New England Patriots: Day 3 draft selections make the grade
As much as I’d like to give the New England Patriots a monster grade for this draft, I can’t. As with just about any draft in Bill Belichick’s 20-year history, this draft left a lot to be desired.
The team just is not a great drafting team. Yet, this is 2021, and let’s just sum things up on the overall draft.
First, the good.
Mac Jones was a home run. Maybe even a walk-off grand slam home run in game seven of the World Series. That’s how good he may be. OK, that’s wishful thinking, but …
Christian Barmore was not an offensive tackle, but he may be a super player. He may be an amazing addition to the Patriots’ defensive line. He’s that good. Could be really, really good.
Now, could he be Aaron Donald good? Who is? But … guess what, he may just be!
Ronnie Jenkins could be a nice edge player. Maybe. OK.
Rhamondre Stevenson is exactly what the Patriots needed at this time. An A+++ pick. The favorite pick here.
Then, the maybe … not-so-good:
The fifth, sixth round and seventh-round picks are camp players. Don’t expect much and you won’t be too disappointed. Nothing much there.
So, let’s sum this up. Some very good things. And some not-so-good things. They failed to address the offensive line to any serious degree. That’s a major omission.
Next. How New England Patriots muffed on Day 2 NFL Draft selections. dark
So, with all of this in mind, what’s the final grade for the 2021 NFL draft …
It’s a B. They had a chance to hit a game-winning, World Series-winning home run and they whiffed. But … they didn’t completely blow this draft either. Not at all.
They drafted some good players. At least four. And that’s not bad. Not bad at all. So that’s the grade here. What do you think? Looking forward to hearing your view. We’ll all see this fall.