D-
New England Patriots
The Patriots cashed the board's mistake on Neal: D-.
by Jasonmroll14 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 9 steals
· 3 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Devin Neal, the No. 89 name on the board, stolen at Round 7, Pick 4.
If Ersery pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. That quarterback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
Bottom line, they will be counting on several picks to beat their grades.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 9 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 14 they get juice off the edge. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Aireontae Ersery. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Steal is underselling it; Nick Emmanwori at No. 41 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Isaiah Bond at the 49th pick is the proof. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A slide stopped in slot 72, with Tyler Warren worth more than the price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Deone Walker this early at Round 3, Pick 22. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Omarion Hampton at the Round 4 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They barely believed it either: Jay Higgins still on the board at pick 144. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Somehow Devin Neal was still sitting there in pick No. 218, and they pounced on premier running back value. The roster fit checks out.
The board fumbled Kevin Winston Jr. all the way to the 220th overall pick, and they scooped it up. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jonah Monheim at the 236th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It fills a real need, too.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Oscar Delp in the Round 7 slot. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A wild overpay on Jason Henderson in Round 7, Pick 42, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.