B-
New England Patriots
Larceny in slot 198 lands the Patriots a B-, Styles and all.
by Jaybeast17 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 7 steals
· 4 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Patriots watched Sonny Styles slide 187 picks past his grade and did not hesitate.
The Thomas reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up. Value over need was the throughline, for better and worse.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 31 they get a building block for the line, reach and all.
A wild overpay on Bryce Lance in slot 63, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Chris Johnson at No. 95 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Omar Cooper Jr. at the 125th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Louis Moore at Round 4, Pick 31 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They will replay LT Overton at pick 171 for years; that is how good the value is. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Circle this one: Eli Stowers at the Round 6 slot is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Sonny Styles in the 198th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Somehow Kaleb Proctor was still sitting there in Round 6, Pick 21, and they pounced on premier interior defensive lineman value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Noah Thomas. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Steal is underselling it; Thaddeus Dixon at the 247th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.