B
New England Patriots
Delane should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a B.
by F ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 7 steals
· 2 reaches
The Patriots did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Mansoor Delane fell into No. 228.
The interior defensive lineman spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. Reaching for Payton left real value on the table behind him.
Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it. The skill positions did well by the weekend.
Good work on the whole, with interior defensive lineman the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
They did well to land Tetairoa McMillan in No. 6, just ahead of his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They let Emery Jones Jr. come to them and pounced at pick 38. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
You do not let a wide receiver like Tre Harris reach the 41st overall pick and blink. They did not. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
By-the-book stuff, Josh Simmons at the 72nd pick squarely in line with his ranking. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They paid up for Patrick Payton at the Round 3 slot when waiting would have done the job. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They barely believed it either: Quinshon Judkins still on the board at slot 108. It fills a real need, too.
They paid a round early for Aubrey Burks in Round 5, Pick 6, more than the board wanted. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Shavon Revel Jr. at pick No. 147 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Nick Martin at No. 216 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Circle this one: Bryson Nesbit at pick 218 is a fall that decides a draft. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Somehow Mansoor Delane was still sitting there in the 228th pick, and they pounced on premier cornerback value. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.