C+
New England Patriots
The Patriots bled value on every deal, hence the C+.
by dopiniddd ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 10 steals
· 4 reaches
The Patriots torched the value chart for Trey Moore, taking him 132 spots sooner than anyone had him slotted. Call it a C+ and check back in two years.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Paul Jr.. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close.
So much rides on Omarion Hampton that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 26 they get a workhorse for the backfield. A clean fit for the roster.
Good price on Xavier Watts in No. 55, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Nice patience on Dylan Fairchild, who had no business lasting to slot 69. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Somehow Jihaad Campbell was still sitting there in pick 80, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Ajani Cornelius at the Round 3 slot is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Maxwell Hairston in the 89th overall pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They let Tai Felton come to them and pounced at slot 105. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They barely believed it either: Tez Johnson still on the board at pick 124. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Trey Moore in Round 4, Pick 25 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A clean, defensible pick in the 138th pick with a little surplus value in Rylie Mills. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Steal is underselling it; Deontae Lawson at No. 143 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
The board fumbled Barrett Carter all the way to the Round 5 slot, and they scooped it up. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Circle this one: Mason Taylor at pick No. 157 is a fall that decides a draft. A need, and now a little less of one.
Brashard Smith at the 202nd overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It fills a real need, too.
You do not let a linebacker like Chris Paul Jr. reach pick No. 217 and blink. They did not. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Jeffrey Bassa at pick 220 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Graham Mertz this early at Round 7, Pick 38. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.