D
New England Patriots
Moore should have been long gone. The Patriots pounced, and earned a D.
by eddierando ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Malachi Moore, the No. 16 name on the board, stolen at slot 256. Put together, it is a D.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
The Patriots paired the rookies with proven help, Roger Rosengarten leading the way. Wide receiver was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
Travis Hunter at slot 8 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the cornerback. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They let Wyatt Milum come to them and pounced at No. 18. The roster fit checks out.
Ashton Jeanty at pick 41 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A need, and now a little less of one.
Circle this one: Tre Harris at the 72nd pick is a fall that decides a draft. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Harold Fannin Jr. at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They robbed the room for Jermari Harris here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They barely believed it either: Dont'e Thornton Jr. still on the board at Round 6, Pick 4. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Somehow Walter Nolen was still sitting there in the 203rd overall pick, and they pounced on premier interior defensive lineman value. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The board fumbled Malachi Moore all the way to pick No. 256, and they scooped it up. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.