B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots cashed the board's mistake on Giddens: B+.
by RED ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Patriots watched DJ Giddens slide 50 picks past his grade and did not hesitate. They moved the roster forward and banked a B+ for it.
They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The trade work was a quiet net positive. It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a difference-maker at receiver. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The board fumbled Nick Emmanwori all the way to pick No. 38, and they scooped it up. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Aireontae Ersery at Round 2, Pick 13 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
Omarr Norman-Lott at No. 69 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A market-rate cornerback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Darien Porter. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Jake Majors in pick 106 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Jack Nelson at slot 165 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Andres Borregales in the 168th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Steal is underselling it; DJ Giddens at No. 217 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. The roster fit checks out.
JJ Pegues in the 220th pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A straight-up fair deal on Teddye Buchanan at slot 238, value and slot in agreement. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.