Dont’a Hightower now becomes the fourth Patriot to opt out of 2020, joining OT Marcus Cannon, FB Danny Vitale and OL Najee Toran. https://t.co/NzfDCxgXEh
And so Patriots RB Brandon Bolden also is planning to opt out of the 2020 season, which would make him the fifth New England player to miss this season.
Today has been a rough day for the New England Patriots and I haven’t even finished my morning Iced Tea from Dunkies. This was bound to happen as the guinea pig that is the MLB showed everyone just how quickly an entire sports league can turn into a disaster with this bastard that is coronavirus. The Marlins have had 17 guys test positive and because of the six degrees of separation other teams like the Phillies and the Yankees had to cancel games as they awaited their own COVID test results.
So if you’re an NFL player watching this quickly unfold, it has to make you think. Is this worth it? If you’re Dont’a Hightower and you’ve already made millions and millions of dollars and won three Super Bowls and you just had a baby, do you want to risk bringing that infection home with you? Even if you’re Clay Travis and you think the risk of getting into a car crash is worse (seriously), do you want to have the anxiety of worrying about that every day for the next several months? It seems like a lot of Patriots players are saying hell no.
Bert Breer was on Toucher and Rich this morning and half jokingly wondered aloud is this the price the Patriots pay for having a team comprised of a bunch of smart, thoughtful veterans. It’s a good question because if you’re a young player or a fringe roster guy you might not have secured the bag yet and you may never get another job that pays nearly as much as the NFL. So thats a risk you are a lot more willing to take than an established/paid veteran in this league. Especially when the average NFL career is like 3.3 years.
The question now is how much are the Patriots in trouble and what if even more players opt out? If you’ve listened to the McCourty brothers at all you have got to be worried about whether they’re going to play or not. Those two are intelligent and vocal guys and they have expressed valid, legitimate concerns with resuming play. Right now the Pats have lost their starting Right Tackle, their best Linebacker, a key special teams and depth RB, plus their fullback and another OL. All of this after the team was already tasked with replacing Tom Brady as well as key veterans like Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, and James Develin.
To be brutally honest I don’t expect most of these leagues to finish the season. There’s just too many people interacting with one another and especially in the MLB with teams flying all around like its no big deal. Now imagine that with rosters triple the size in the NFL. The leagues that went with the bubble are the only real shot we have of seeing a completed season this year, but even the NBA has dudes hitting up the strip club for some drums and flats. I don’t know about you, but a strip club is one of the last places I’d want to be during a freaking pandemic. The NHL may be the only league to get through the year as they have a bunch of historically laid back homebodies in hockey players quarantined up in Canada.
Now I’m not going to panic about the Patriots just yet because I tend to agree with my friend here below, even if it is because I’m wearing rose tinted glasses that Belichick and Brady fused onto my face over the last 20 years.
Am I a piece of shit because I still believe that in the current NFL climate, the Patriots will be better than most people expect because Bill Belichick will have them far better prepared and everyone else will be a mess by comparison?
But that’s assuming we even get to the start of the season. Players weren’t even due to report yet and the Patriots had five guys opt out. Lets watch this Marlins story play out a bit more and see if MLB can get back on track because we’re less than a week into the season and it already has the makings of a doomsday scenario.
However, if MLB can’t stem the outbreak and more importantly assuage any player concerns, it could be the harbinger of bad news for the NFL in 2020.
Arizonasports.com – It appears former Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver N’Keal Harry is not aware of some of his potential rookie duties coming soon in the NFL.
While joining “Fair Game with Kristine Leahy” on Fox Sports 1, Harry was asked by Leahy which bad haircut he would rather have.
Harry was perplexed by the oddity of the question coming out of nowhere, which left Leahy compelled to make sure he knew of the New England Patriots’ tradition of giving rookies terrible haircuts.
Crushed. Devastated. Inconsolable beyond belief. Those are just a words and phrases to describe N’Keal Harry’s face in the screenshot from this interview. He looks like a friend-zoned kid who took the girl he’s secretly had a deep, profound crush on to the prom “as friends” only to have to watch her dance with someone else, possibly with some roaming hands involved.
