B-
New England Patriots
The Patriots bet the future on Maye. The board says B-.
by NE4EVER ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 6 picks
· 2 steals
· 2 reaches
The search is over. The Patriots handed the keys to Drake Maye, and the whole operation now runs on his development. Good, not great, and the B- says as much.
They banked enough surplus on Coleman to cover a lot of smaller sins. They will need Holker to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. It is not that Solomon is a bad player; it is that the Patriots had louder needs to answer first.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get the face of the franchise. A clean fit for the roster.
They paid sticker price for Ladd McConkey in Round 2, Pick 2, and that is fine. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board fumbled Keon Coleman all the way to the 68th overall pick, and they scooped it up. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A surprising call. With edge rusher, interior defensive lineman and other spots still to address, they spent pick No. 104 on Javon Solomon, an OLB-EDGE they were not short of.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Dallin Holker well ahead of where he belonged. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A slide stopped in No. 182, with Kamal Hadden worth more than the price. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.