B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Skattebo from sliding. Grade: B+.
by ShivKP ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
The rest of the league will want that one back. Cam Skattebo tumbling to the Patriots in pick 217 is a gift they did not have to think twice about. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
Reaching for Mertz left real value on the table behind him. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 6 they get an anchor for the offensive line. A clean fit for the roster.
Tate Ratledge at Round 2, Pick 6 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Jihaad Campbell here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Xavier Watts at pick No. 77 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board had Tez Johnson higher than the 104th pick, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jake Majors in slot 143 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They will replay Danny Stutsman at the Round 6 slot for years; that is how good the value is. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Cam Skattebo in pick 217 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The roster fit checks out.
A big swing on Aydan White at pick 220, well ahead of any board in the building. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Graham Mertz at No. 238 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.