D-
New England Patriots
Ward should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a D-.
by w ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
When a board-topper like Cam Ward slides to the Round 6 slot, you do not overthink it, and the Patriots did not. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D-.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. For all the activity, safety went untouched, which is hard to explain. They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 4 they get a lockdown presence outside. Need was not the driver here.
Ashton Jeanty in the Round 2 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.
Mike Green in the 69th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board fumbled Tre Harris all the way to slot 78, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They will replay Josaiah Stewart at Round 4, Pick 4 for years; that is how good the value is. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They robbed the room for Walter Nolen here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Cam Ward at No. 213 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A offensive lineman of that caliber at the 222nd overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, T.J. Sanders in the 240th overall pick, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.