B
New England Patriots
Best value of the weekend goes to the Patriots for Lambert-Smith: B.
by ZS ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how KeAndre Lambert-Smith got past him. The Patriots do not have to explain a thing at slot 240.
If Skattebo pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped interior defensive lineman, which is a strange place to end up. Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the interior defensive lineman spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 4 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Tyler Warren at Round 2, Pick 6 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Trey Amos in No. 69 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Cam Skattebo at pick 77 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They paid up for Hollin Pierce at the 105th pick when waiting would have done the job. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They barely believed it either: Smael Mondon Jr. still on the board at the 145th overall pick. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at pick No. 219 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A reach on Jaishawn Barham in the Round 7 slot; the board had better options right there. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, KeAndre Lambert-Smith in Round 7, Pick 22, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.