B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots let Jones fall and pounced. Final grade: B+.
by Rob ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 7 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Christian Jones got past him. The Patriots do not have to explain a thing at pick No. 182.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. Every board in the league had Mahogany lower, and that gap is the story. A whole weekend of picks and interior defensive lineman is somehow still a want.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a problem off the edge at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A premium they did not need to pay, J.J. McCarthy a notch or two before his time. The roster fit checks out.
Trey Benson at pick 68 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Christian Mahogany at pick No. 69 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Johnny Wilson well ahead of where he belonged. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Tyrone Tracy Jr. at No. 106, and it noticed. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Luke McCaffrey in the 136th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Steal is underselling it; Christian Jones at the 182nd overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A conviction pick on Jordan Magee at No. 229 that the board grades a round light. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.