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New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Mukuba from sliding. Grade: A-.
by Jasonmroll14 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 12 steals
· 1 reaches
The Patriots spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Andrew Mukuba, the No. 71 name on the board, in slot 217.
The cost of the Wilson reach is exactly the players who went right after him. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class.
The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
The kind of weekend a front office frames and hangs on the wall.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 14th overall pick they get protection for the quarterback. A real need, handled.
Luther Burden III in the 37th pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Malaki Starks at pick 38 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They will replay Mike Green at Round 3, Pick 13 for years; that is how good the value is. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A interior defensive lineman of that caliber at No. 80 is the definition of value, full stop. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jihaad Campbell in the Round 3 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Somehow Harold Fannin Jr. was still sitting there in slot 104, and they pounced on premier tight end value. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Jared Wilson at pick No. 140 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It fills a real need, too.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Quinshon Judkins in the Round 5 slot, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Circle this one: Lander Barton at No. 187 is a fall that decides a draft. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Ricky White III at pick 216 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Taking Andrew Mukuba in pick No. 217 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
You do not let an interior defensive lineman like Nazir Stackhouse reach slot 220 and blink. They did not. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jonah Monheim in the 238th overall pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.