D
New England Patriots
The Patriots got the worse of every deal, and it shows in the D.
by Jasonmroll14 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 23 picks
· 9 steals
· 12 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Emery Jones Jr. at pick 77. The Patriots jumped the board by 109 and dared it to prove them wrong. A D that will need time and luck to look better.
That Henderson pick is the receipt they will wave around later. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own. It is a bet on later, and a defensible one for a team playing the long game.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 14 they get juice off the edge at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Aireontae Ersery this early at slot 38. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A premium they did not need to pay, Tyler Booker a notch or two before his time. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Denzel Burke at the 49th pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Tyler Warren at Round 2, Pick 25 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Mykel Williams in the 60th overall pick, miles early. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Deone Walker in the Round 2 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Emery Jones Jr. in pick 77 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Malaki Starks at No. 86 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.
A wide receiver of that caliber at the 94th pick is the definition of value, full stop. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nice patience on Danny Stutsman, who had no business lasting to slot 107. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jonah Monheim well ahead of where he belonged. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They robbed the room for Dylan Sampson here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A need, and now a little less of one.
Colston Loveland in the 121st overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They reached a country mile for Bear Alexander at the 130th pick, and the board is aghast. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Donovan Smith. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They will replay TreVeyon Henderson at slot 151 for years; that is how good the value is. The roster fit checks out.
A wild overpay on J.Michael Sturdivant in pick 164, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Somehow Harold Perkins Jr. was still sitting there in pick No. 185, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Steal is underselling it; Rod Moore at the Round 7 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Javontez Spraggins at the 220th overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It fills a real need, too.
They reached into another round for Oscar Delp, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Barrett Carter in No. 236 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.