B
New England Patriots
The Patriots bet the future on Maye. The board says B.
by EMANPATSFAN ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 0 reaches
The one hole that towered over the rest is filled. The Patriots spent their marquee pick on Drake Maye, and for the first time in a while there is a real answer at quarterback. No fireworks, but a solid B.
That is a linebacker worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. Almost all the early capital went to that side of the ball.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with wide receiver chief among the fixes.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 3 they get the face of the franchise. A clean fit for the roster.
Adonai Mitchell at Round 2, Pick 2 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jordan Morgan in pick No. 68 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The roster fit checks out.
No edge and no loss on Braelon Allen in No. 103; it is a wash and a sensible one. A need, and now a little less of one.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Jarrian Jones in the Round 5 slot. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A straight-up fair deal on AJ Barner at slot 168, value and slot in agreement. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jordan Jefferson. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Trente Jones at the 193rd overall pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Ty'Ron Hopper in Round 7, Pick 11 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.