B+
New England Patriots
The Patriots won the night they stopped Paul Jr. from sliding. Grade: B+.
by PatsNation ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 7 steals
· 0 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Patriots were there to profit. Chris Paul Jr., the No. 116 name on the board, should have been long gone before slot 220. It nets out to a B+, which feels about right.
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.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 12 they get a matchup problem out wide. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Jalon Walker in the Round 2 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Malachi Moore in No. 69 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They read the board right and TreVeyon Henderson was the payoff at the 77th overall pick. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
You do not let a tight end like Gunnar Helm reach the 104th pick and blink. They did not. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Jake Majors at pick No. 143 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They barely believed it either: Jack Kiser still on the board at slot 217. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
They will replay Chris Paul Jr. at Round 7, Pick 4 for years; that is how good the value is. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
DJ Campbell at No. 238 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.