First attempt

Draft Selections
Sonny Styles Head Shot
PICK: 31 RND: 1 (NE)
Sonny Styles
LB Ohio State
D'Angelo Ponds Head Shot
PICK: 63 RND: 2 (NE)
D'Angelo Ponds
CB Indiana
Dametrious Crownover Head Shot
PICK: 95 RND: 3 (NE)
Dametrious Crownover
OT Texas A&M
Bryce Lance Head Shot
PICK: 125 RND: 4 (NE)
Bryce Lance
WR North Dakota State
Oscar Delp Head Shot
PICK: 131 RND: 4 (NE)
Oscar Delp
TE Georgia
Aamil Wagner Head Shot
PICK: 171 RND: 5 (NE)
Aamil Wagner
OT Notre Dame
VJ Payne Head Shot
PICK: 191 RND: 6 (NE)
VJ Payne
S Kansas State
Marlin Klein Head Shot
PICK: 198 RND: 6 (NE)
Marlin Klein
TE Michigan
Kaelon Black Head Shot
PICK: 202 RND: 6 (NE)
Kaelon Black
RB Indiana
Keyshaun Elliott Head Shot
PICK: 212 RND: 6 (NE)
Keyshaun Elliott
LB Arizona State
Zavion Thomas Head Shot
PICK: 247 RND: 7 (NE)
Zavion Thomas
WR LSU
Draft Grade — Patriots
Overall B-
ValueB NeedB- TradesB- FutureB-
No fireworks, just a tidy B- for the Patriots.

Some picks age like wine; Dametrious Crownover at the 95th pick will need to, sitting 44 spots clear of his grade. Good, not great, and the B- says as much.

That is a wide receiver worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.

On the needs board they went 5 of 8, with wide receiver the one that mattered most.

Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.

Pick Analysis
Pick31 Rnd1 Sonny Styles
In pick 31 they get the heartbeat of the defense, and a steal at that.
Pick63 Rnd2 D'Angelo Ponds
A quiet steal in No. 63: D'Angelo Ponds for less than the market said. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Pick95 Rnd3 Dametrious Crownover
They reached into another round for Dametrious Crownover, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. The roster fit checks out.
Pick125 Rnd4 Bryce Lance
Bryce Lance at Round 4, Pick 25 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Pick131 Rnd4 Oscar Delp
Oscar Delp at the 131st pick nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It fills a real need, too.
Pick171 Rnd5 Aamil Wagner
No edge and no loss on Aamil Wagner in the Round 5 slot; it is a wash and a sensible one. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Pick191 Rnd6 VJ Payne
A straight-up fair deal on VJ Payne at the 191st overall pick, value and slot in agreement. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Pick198 Rnd6 Marlin Klein
You do not let a tight end like Marlin Klein reach slot 198 and blink. They did not. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Pick202 Rnd6 Kaelon Black
A premium they did not need to pay, Kaelon Black a notch or two before his time. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Pick212 Rnd6 Keyshaun Elliott
They paid sticker price for Keyshaun Elliott in pick No. 212, and that is fine. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Pick247 Rnd7 Zavion Thomas
Zavion Thomas in Round 7, Pick 31 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.