I myself, like a couple of other folks here at The 300s, take my hair seriously. It’s a part of how I present myself. But I see Harry as someone who truly sees it as part of his identity. And now at the hands of Dont’a Hightower, Julian Edelman, Patrick Chung or otherwise ruthlessly mischievous veteran, his identity may just be male pattern baldness or whatever the inverse of a high top fade is. Someone might just yell out “GIVE HIM THE HAIRCUT VERSION OF THE UPSIDE DOWN” and leave it to the pro football player/amateur barber to interpret.
I for one enjoy me a little hazing as long as it doesn’t cross the line into assault, which this doesn’t. For these guys their lives now need to be about the team and football, not their hair, which is what this ritual represents in a way. So my advice to a man such as N’Keal Harry is to, in a way, cherish the atrocities about to be committed to your luscious locks, as only a very select people ever achieve the greatness necessary to earn it.
And then there are some people like Rex Burkhead who are genetically predisposed to avoid it altogether. That probably sucks worse.
There’s a lot going on in the world of #sports and #entertainment that we can discuss here for #content but that I can’t really draw out into a full blog. So let’s fuck around and touch a lot of bases, shall we?
-A few really interesting fights have been announced lately that I never blogged (woooops).
Nate Diaz returns to fight Anthony Pettis at UFC 241 in August. Hooo baby. That is going to be something. They’ll duel at 170lbs, where Pettis recently arrived and found success, knocking out Stephen Thompson. I’d prefer to see Diaz stick to 155 as his run wayyyy back in the day at 170 didn’t go so well and he simply lacks the strength and power to deal with the bigger and stronger fighters of the welterweight division. On top of that, I still think both are contenders at 155 when they have their heads on straight. And when Nate, you know, fights. As for the match up, if Diaz can set an early pace moving forward, Pettis will likely wilt moving backward as he always has. Likewise if “Showtime” can find a rhythm with his kicks and movement early, it could be a long night for Nate. An x-factor could be if Diaz calls on what happened in his first fight with Conor McGregor and gets the fight to the ground. Pettis is no slouch in the submission department but he’s not a 209 black belt.
Secondly, it would appear Khabib and Dustin Poirier are going to unify the 155lb strap at UFC 242 in Dubai. The card would kick off at 2:00pm EST so it is a PRIME day drinking event. Khabib, in my opinion, is going to maul anyone he faces but at this point in his career you can never count Poirier out, so looking forward to this one.
-Let’s leave MMA town now. I posted something to Facespace about this last night but I’ll leave it here as well. “Game Of Thrones” is the best TV of our lifetime. A true spectacle and something that if I was a douchie Hollywood-type I’d refer to as an achievement. So just because this season hasn’t gone according to YOUR plan and just because there are plot holes that YOU don’t like because they need to wrap the show up, it doesn’t change the fact that there won’t be anything like this ever again and it is still fantastic. It also doesn’t make you cool to publicly scream that opinion off a rooftop.
(O and if you’re trying to turn Khaleesi’s rampage into some sort of anti-feminist slight, please seek some fucking help. Where were you when Cersei did the same fuckin thing?)
-Red and I, once accompanied by Papa G, have kicked off the 2019 golf season, thus far with mixed results. Papa G actually hit the longest tee ball these eyes have ever seen. Not in any sort of productive direction but man I’ll tell ya, it was a bomb. I actually could see all of us making a little leap in ability this year if we keep playing consistently. Either way nice to be out there considering it’s usually been 45 and rainy for the past three months.
–Mattes wrote a great blog on the Jamie Collins signing so go there for a full breakdown. My only divergence from what he wrote is that I’m seeing a few #footballguys note that data points to Van Noy being more productive in our defense than Collins was. Collins just had more flashy plays and pure, visual athleticism. Still, I still love the signing and whenever you can sign a Jamie Collins it is going to make your defense better. As a matter of fact I think the Pats’ LB corps is now sneaky-stacked with Collins, Van Noy, Hightower, forgotten stud Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Roberts.
