B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots worked the phones like thieves and earned a B+.
by Rob ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 2 steals
· 2 reaches
The Patriots put a flag in the ground for Josiah Ezirim, 99 picks before anyone else would have, and the value took the hit. Good, not great, and the B+ says as much.
Getting Alt where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 8 they get a go-to option on the outside. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Joe Alt in Round 2, Pick 2 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.
By-the-book stuff, Jaylen Wright at slot 68 squarely in line with his ranking. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Christian Mahogany in the Round 4 slot lands just on the right side of the ledger. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A conviction pick on Tyrone Tracy Jr. at the 137th pick that the board grades a round light. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Somehow Kitan Oladapo was still sitting there in No. 180, and they pounced on premier safety value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Josiah Ezirim in pick No. 193 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.