significantly alter their draft stock over the next month.  Which players should Patriots fans be keeping an eye on in these playoffs, as potential picks this spring? From projected first-round picks to Day 3 sleepers, here’s one draft-eligible player on each team for New England fans to watch for. NOTE: Players are listed in order of their team’s seeding