-I posed this to Red yesterday and I don’t think he’s feeling it but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if the B’s didn’t sweep tonight because they’ve been the only reason I’ve been leaving my house on Saturdays. Having to regress to going out and then socialize would be miserable at this point. So as much as I’m rooting for a B’s victory, it wouldn’t crush me if they didn’t get it.
-The Celtics find themselves in the lottery despite getting to the second round this year. Shouts to Danny Ainge for being able to get us picks but not banners. Pretty cool bud. Anyway there will be a few guys floating around at 14 we could snag and I’m sure someone here will get into it in depth. Looking at the board KZ Okpala from Stanford has an ever improving shot at 6’8 and, if he falls into our lap, Rui Hachimura (Zags) would bring a great skill-set into our locker room and through the season before we bow out before the ECF again.
-I guess some survey came out and the Boston accent won sexiest in America. I’ve lived here 99.9% of my life (2 short stints in Jersey) and I can honestly tell you that if someone comes at me with a hard Boston accent I assume they can’t read. To be honest I think it’s because a lot of people my age fake it to sound hard and if you fake an accent to sound cool or hard you probably are indeed illiterate. Bad beat.
-Lastly, John Wick 3 comes out soon/came out (I don’t fuckin know bro) and LET’SSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I’m a noted avoider of most pure action, boom boom bang pow movies but I love John Wick. It’s Keanu as Bourne pretty much. What’s not to like?
I’ll be introducing a new weekly/bi-weekly feature tomorrow that I’ve had brewing for awhile so we’ll see how that goes. We only have a couple more until the weekend, folks.
In just three weeks since the offseason and new NFL league year began, the Patriots have already lost each of the following from last year’s squad:
Their starting left tackle (Trent Brown)
Their top defensive lineman (Trey Flowers)
Their starting tight end (Rob Gronkowski)
Their top kick returner (Cordarrelle Patterson)
OH, and they could potentially lose their kicker, too, as Stephen Gostkowski still remains a free agent.
Now, it might be a bit misleading to say they “lost” each of these players; many presumed that guys like Brown and Flowers would be too pricey for the Pats to keep, and the team was likely preparing to move on from them anyway. However, the news of Gronk’s retirement certainly wasn’t ideal, and we know the team already swung and missed on multiple free agents or guys on the trade block so far as well (e.g. Antonio Brown, Adam Humphries, Cole Beasley, etc.).
MAN, this dude would’ve looked good rockin’ the Flying Elvis.
Look, I’ve been a die-hard Pats fan for almost two decades now, and Bill always finds a way to build a competitive roster, no matter what. But this offseason saw the team take some pretty big hits, and besides Julian Edelman and a solid running game, the team’s offense is pretty barren.
The thing is, after Gronk’s retirement and a few contract restructurings, the team now has about $23 million available in cap space after having just pennies a few weeks ago. (Which, like, WTF??!!! We couldn’t have figured all this out BEFORE free agency began, guys??!! SERIOUSLY??!!) At this point, I bet they’re saving up the dough for all the extra draft picks they’ll have this year or future re-signings, as there really isn’t anything noteworthy left on the market. (Maybe we could go after Michael Crabtree or Ndamukong Suh?? Ehhhh.)
Love ya, bud, but you couldn’t have said something in February???
While it’s always a futile effort to try and predict anything Belichick will ultimately do, here is at least a quick ranking of the team’s biggest remaining needs this offseason:
1. Tight End
OK. This one seems almost too easy. After losing arguably the greatest tight end to ever play the game, it should be pretty obvious that attempting to replace him would be at the top of the team’s priority list. Some, though, might say that trying to find a replacement for Gronk perhaps shouldn’t be the main focus; he’s a generational talent, and rarely has a team ever had someone so dominant and game-changing at the position. Rather than trying to replicate what they had with him, maybe they should focus on improving other areas of the offense, as they’ll never again find another Robert James Gronkowski.
