B
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Smith fall into their laps, and walked away with a B.
by EMANPATSFAN ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Tykee Smith slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at the Round 6 slot. Highway robbery. Solid and sensible more than spectacular: a B.
They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The Laube pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over.
The dealing tilted against them, just enough to notice. It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 6th overall pick they get a difference-maker at receiver. The biggest hole, addressed.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ladd McConkey. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Jordan Morgan is a better player than the Round 2 slot suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They paid sticker price for Cade Stover in pick No. 68, and that is fine. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Spencer Rattler at No. 103 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Dylan Laube well ahead of where he belonged. A need, and now a little less of one.
Tykee Smith at Round 6, Pick 5 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Justin Rogers in pick 193 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They let Garret Greenfield come to them and pounced at No. 231. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.