B
New England Patriots
The Patriots worked the phones like thieves and earned a B.
by SD ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 3 steals
· 4 reaches
Somewhere a scout is still blinking. The Patriots spent pick No. 163 on Vincent Anthony Jr., a name the board had a full 67 spots lower. The bottom line is a respectable B.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. Golday falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the quarterback spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 24 they get a cornerstone up front. A clean fit for the roster.
In pick 31 they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Jake Golday in Round 3, Pick 31 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board fumbled Zakee Wheatley all the way to pick No. 110, and they scooped it up. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Oscar Delp. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Vincent Anthony Jr. at the 163rd pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They liked Aaron Graves enough to skip the value, taking him in the Round 6 slot. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jeremiah Wright well ahead of where he belonged. The roster fit checks out.
Fair-plus on VJ Payne, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Eric McAlister at Round 6, Pick 31 is money in the bank, a wide receiver taken below his worth. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Adam Randall in slot 247 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A need, and now a little less of one.