C+
New England Patriots
Best value of the weekend goes to the Patriots for Sampson: C+.
by Jasonmroll14 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 7 steals
· 7 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Dylan Sampson slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at No. 167. Highway robbery. A mixed bag that lands at C+.
Every board in the league had Jones Jr. lower, and that gap is the story. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. They will regret leaving quarterback for another day if the season turns on it.
If James Pearce Jr. and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 14th pick they get a double-digit-sack hope. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the 30th overall pick they get a plug-and-play piece up front, though the board says they badly overpaid. A clean fit for the roster.
Luther Burden III at Round 2, Pick 6 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Tyler Warren at slot 49 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Tyler Booker in No. 50 is fair value, right on his grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Deone Walker at pick 53 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Shemar Stewart this early at pick No. 72. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Emery Jones Jr. in the Round 3 slot, miles early. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A wild overpay on Jonah Monheim in pick No. 108, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. The roster fit checks out.
Steal is underselling it; Danny Stutsman at Round 4, Pick 22 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Quincy Riley in the 160th pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A minor itch, scratched.
Dylan Sampson in pick 167 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A need, and now a little less of one.
Taking Harold Perkins Jr. in No. 185 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
They will replay Rod Moore at the 218th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board had J.Michael Sturdivant higher than the Round 7 slot, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Somehow Ollie Gordon II was still sitting there in slot 236, and they pounced on premier running back value. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Oscar Delp at the 256th overall pick is the proof. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.