Of all the bad draft picks Belichick has made over the years, it boggles my mind how he doesn’t get more heat for these two. Two THIRD round draft picks used on a couple of guys that combined for all of five receptions. Total. Between the two of them. That is a stunningly bad evaluation of talent or allocation of assets, whichever criticism you prefer.
That’s before you even get to the assets the Patriots sent out the door to trade UP to get these two players. The Patriots swapped third round and fifth round picks with the Raiders and sent a fourth rounder to Vegas to trade up to select Asiasi. They then traded two fourth round picks and a six round pick, to the JETS no less, in order to trade up to No. 101 to select Keene.
I mean if you’re a glass half full guy, which I admittedly am not, you can give Belichick credit for trying to aggressively address an area of need. After finishing the 2019 season ranked last in the NFL in TE receptions he immediately went out and targeted two tight ends early in the draft. BUT for whatever reason neither guy cut it in New England and the Pats basically flushed six draft picks for five catches. Insanity.
The reason these gigantic swing and misses should have Belichick taking more heat is because they lead to compounded issues. Clearly he saw these guys weren’t going to cut it pretty early on because less than a year later he opened up Robert Kraft’s checkbook and signed tight ends Jonnu Smith to a $50 million deal and Hunter Henry to a $37.5 million deal. You can argue all you want about the reality of cap space, but when you dump five draft picks on two players that provide zero value and then have to go replace them with $90 million in free agent signings it puts your roster management behind the 8-ball. The simple reality is it’s nearly impossible to build a consistent winner in the NFL if you are missing on your top draft picks like this.
This really has just been a disaster of a season. The Patriots just got dunked on by the Buffalo Bills after going 29-3 against them between 2001-2019 with Tom Brady under center. It was a blowout, it was a changing of the guard, but to say it was embarrassing would imply that the end result was surprising. It was not. In the infamous words of Trent Dilfer, the Patriots aren’t good anymore. It’s the first time the Patriots have been swept in a season by a divisional opponent in 20 years, they are dead last in the NFL in passing TDs with 8 (one of which came from WR Jakobi Meyers), and the team is uncharacteristically undisciplined, which was only exacerbated by that head scratching challenge flag Belichick threw on what was clearly a catch directlyin front of him and his son.
Someone clearly told Bill to throw the red flag though so Ernie must be going blind up in that fucking lighthouse.
There is a lot of grave dancing, which is to be expected after the run the Patriots just went on over the last 20 years. But for people to already be comparing the Patriots to the Jets is hyperbole of the highest order. Lets just let this marinate for a little more than 15 weeks before locking the Pats in the NFL basement with the likes of the Jets. I fully expect Bill is going to Execute Order 66 this offseason and just start taking people out left and right because you can tell this season has stung, which can only be worsened seeing Tom Brady’s march to the playoffs down in Tampa. The Pats will have some of, if not the most, cap room in the league this offseason and a Top 15 draft pick so there are some assets there to work with. Whether that means trading up to snag a top tier QB, trading down and rebuilding with even more picks, or hoping another QB shakes loose in free agency, there are plenty of routes back to respectability. I will settle for respectability and then we can discuss returning to championship contender status at a later date.
The best the Patriots can hope for right now is a 2012 Seahawks scenario where they overpay for a backup QB free agent and then hit on a QB with a pick later in the draft. Best case scenario is the Pats sign Marcus Mariota, then draft a QB in the 3rd Round, and Mariota never takes a snap for the team. Similar to how the Seahawks and Pete Carroll gave career backup Matt Flynn a monster 3-year deal before realizing a few weeks later that they had hit the jackpot with Russell Wilson. But stumbling onto another Hall of Fame QB with a late round draft pick isn’t exactlyy probable so I can’t say I am expecting that.
What about former Washington QB Dwayne Haskins? The fastest a 1st Round QB has been outright cut by a team in the last 20 years. Nope. Moving on.
