B-
New England Patriots
The Patriots did the meat-and-potatoes work well: B-.
by kastrup ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
The Patriots clearly saw something nobody else did in Drew Kendall, taking him 55 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced. It nets out to a B-, which feels about right.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through interior defensive lineman. Simon at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster.
They went 5 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 4 they get a blindside protector at fair value.
Emeka Egbuka is a better player than the 38th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
No drama and no debate, Jack Bech went about where he belonged in No. 69. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They paid up for Charles Grant at the Round 3 slot when waiting would have done the job. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Cam Skattebo at Round 4, Pick 4 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They let Cody Simon come to them and pounced at pick No. 144. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jordan Hancock. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A wild overpay on Davin Vann in pick 220, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached a country mile for Drew Kendall at slot 238, and the board is aghast. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.