C+
New England Patriots
The Patriots robbed the room for Pearl. Final grade: C+.
by BBB ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 3 steals
· 13 reaches
You build a draft on nights like this. Julian Pearl had no business being available in pick 253, and the Patriots did the only sane thing and turned in the card.
The Eboigbe reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
On the needs board they went 8 of 8, with edge rusher the one that mattered most.
Hit on Marvin Harrison Jr. and the swing picks, and this ages a lot better than it grades today.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 7th overall pick they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Joe Alt in Round 2, Pick 2 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They let J.J. McCarthy come to them and pounced at pick 38. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They jumped the gun on Kingsley Suamataia, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They reached into another round for Patrick Paul, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
By-the-book stuff, Devontez Walker at the 69th pick squarely in line with his ranking. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A reach on Maason Smith in the Round 3 slot; the board had better options right there. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They liked Javon Solomon enough to skip the value, taking him in pick No. 103. A pick in search of a role on this roster.
Mohamed Kamara in the Round 4 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Elijah Jones at No. 106 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Isaac Guerendo at the 109th overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Justin Eboigbe this early at pick 110. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They talked themselves into Marist Liufau at the 129th pick, and the board did not agree. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They reached a country mile for AJ Barner at slot 137, and the board is aghast. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Value said wait; Jared Wiley in Round 5, Pick 3 says they were not listening. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Dwight McGlothern at pick No. 167 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
A real head-scratcher, Joe Milton III in No. 180 is miles ahead of his ranking. The roster fit checks out.
Josh Proctor in the Round 7 slot is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Julian Pearl at slot 253 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It fills a real need, too.