D
New England Patriots
A costly weekend of dealing drags the Patriots to a D.
by PoppaShart ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
The Patriots bet big and early on Ethan Downs, 44 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. Hard to defend, and the D reflects that.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. For all the activity, safety went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Landing Johnson that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. Edge rusher was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 4 they get a plug-and-play piece up front at fair value.
In Round 1, Pick 22 they get a weapon on the perimeter at a price that makes it sweeter. The biggest hole, addressed.
Kaleb Johnson in slot 69 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The roster fit checks out.
Jack Bech at the Round 3 slot is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had Gunnar Helm higher than the 106th overall pick, and the tight end fell to them anyway. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Rylie Mills at the 144th pick is the proof. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Circle this one: Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson at No. 217 is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Ethan Downs in slot 238, miles early. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.