The Patriots unfortunately do not have a lot of elite talent and just about all of their best players are on the wrong side of 30. All of their best offensive players under 30 are linemen and runningbacks, which is why the running game is the only thing thats looked impressive at times. Tight ends we’ll get to in a minute, but the receiving corps is nothing I would bet money on. N’Keal Harry is looking like a gigantic bust and Damiere Byrd and Jakobi Meyers are nice 3rd or 4th receivers, but they are not true No. 1 guys. Things aren’t much better on the defensive side of the ball with their best players under 30 including guys like JC Jackson (who got robbed of a Pro Bowl this year), Chase Winovich, Deatrich Wise, and the book is still out but early signs have looked good on Josh Uche and Kyle Dugger. You can debate anyone I may have left out, but there’s not a lot of young elite talent on the roster except for Jackson (who sneaky got torched last night).
Cam Newton is a great dude, a seemingly beloved teammate, and he has been a model Patriot, but unfortunately he just looks cooked. I don’t know if it’s his shoulder or what, but he just cannot deliver the ball. It’s not all his fault though as the weapons around him have been more like Dollar Store Super Soakers. Even when he does deliver a good pass, he has bum receivers dropping balls like Byrd letting a would be TD bounce off his face mask.
Or rookie (3rd Round pick) TE Devin Asiasi dropping a key first down and adding to his grand total of Zero receptions on the season. Fellow 3rd Round TE Dalton Keene has a measly Two receptions on the year too so Tight End, a historically important position for young/new/mobile QBs, has been BARREN in New England.
Newton can still takeoff for an electric TD run though, which he did Monday night for his 12th of the year. However even that came after what realistically should have been another sack as Newton’s pocket presence and awareness has seemed non-existent this season. But even with the 2nd Most Rushing TDs by a QB in a season (trailing only himself in 2011 with 14), passing for just 5 touchdowns over 14 games simply isn’t going to cut it. I wish it had worked out better, I was really excited to see Cam as a Patriot, but it just hasn’t materialized. It’s not for a lack of effort or attitude, which has been admirable, but even the ever positive Newton sounded dejected after last night’s effort (5/10 for 34 yards, 47.6 QBR).
On Monday he looked exhausted and sounded frustrated. He has been away from his children for months, and not even an admirable work ethic and a team-first attitude has produced much.
“It’s extremely frustrating knowing what you’re capable of but it’s just not showing when it counts the most,” Newton said. “… I’ve sacrificed so much this year and it hurts when you have the outing that you had tonight …
“I’m more or less venting,” he acknowledged.
Jarrett Stidham: Alright down 20+ points, time for me to get in there and start slinging it!
To be fair, Jarrett Stidham, who it looked like might not even see the field, was also terrible, completing 4 of 11 passes for 44 yards with a QBR of 3.7. Again, this team is devoid of elite talent at Wide Receiver (Julian Edelman is still out with a knee injury) and Tight End so it’s hard to evaluate anybody under center, but lets just say Stidham does not appear to be like a young Aaron Rodgers with his path to playing time merely blocked by a former MVP veteran QB.
To make matters even worse, the commentators were borderline depressing too. They will usually try to carry a game broadcast during a blowout, but they were talking about Newton and the Patriots like a “too old to be in the ring” heavyweight boxer that they were legitimately concerned for. And this was with 10 minutes left to go in the 4th quarter. Quite a lot of time to fill as the broadcasters pondered the precarious future of the Patriots.
So we’ll see what the Patriots do and whether they attack the offseason like they did after 2006 when they spent big in free agency and made splashy trades for studs like Randy Moss and Wes Welker, but even then that team had elite building blocks already in place.
All we know is this: Bill has the cap space, an unusually high draft pick, and all the motivation in the world to turn this thing around. Now let’s just hope this is a rebuild and not a tear down.
Yesterday the Patriots fell into a 10-0 hole almost immediately after the ball was kicked. Or at least it felt like it. The defense was getting the ball ran down its throat and making Rams’ ball catchers like Tyler Higbee look immortal in the passing game. The offense had had a possession or two and we watched Josh McDaniels again INEXPLICABLY abandon his power running offense to try and revert back to a passing first attack. It was 10-0 and it was already feeling hopeless.
And then Cam Newton threw the softest pick six you might ever see.
