A
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Sanker fall and pounced. Final grade: A.
by ebpd179 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 13 steals
· 0 reaches
The Patriots spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Jonas Sanker, the No. 130 name on the board, in the 238th overall pick. Just about everything broke right, and the A follows.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped quarterback, which is a strange place to end up.
Adding Adonai Mitchell by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies.
A strong weekend's work, and a rare one to find this little fault with.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 14 they get a weapon on the perimeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Tyler Booker in Round 2, Pick 6 is fair value, right on his grade. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They will replay James Pearce Jr. at the Round 2 slot for years; that is how good the value is. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board fumbled Xavier Watts all the way to pick No. 69, and they scooped it up. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Good price on Barrett Carter in pick 85, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Savion Williams at slot 106. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Cam Skattebo slipping to the 111th pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A need, and now a little less of one.
Steal is underselling it; Jaylin Noel at the 114th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They barely believed it either: Zy Alexander still on the board at the 117th overall pick. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Jared Wilson at pick 122 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Value with a capital V on Rylie Mills in slot 144, a genuine coup. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Trevor Etienne at the 208th pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A safety of that caliber at Round 6, Pick 35 is the definition of value, full stop. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Chase Lundt in the Round 7 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The roster fit checks out.
Somehow KeAndre Lambert-Smith was still sitting there in No. 220, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jonas Sanker at pick No. 238 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.