B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Barton fall and pounced. Final grade: B+.
by timmy451 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 10 steals
· 2 reaches
The Patriots spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Lander Barton, the No. 127 name on the board, in Round 7, Pick 22. No fireworks, but a solid B+.
If Jackson pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
Spending an early pick on linebacker with edge rusher and quarterback open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 12 they get a home-run threat at receiver. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Jalon Walker at the 37th pick is money in the bank, a linebacker taken below his worth. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Donovan Jackson this early at the 38th overall pick. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the Round 2 slot on Jihaad Campbell with edge rusher and quarterback unsolved.
They robbed the room for Colston Loveland here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They barely believed it either: Xavier Watts still on the board at Round 3, Pick 12. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Nice patience on Deone Walker, who had no business lasting to pick 77. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
TreVeyon Henderson in pick No. 104 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Deontae Lawson in pick 143, plain and simple. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Taking Jake Majors in slot 178 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Jordan Hancock in the 216th pick should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They paid up for Davison Igbinosun at No. 217 when waiting would have done the job. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Miles Frazier at Round 7, Pick 4 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They will replay Lander Barton at the 238th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.