To a few different text threads I had the same reaction. I just laughed. Because of course that’s what happened. Our QB1 who just hasn’t been able to figure it the fuck out all year wasn’t able to collect himself when the entire 53 man roster was on its heels and put some points on the board. He couldn’t, even for a moment, look like the Cam of old. National champion, Heisman Trophy winner. First overall pick. Former league MVP. A guy who once threw for over 4,000 yards. And he couldn’t put together an even half decent drive when we really needed it.
But that might not be the worst part. The worst part is I still go into every week wondering if the old Cam, the real Cam, the one teams really didn’t want to play on Sundays, would reappear. The worst part is he, at least outwardly, still has the confidence. Not quite boastful swagger, but the confidence of a QB who just knows he is either gonna sling it or run around you or blast through you but one way or another you’re in for a long day. The worst part is I don’t want to give up on that guy.
Circumstance plays a part in all this optimism, in this hope. I know that. It’s not like we have an exciting option on the bench behind Cam Newton. When he caught the ‘rona earlier this year we started Brian Hoyer. Now sitting at #2 on the depth chart is Jarrett Stidham, which is to say, the Year 2 of Brian Hoyer. So we sort of, whether subconsciously or not, have known all along we NEED Cam to become that guy again. We need him to be the most dynamic QB in the league, maybe ever. There really isn’t another option.
But really the highest contributing part of this is Cam is just so easy to root for. He’s always smiling, he’s always having fun. He’s said to be an immensely hard worker and a football junkie. He ALWAYS owns up for his own play when it, often as of late, isn’t so great. He’s quick to talk up his teammates both to the media and on the sidelines. The entire coaching staff loves him and has called him the leader of this team almost since the minute he was signed. And all of this after overcoming years of debilitating injuries that sought to derail a once singularly promising career. He is literally everything you want in your starting QB, except that little part about getting it done on the field.
To defend Cam as much as possible, he doesn’t exactly have the Roman army-equivalent surrounding him. The patchwork offensive line has held up fairly well this season but when it starts to leak, holy damn does the boat go down quick. Yesterday was a perfect example of that as Jermaine Eluemunor was treated like a revolving door by the majority of the Rams defensive line. The irony is that I’ve derided Cam Newton all year for what appeared to be a complete lack of anything resembling pocket presence or feel, and yesterday he had those things in droves. He was stepping up, moving around the pocket, and feeling the rush. But none of that matters when you are the blood in the water and there is an AaronDonald Shark loose in the backfield. Then there are his his targets. I’m not going too far with this because I have another blog coming later on this very topic. But it isn’t like we’ve set up our new QB with a lot of weapons. Or any really. Julian Edelman, our one (1) mainstay at wide out has been hurt. We literally didn’t have a TE yesterday, did that dawn on anybody? Dalton Keene is at this point a rookie mini-offensive tackle and I’m convinced Devin Asiasi is a Greek myth where a potentially talented is football player is drafted by the game’s most storied franchise only to be super glued to the bench for all of eternity to pay for past transgressions of his family, or fucking something along those lines. It’s not great. But with all that said, there are guys open. And that is really all that matters. You can’t blame who the guys are if they are getting open. Byrd, Meyers, Ryan Izzo when he is healthy, and yes, occasionally, when he isn’t blocking from the back, N’Keal Harry all get open. Yet all Cam Newton can due a good percentage of the time is dump the ball in the dirt, miss them by a mile, hit a defensive back in the chest, or completely question his own ability and not attempt the throw, which has happened all too often. None of that even mentions the ABBBSURD amount of passes the 6’5″ and change Newton has had deflected/knocked down this year. There have been games where our passing attack has looked like Mugsy Bogues shooting jump shots on Hakeem Olajuwon and there has been exactly zero explanation for it. This whole season, where his career is, and his own skill-set just have be in his head at this point. I can’t imagine what else it could be.
Through the deflections, the frustrating sacks taken, the overall lapses in judgement (I would have let Damien Harris taken his chances 1-1 in the open field against a linebacker from the five last night, that’s just me) I’m still rooting for Cam Newton. And that’s the thing. I’m still saying “Come on man, you can do this” when if this was any other QB I’d be anonymously reporting that they were exposed to the rona, robbed a bank, pee in the pool, doesn’t tip, or has bad breath. Anything to get them the fuck off my team. With Newton, I want him to do well, and I want him to do well with the Patriots. Still. Despite the asshole outfits. He’s just that easy to root for.
