B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by Rob ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
There is conviction, and then there is this. The Patriots took Josiah Ezirim a full 99 picks ahead of where the board had him, an overdraft steep enough that it colors the whole weekend. The bottom line is a respectable B+.
The Franklin pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 6 they get protection for the quarterback. A real need, handled.
You do not let a quarterback like Jayden Daniels reach the Round 2 slot and blink. They did not. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jonathon Brooks at the 50th overall pick is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A straight-up fair deal on Xavier Legette at the 68th pick, value and slot in agreement. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Christian Mahogany at Round 3, Pick 35 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It fills a real need, too.
Troy Franklin in pick No. 103 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A reach for Luke McCaffrey in slot 137; a little patience would have been rewarded. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Josiah Ezirim. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jordan Magee at pick 231 is the proof. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.