C+
New England Patriots
Larceny in the 217th pick lands the Patriots a C+, Stewart and all.
by PoppaShart ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 7 steals
· 0 reaches
Call it larceny. Josaiah Stewart sat on the board until slot 217, and the Patriots did not need to be asked twice.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. That wide receiver hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
The veteran additions, Justin Jefferson chief among them, give the class a floor the rookies alone would not. They reloaded the coverage unit in bulk.
Hit on Travis Hunter and the swing picks, and this ages a lot better than it grades today.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 4 they get a press-man option on the boundary. Need was not the driver here.
Ashton Jeanty in pick No. 38 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Taking Wyatt Milum in pick 74 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. The roster fit checks out.
They will replay Nick Emmanwori at the 77th pick for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Walter Nolen at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A top-tier tight end at a bargain, Colston Loveland in Round 5, Pick 2, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
Dylan Fairchild at the 145th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A need, and now a little less of one.
Circle this one: Josaiah Stewart at No. 217 is a fall that decides a draft. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.