We dropped, in all probability, out of playoff contention last night. So Cam Newton probably will not bring the Pats to the heights that we once hoped, and for a lot of us, kept hoping for. This was most likely a one season thing. It won’t have the same feeling, desperately begging Newton to put it together to win these next few, meaningless games; to dig deep for the moral victories that will let us all sleep easier at night. And that just sucks. Because he is so damn easy to root for.
I am not a draft expert nor do I do enough research to put together mock drafts like some of the other bloggers here at The 300s, but hindsight is more fun anyways. With that being said, I have a pretty wait and see type attitude on the draft because it’s impossible to grade a draft before anyone even laces up their Nikes. Anyone who says they know otherwise is lying to you.
1st Round: Patriots trade the No. 22 pick to the Charges for two 3rd rounders, No. 37 and No. 71
Least surprising (non) pick of the draft, which doesn’t make it any less frustrating for everyone waiting for the Patriots to pick for 3 hours before they traded out. Schefter also said the Pats could still get the guy they wanted at No. 37 instead of picking him at No. 22. Well I guess give them credit for not reaching on their first pick THIS far, but maybe that says more about overvaluing a guy a bit much? Remains to be seen.
Their first pick of the night was a safety from a Division II school I’ve never even heard of. At first glance this seems like an absolutely bananas reach, but most mock drafts didn’t have Dugger too much lower than where the Pats took him. From all the reports I’ve read he seems to be a freak athlete with the ability to float around position-wise on the field plus he returns punts, which the Pats desperately need someone besides Edelman to do well. All things that Belichick loves. At 6’2″ he adds another big body at corner for the Pats next to 6’1″ Stephon Gilmore and 6’3″ Joejuan Williams. Projects to be an eventual replacement for Patrick Chung and could likely drop down to cover tight ends like Chung.
Also, Scott Zolak shamed anyone for shitting on a Division II player because of his experience playing with a DII player himself.
You can all sit there and laugh at D2 kids. I played with Ben Coates. One of the greatest TEs of all time. Stud, went to Livingstone College. It’s now defunct. We laughed at him til he took that pass in fiat 55 yards vs Bills. It’s football
Uche is an undersized edge guy who didn’t start a game at Michigan until his senior year, which doesn’t sound great, but is a high ceiling freak athlete who excelled at the Senior Bowl against other top competition. He also has the positional flexibility to play LB or on the line, which the Pats love.
Josh Uche can play linebacker or as a pass rusher in the Patriots' defense. Think Kyle Van Noy or Jamie Collins. Super athletic. He can fill multiple roles in the Patriots' defense. Shorter but super long arms.
This team is BARREN at tight end so I expect Asiasi to compete for the starting role Day 1 if he can pick up the playbook.
Oh hell yeah, Belichick. #Patriots draft Devin Asiasi, one of my favorite tight ends in the draft. Burst and speed to get vertical up the seam and change of direction. Pass-catcher. https://t.co/GH7iPEnAKo
3rd Round No. 101: Virginia Tech TE Dalton Keene (6’4″ 253 lbs):
Dalton “The Cooler” Keene. Dalton “Pain Don’t Hurt” Keene. This kid better have seen Roadhouse because I am not referring to him as anything other than Swayze references from here on out. People complained the Patriots did nothing to plan for life after Gronk last year so this year they went ahead and drafted two tight ends back to back in the 3rd. Seems aggressive, but the Pats got next to nothing out of the position last year and had one of the worst tight end groups in the league (37 catches, 2 TDs). The Pats haven’t taken two tight ends in the same draft, let alone back to back, since the Gronk/Hernandez draft in 2010.
