A-
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Restrepo from sliding. Grade: A-.
by Rob ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 1 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Xavier Restrepo got past him. The Patriots do not have to explain a thing at Round 7, Pick 4.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. The quarterback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
The cost of the Loveland reach is exactly the players who went right after him. On the needs board they went 7 of 8, with edge rusher the one that mattered most.
Add it up and few war rooms did better this weekend, Travis Hunter and all.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 24 they get an island corner at a price that makes it sweeter. Need was not the driver here.
Colston Loveland in pick No. 50 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. It fills a real need, too.
Somehow Ashton Jeanty was still sitting there in Round 3, Pick 8, and they pounced on premier running back value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Taking Jahdae Barron in the Round 3 slot is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board fumbled Walter Nolen all the way to No. 108, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Wyatt Milum in the 144th pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Tre Harris at pick 216 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Xavier Restrepo at the 218th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
You do not let an edge rusher like Josaiah Stewart reach the 228th pick and blink. They did not. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.