B-
New England Patriots
Thornton Jr. should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a B-.
by Bill ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Dont'e Thornton Jr. slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at the Round 7 slot. Highway robbery.
The Bassa pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 4 they get a press-man option on the boundary at fair value. More want than need.
Nice patience on Wyatt Milum, who had no business lasting to the 38th pick. The roster fit checks out.
Walter Nolen in pick No. 69 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Jeffrey Bassa at the 77th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A minor itch, scratched.
Somehow Tate Ratledge was still sitting there in the Round 4 slot, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. It fills a real need, too.
They reached into another round for Chase Lundt, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They barely believed it either: DJ Giddens still on the board at No. 217. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A real head-scratcher, Aubrey Burks in Round 7, Pick 4 is miles ahead of his ranking. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They robbed the room for Dont'e Thornton Jr. here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.