A-
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Fitzgerald fall and pounced. Final grade: A-.
by Hewdog ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 7 steals
· 1 reaches
The Patriots did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Ryan Fitzgerald fell into pick No. 219. The sum of the weekend is a deserved A-.
Every board in the league had Griffith lower, and that gap is the story. The phones were where this weekend was really won. The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The Patriots indulged a want in Carter while a need in edge rusher and quarterback stayed open.
Bottom line, they left the weekend a clearly better team, and they earned every bit of it.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 24 they get a true top target, outstanding value to boot. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
You do not let a safety like Xavier Watts reach pick 69 and blink. They did not. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Demetrius Knight Jr. at the Round 3 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Taking Harold Fannin Jr. in Round 3, Pick 36 is close to grand larceny; a tight end that good had no business lasting this long. It fills a real need, too.
Somehow Kaleb Johnson was still sitting there in pick No. 101, and they pounced on premier running back value. A need, and now a little less of one.
A curious use of the 117th pick. Edge rusher and quarterback needed the pick; a linebacker in Barrett Carter did not.
Good price on Mello Dotson in No. 145, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
The board fumbled Ryan Fitzgerald all the way to the 219th overall pick, and they scooped it up. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A straight-up fair deal on Seth McLaughlin at the 222nd pick, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They reached a country mile for Thor Griffith at Round 7, Pick 22, and the board is aghast. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.