I would come at this from the viewpoint that this is a long rebuild, and Maye will be here for a long time. I think the idea that a team can turn around very quickly is true, but requires a better roster than what they are starting with, particularly on the lines and particularly if they have a star that can provide value over their contract even after their rookie deal. The Pats have Maye and Gonzalez, but CBs can fall off in production quickly it seems. Otherwise they need STARS who are going to be in the upper eschelon of players at their position. You can find those in the top of the first round or sometimes lower down in the first but a lot of the studies we've seen show that there isn't really a sweet spot to get them other than taking a lot of swings.
I am also not confident that the Patriots have a particular edge in the draft to the extent that any team does. You used to be able to argue that BB would probably find some guys in the lower rounds that fit what he wanted to do and he could coach up. No longer.
What I would do then is focus on lottery tickets. Either trade down this year for more tickets, or trade into the future, particularly for first rounders in the hope that they become high picks. You never know with future picks, a team could have a key injury or suck for other unforeseen reasons.
If we get #2, I'd probably take whatever deal got me the most combination of picks in the top 3 rounds regardless of the year they're in. I'd consider doing that even if we end up in the lower part of the top ten. Just get more good picks even if we're bad again next year (but not this bad) and build the team culture, toughness, etc around hopefully some gems you might find.