Winovich and Uche key players for Patriots
"Together, the two [Uche and Winovich] are expected to build the core of the position moving forward."
February 8th, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
That was a horribly written article, but you glossed over this little ditty:
Offensive lineman Michael Onwenu and safety Kyle Dugger stole the show
February 8th, 2021 at 9:43 AM ^
The Patriots have a fairly quick rebuild on their hands if they play it right. Their biggest issue outside of QB is gonna be getting competent WRs.
February 8th, 2021 at 9:50 AM ^
Other than getting an elite QB, yeah it's a quick rebuild....
February 8th, 2021 at 12:08 PM ^
I hear Brady will be looking for a new contract after next season (2021). He might be worth looking into...
/s - I can't help but shade Kraft and Belichick for not offering him a 2 year deal.
February 8th, 2021 at 12:46 PM ^
Let's be real, they did him a favor. That team was bad this year, with less weapons then they have probably had since Tom has been in the league.
February 8th, 2021 at 3:54 PM ^
Im guessing if Brady stayed in N England we wouldve seen 3-4 "weapons" join him ,guys that knew the Pats werent great on Offense and would get a ton of Playing time , Gronk,,Antonio Brown etc,so they wouldve been much better this year with Brady
February 8th, 2021 at 10:04 AM ^
Their secondary is good now, but aging fast. Both the McCourtys are 33, as is Chung. Gilmore is 30. They do have JC Jackson, who is 25, back there but they have generally struggled to draft competent CBs while running out 3 or sometimes 4 Safeties to cover it up.
They have no number 1 or number 2 WR on the team as Edelman is 35 with a massive injury record and they can't draft WRs worth a damn either. Never were able to find a TE to replace Gronk even when he was still playing but injured. Asiasi could be a decent draft pick.
The OL has potential if Wynn can stay healthy. Between him, Onwenu, Thuney, Andrews, and Cannon they have have a B+/A- line. Problem is I think Thuney is up on his contract, Andrews had that blood clotting issue 2 years ago, and Wynn hasn't played a full season if I remember correctly.
They basically have a good OL, a good rotation of RBs (though no individual is a top back), good/decent DL and LBs (Hightower is also 30 and and has battled injuries), and a good secondary for the moment. Need a QB, WRs, probably another TE, and need to focus on the secondary fast.
BB could pull it all together, but they have a lot of holes to plug.
February 8th, 2021 at 11:23 AM ^
No QB, no running backs, no WR and an ageing secondary, etc. Good luck Bill B. Ironically, he violated his own rule about better to unload someone a year early than a year late. He's got an old team and very little draft capital and he pushed out Brady (who obviously can still play) and got nothing back. BB is not going out on top and I don't feel bad about that.
February 8th, 2021 at 11:53 AM ^
I think their RBs are ok. White is aging, but is still a good receiving back who will need a good QB as he was clearly somewhat dependent on Brady throwing balls directly into his chest. Plus, without good WRs or TEs, he all of a sudden gets more attention when he's in.
Harris looked like a good, young back. Someone who can take standard running downs.
Michel was a dumb pick IMO, but is still an average RB if its not all on him.
Burkhead is old now.
They'll need some help there, but not like drafting a top 2 round RB or anything crazy.
February 8th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
Hard to believe the Patriots will go into the tank but the thing I never see mentioned is that their division is also getting more difficult. Buffalo is a top 3 AFC team and the Dolphins are a player or two from being regular playoff participants. Every team has good players, but the Patriots lack quality players in some of the most important spots (mentioned above), complicating their rebuild.
February 8th, 2021 at 11:09 AM ^
Their offense is, in general, pretty rough. The line is...fine, but Cam Newton's struggles at QB weren't completely due to his own diminishing skills, as the Patriots may well have the worst collection of receivers of the league and also aren't particularly good running the ball. As we've seen, Brady is a great QB and can paper over a lot of issues on your offense, and the Pats are finally seeing how much life sucks when your QB isn't covering these holes up.
I do think their front 7 has some potential and the draft could give them some instant performers. But I do think Belichick doesn't have the stomach for a full rebuild so I wonder how they look this year and beyond. They absolutely tried to patch the team with Newton and that didn't go well.
February 8th, 2021 at 10:51 AM ^
Tampa pretty dramatically demonstrated this year that the difference between 7-9 and being a big winner is the QB, and until Belichick figures that out he is going to have a hard time getting back to where he was with two decades of Brady.
February 8th, 2021 at 12:04 PM ^
This is the best synopsis out of the many that I have read and heard about this entire season of NFL football.
February 8th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
It would be very interesting to see if Belichick reinvents the Patriots again. He's already done it a few times on offense: in 2007 he started the "superstar WR" style, then shifted hard into the "two TE" offense, then went to "a bunch of shifty guys and also Gronk is still around"
I wonder if the next reinvention is going to be "defense first." The guy is a DC at heart, and franchise QBs aren't always available...so maybe the move ISN'T to try to find the next Mahomes? Maybe a bruising offense is good enough in a day when LBs are getting smaller, and then invest heavily into smart/talented/driven defensive minds.
The next couple years will be interesting to watch.
February 8th, 2021 at 1:51 PM ^
Patriots are going to be back in playoff contention sooner rather than later. They have a lot of nice young pieces, including Big Mike on the OL, plenty of draft capital, and IIRC a shit load of cap space.
February 8th, 2021 at 5:16 PM ^
BB is also going to be 69 in April. His time is getting short as well.