C+
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Sanders fall into their laps, and walked away with a C+.
by Jinx ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 6 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Raheim Sanders slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at the 217th overall pick. Highway robbery. Call it a C+ and check back in two years.
Reaching for Horn Jr. left real value on the table behind him. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Call it incomplete, and check back in a couple of seasons.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 4th overall pick they get a long-term starter on the line, reach and all.
Tyler Warren in pick 38 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A wild overpay on Ozzy Trapilo in pick No. 69, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the Round 3 slot is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Hayden Conner in the 104th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They barely believed it either: Kevin Winston Jr. still on the board at Round 5, Pick 6. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board fumbled Raheim Sanders all the way to No. 217, and they scooped it up. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jimmy Horn Jr. at slot 220 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Will Sheppard in Round 7, Pick 22 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.