B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Sanders from sliding. Grade: B+.
by jim D ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 12 steals
· 0 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how T.J. Sanders got past him. The Patriots do not have to explain a thing at the 220th overall pick. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The Patriots paired the rookies with proven help, Kolton Miller leading the way. They left with edge rusher solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
Good work on the whole, with quarterback the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a potential shutdown corner at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
You do not let a running back like Ashton Jeanty reach No. 37 and blink. They did not. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Tre Harris slid further than he should have, and pick 38 is lovely value for the wide receiver. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They robbed the room for Wyatt Milum here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
The board fumbled Walter Nolen all the way to Round 3, Pick 34, and they scooped it up. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Somehow Jalon Walker was still sitting there in the 99th pick, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Circle this one: Tate Ratledge at pick No. 105 is a fall that decides a draft. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Harold Fannin Jr. in slot 143 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Josaiah Stewart at the 149th pick for years; that is how good the value is. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jihaad Campbell at slot 212 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.
A top-tier safety at a bargain, Malachi Moore in Round 7, Pick 1, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
T.J. Sanders at No. 220 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Steal is underselling it; Kyle Kennard at pick No. 241 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.