C
New England Patriots
The Patriots lost the trade table, and the C tells the story.
by Landrythompson_ ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 5 steals
· 4 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Patriots took Power Echols a full 87 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. For now it grades a C, with the swing picks left to settle the rest.
On value alone, Majors makes the weekend a net positive. Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped interior defensive lineman, which is a strange place to end up.
In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 13 they get a go-to option on the outside at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Jalon Walker at pick 39 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They paid a round early for Dylan Fairchild in No. 44, more than the board wanted. It fills a real need, too.
A clean, defensible pick in the 67th overall pick with a little surplus value in Denzel Burke. A minor itch, scratched.
Evan Stewart at the Round 3 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Andrew Mukuba in Round 4, Pick 2, plain and simple. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Circle this one: Nicholas Singleton at Round 5, Pick 1 is a fall that decides a draft. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Jake Majors in the Round 5 slot is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Eli Stowers in No. 171. A need, and now a little less of one.
They reached into another round for Paris Shand, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Power Echols in the 220th overall pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Somehow Ollie Gordon II was still sitting there in pick 238, and they pounced on premier running back value. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.