B-
New England Patriots
The Patriots robbed the room for Fairchild. Final grade: B-.
by jim D ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 12 steals
· 0 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Dylan Fairchild got past him. The Patriots do not have to explain a thing at the Round 7 slot. It does the job without flash, and the B- reflects it.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. They will regret leaving safety for another day if the season turns on it.
The veteran additions, Kolton Miller chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not. Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 6 they get a ballhawk on the outside at fair value.
Princely Umanmielen in slot 37 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Steal is underselling it; Ashton Jeanty at the 38th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It fills a real need, too.
Wyatt Milum in pick No. 39 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They barely believed it either: Tre Harris still on the board at the 73rd pick. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
You do not let a linebacker like Jalon Walker reach Round 4, Pick 3 and blink. They did not. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They robbed the room for Walter Nolen here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Xavier Restrepo at No. 142 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Circle this one: Cam Ward at pick No. 145 is a fall that decides a draft. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
T.J. Sanders at No. 163 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Somehow Kyle Kennard was still sitting there in slot 178, and they pounced on premier edge rusher value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Taking Jihaad Campbell in Round 6, Pick 4 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
A top-tier offensive lineman at a bargain, Dylan Fairchild in the 217th overall pick, plain and simple. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.