Another tight end for the #Patriots: Dalton Keene was the best tester at tight end at the combine this year. https://t.co/7b52viqz2x
Kicker was a big need for the Pats after the debacle last season and cutting Gostkowski this offseason. Taking a kicker in the fifth round though is questionable. Taking a kicker that wasn’t really on anyone’s board also isn’t ideal. Oh and apparently there wasn’t even much game film of him except for a few YouTube clips. Sweet! Before the next pick was even in though the internet had descended on Rohrwasser for a tattoo on his arm that apparently symbolizes some right wing gun nut group the 3 Percenters. Jemelle Hill wasted no time in labeling his a white supremacist. Rohrwasser quickly denied that he supported the group saying he didn’t understand what the tat meant and he’d be getting it covered up. A bad look for the kid out of the gate, but not entirely unbelievable. He also had a questionable IG post about a controversial public speaker. Not a great start, but maybe we give the kid more than five minutes in the public eye before collectively deciding to #cancel him.
6th Round No. 182: Michigan OG Mike Onwenu (6’3″ 350 lbs):
New Patriots guard Michael Onwenu allowed two sacks in 1,198 pass-blocking snaps at Michigan, per @pff. Zero last season.
Patriots just got the OL steal of the draft imo. Michael Onwenu is a stud. Late 3rd rd grade from me. People overvalue traits a little bit at guard, plenty of guards that aren't elite athletes but physically and technically do just fine. That's him
6th Round No. 195: Wake Forest OL Justin Herron (6’5″ 305 lbs):
Herron was a four year starter and a team captain at Wake Forest last year.
The Patriots select Wake Forest OT Justin Herron with their next sixth-round pick, No. 195. The 6-foot-5, 290-pound Herron was a team captain last year, when he was a grad student at the school.
Absolute MONEY name. Mike Reiss projects him as a special teamer.
The Patriots select Wyoming LB Cassh Maluia with their next sixth-round pick (No. 204). He is 5-foot-11 and 231 pounds, and ran a 4.53 in the 40. Could be eyed with core special teams contributions in mind.
My biggest gripe with this draft was that the Patriots didn’t take a single WR in a loaded receiver class or a single QB even as guys like Jake Fromm continued to slide. It seems like Bill is pretty comfortable with Stidham throwing to the current depth chart of Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Mohamed Sanu, and Jacoby Meyers. Not terrible, but it also wasn’t enough last year with Tom Brady throwing to them. So hopefully the combination of a young QB actually throwing to fellow young players, the addition of a couple tight ends, Sanu getting healthy, oh and the addition (for now) of WR Marquise Lee is a serviceable receiver core.
Almost as if he could hear all of our bitching from his place on Nantucket, Bill then signed two quarterbacks, four receivers, and another pair of tight ends (not including Thaddeus Moss) immediately following the draft. All four receivers are 5’11” or shorter though as the team may be looking to plan for the future at slot.
Undrafted free agents signed by the Patriots (via Patriots.com)
QB Brian Lewerke, Michigan State (6’2″, 213 lbs)
QB J’Mar Smith, Louisiana Tech (6′, 228 lbs)
WR Will Hastings, Auburn (5’10”, 175 lbs)
This one intrigues me the most as Hastings was Jarret Stidham’s go to slot receiver at Auburn.
WR Sean Riley, Syracuse (5’8″, 178 lbs)
WR Isaiah Zuber, Mississippi State (5’11”, 184 lbs)
WR Jeff Thomas, Miami (5’9″, 170 lbs)
TE Rashod Berry, Ohio State (6’3″, 263 lbs)
TE Jake Burt, Boston College (6’3″, 260 lbs)
Hey a guy I’ve actually seen play in person before! He also got a pretty big signing bonus so the Pats clearly see something.
Boston College TE Jake Burt, an undrafted free agent, is signing with the New England Patriots and is receiving $80,000 guaranteed to do it, one of the larger guarantees for undrafted TEs, per source.
As a fellow short, I love this pickup. The little wrecking ball racked up over 3,000 rushing yards in college so he’s not just a third down guy.
DT Bill Murray, William & Mary (6’4″, 280 lbs)
DE Nick Coe, Auburn (6’4″, 280 lbs)
DE Trevon Hill, Miami (6’3″, 248 lbs)
LB Kyahva Tezino, San Diego State (6′, 235 lbs)
LB De’Jon Harris, Arkansas (5’11”, 234 lbs)
“Per NESN, the Patriots gave Harris a significant deal to join the team, perhaps illustrating how high his chances are to make the team as an Elandon Roberts, early-down linebacker replacement.”
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