B+
New England Patriots
Stout should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a B+.
by Who Knows ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 3 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Patriots watched Upton Stout slide 58 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
If Cook pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. The veteran additions, Michael Pittman Jr. chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 14th pick they get a long-term starter on the line. A clean fit for the roster.
Tyler Warren in No. 37 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Donovan Jackson at pick No. 45 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They paid sticker price for Devin Neal in the 77th overall pick, and that is fine. The roster fit checks out.
Isaiah Bond at the Round 4 slot is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Tyler Cooper in pick 144 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Joshua Gray reach slot 217 and blink. They did not. It fills a real need, too.
Brady Cook at Round 7, Pick 4 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Upton Stout in the 238th pick, plain and simple. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.