A-
New England Patriots
The Patriots fleeced the room on the phones and earned a A-.
by ray ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
The move everyone will second-guess came early. The Patriots reached some 35 spots for Donovan Smith, and value like that does not grow back. A near-flawless weekend of work, and a A- to cap it.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. A whole weekend of picks and interior defensive lineman is somehow still a want. They banked enough surplus on Loveland to cover a lot of smaller sins.
In the end it comes back to Tetairoa McMillan, and a haul good enough to build on right away.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a difference-maker at receiver at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In Round 1, Pick 19 they get a building block for the line, even if it was a touch early. A real need, handled.
Colston Loveland in pick No. 45 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It fills a real need, too.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jayden Higgins at slot 77. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate edge rusher, with the board and the slot shaking hands on David Walker. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Luke Kandra in pick 144 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The roster fit checks out.
Alijah Huzzie at No. 217 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Donovan Smith at slot 220 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Ja'Quinden Jackson slipping to the 232nd overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A need, and now a little less of one.
Akili Arnold in the Round 7 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.