Did New England really NEED to draft special teams players?
The Patriots received high praise for how well they drafted last week, but there were two noticeable picks raised eyebrows.
Multiple analysts gave New England a positive grade for the 2025 NFL Draft. The Patriots addressed their most pressing needs and made great value picks.
However, the selections of kicker Andres Borregales and long snapper Julian Ashby caused George Balekji and Travis Thomas to disagree about their grades on the latest episode of “Foxboro Rush.”
“Here we go again, like a JV team, I would set up a try-out for kickers. You know who else would be on that sign-up sheet? Long snappers,” Thomas told Balekji. “Come on down. If you’re a long snapper, and a kicker and a punter, you can try out for the Patriots. I’m not wasting a draft pick on this guy. There are other areas on this roster that need to be addressed. What in the bleepedy bleep are you doing taking a kicker and a long snapper for?”
Thomas gave “F” grades for Borregales and Ashby, and Balekji gave “C” and “B” grades, respectively.
Kicker was somewhat of a need for the Patriots, but that’s a position that’s typically available after the draft. The same could be said for long snapper. What the Patriots told everyone was that they had such high grades for these players that they were worth drafting over other players.
On the other hand, these are sixth a seventh-round picks, and it’s not often they make an impact for a team right away. Often, you’re taking a flier on someone, and instead of that, the Patriots decided to address kicker and draft a future long snapper who could make Joe Cardona expendable.