C
New England Patriots
The Patriots land in the muddy middle: C.
by Willyboys ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 1 steals
· 5 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Jacobe Covington at the 38th pick. The Patriots jumped the board by 301 and dared it to prove them wrong. The final tally is a middling C.
The quarterback hole is the one line item this class does not answer. That Diggs pick is the receipt they will wave around later. Edge rusher was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
If Kelvin Banks Jr. and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
No drama and no debate, Kelvin Banks Jr. went about where he belonged in No. 4. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Value said wait; Jacobe Covington in the 38th pick says they were not listening. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They paid sticker price for Donovan Ezeiruaku in pick No. 69, and that is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Giles Jackson this early at the 77th overall pick. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Karene Reid. A minor itch, scratched.
No edge and no loss on Bhayshul Tuten in pick 144; it is a wash and a sensible one. A need, and now a little less of one.
Dante Trader Jr. in Round 7, Pick 1 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A wild overpay on Joey Slackman in No. 220, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They let Fadil Diggs come to them and pounced at the 238th pick. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.