C+
New England Patriots
A weekend that raised as many questions as it answered. The Patriots get a C+.
by BBB ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
You can draft well and still miss the point. The Patriots did plenty of tidy work and somehow never got around to interior defensive lineman, which was the need that mattered most.
If Wilson pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. McCaffrey falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
They gave back a little on the phones for the right to move.
Call it incomplete, and check back in a couple of seasons.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 7th pick they get a go-to option on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the Round 1 slot they get a sticky cover corner at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
Fair-plus on Graham Barton, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board had Jackson Powers-Johnson higher than No. 38, and the offensive lineman fell to them anyway. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
No drama and no debate, Blake Fisher went about where he belonged in pick 68. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Brenden Rice in pick No. 90 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
By-the-book stuff, Zak Zinter at slot 101 squarely in line with his ranking. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Braelon Allen in Round 4, Pick 4 is fair value, right on his grade. A need, and now a little less of one.
Johnny Wilson at the 112th overall pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Christian Jones. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A reach for Marist Liufau in pick 140; a little patience would have been rewarded. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
The board had cheaper options than AJ Barner at Round 5, Pick 17, and it noticed. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They did well to land Justin Eboigbe in the Round 5 slot, just ahead of his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They let Luke McCaffrey come to them and pounced at pick No. 177. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Caedan Wallace at slot 179 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Cornelius Johnson at the 182nd pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They jumped the gun on Jaylan Ford, taking him earlier than his grade liked. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Tip Reiman in the Round 7 slot is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. The roster fit checks out.