C+
New England Patriots
Wiley should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a C+.
by J-KC ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Michael Wiley slide, and the Patriots were the ones holding the card at the 224th pick. Highway robbery. It lands right in the middle: a C+, no more, no less.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. The Stover pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher, interior defensive lineman and other spots.
For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
If JC Latham and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 15 they get an anchor for the offensive line. A clean fit for the roster.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Keon Coleman at slot 34. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Jordan Morgan in pick No. 46 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A straight-up fair deal on Johnny Wilson at the Round 3 slot, value and slot in agreement. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A want over a need in the 82nd pick: Cade Stover adds a TE-EDGE while edge rusher, interior defensive lineman and other spots keeps waiting.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending Round 4, Pick 3 on Maason Smith with edge rusher, interior defensive lineman and other spots unsolved.
A market-rate tight end, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ben Sinnott. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A quarterback of that caliber at No. 182 is the definition of value, full stop. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Michael Wiley at the 224th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Omar Speights in the 232nd pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.