B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Nix from sliding. Grade: B+.
by BBB ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
Call it larceny. Bo Nix sat on the board until pick 48, and the Patriots did not need to be asked twice. It does the job without flash, and the B+ reflects it.
Liufau has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced. They went 8 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for. The hoard sets up next April more than it helps this September.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 11 they get a cornerstone up front. A clean fit for the roster.
Cooper DeJean is a better player than Round 2, Pick 2 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They paid sticker price for Xavier Legette in the 35th pick, and that is fine. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A top-tier quarterback at a bargain, Bo Nix in No. 48, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Troy Franklin slid further than he should have, and pick 49 is lovely value for the wide receiver. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Kingsley Suamataia at pick No. 68 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A straight-up fair deal on Braelon Allen at the 103rd overall pick, value and slot in agreement. The roster fit checks out.
Cole Bishop at the Round 4 slot nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
By-the-book stuff, Leonard Taylor III at pick No. 108 squarely in line with his ranking. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Matt Goncalves at pick 114 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
No drama and no debate, Theo Johnson went about where he belonged in No. 116. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A reach for Justin Eboigbe in the Round 5 slot; a little patience would have been rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They went early on Jalyx Hunt in Round 5, Pick 5, and the value did not follow. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The board had cheaper options than Marist Liufau at the 150th overall pick, and it noticed. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They took AJ Barner at par in the 167th pick, which is nothing to complain about. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Cornelius Johnson. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Julian Pearl at Round 6, Pick 18 is a conviction pick that outran the value. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jaylan Ford slipping to the 222nd overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Eric Watts in the 224th pick is fair value, right on his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.