Sure. I get that. But the team’s current options at the position are pretty bleak. At the moment, the team has Jacob Hollister, Stephen Anderson, Matt LaCosse, and something named Ryan Izzo (?) as its only tight ends on the roster. While Hollister has shown flashes of talent when given the chance, he can’t seem to shake the injury bug and has really only proven his worth in preseason action. Anderson is a decent piece with some potential; I liked some of what I saw from him during his time with the Texans. (No really, though. I think I’ve even started him in fantasy once or twice.) And apparently the team likes LaCosse, as they made a point to sign him as a free agent this offseason. (I literally know ZILCH about Izzo. Moving on…)
Again, while they’ll never find another Gronk, the position has always been a huge part of the team’s offense. Not only have over 20 percent of the team’s total targets gone to guys playing tight end over the past five seasons, but the running game has also relied upon some great blocking from the position, too. For as much as people think of Gronk as a receiver, he was also one the game’s elite blockers, regardless of position. The team also cut Dwayne Allen this offseason, who was another great guy to have up front. Especially with the investment the team has made in the future of its rushing attack, in addition to the lackluster receiving group, something else really needs to be added here this offseason.
Iowa’s Noah Fant is an almost too perfect fit for the team and would be a steal at the end of the first round…if he makes it to that point. (OH, and look he even wears Gronk’s number. Hmmm…)
2. Wide Receiver
WOW, MATTES! Way to go out on a limb.
I know, I know. Even the most casual Patriots fan knows the team needs some serious help at receiver. But it still doesn’t change the fact it’s one of their top needs, SO BACK OFF.
Anyway, while Edelman is still playing at the top of his game, the only other somewhat reliable receiver the team has right now is Phillip Dorsett. Josh Gordon is still under contract, and he was terrific during his time on the field last season. But, while he could potentially play for the team in 2019, who the hell really knows what’s going to end up happening with that guy? The team also recently signed journeyman Bruce Ellington as well as a guy with some sneaky potential in Maurice Harris. But, in reality, Edelman and Dorsett are the team’s top receivers for 2019 so far. Yikes.
Looks like Jules is going to have to be THE man again in 2019.
Fortunately, there is a lot of talent at wide receiver (and tight end) in this year’s draft, so the team could choose to pounce on someone in the early rounds. But, Belichick’s never really been too successful going that route, and I’d still like to see them bring in another veteran guy on a cheap flyer (again, Crabtree??) or via trade. Brady is in desperate need of some more weapons.
3. Linebacker
Here is a position that is being overlooked by Patriots fans this offseason. I don’t think people realize how weak the team was at times over the middle of the defense in 2018. And, to be honest, if we didn’t have such a stellar secondary to clean up the mistakes of those in front of them, it could’ve been worse.
While some might think I get on Kyle Van Noy too much, I want everyone to know that I do realize his value as a pass-rusher/edge defender. He stepped up big time, especially in the playoffs, and he is a key piece on D. I’m not denying that. However, neither he nor Dont’a Hightower (who continues to look older and older with each passing snap) could cover a blind paraplegic stuck in molasses if their life depended on it. Not only did the team give up the ninth-most receiving yards to the running back position last season, but in the playoffs both of these guys also allowed almost SEVENTY PERCENT of the targets thrown their way to be completed. WOOF.
Van Noy giveth, and Van Noy taketh away.
And there’s also the fact that Van Noy and Hightower are literally the only two linebackers who played significant snaps last season. Elandon Roberts has been all but forgotten. And while I am intrigued by second-year man Ja’Whuan Bentley – who showed a lot of promise before losing most of last season due to injury – we still need another guy, specifically one with some speed. Regardless of how you feel about anyone in the team’s current linebacking corps, there’s no doubt that the depth here is super thin.
(BOLD PREDICTION: Jamie Collins, an above-average coverage guy and former Belichick special project, ends up coming back to Foxborough on a cheap deal.)
Round 2, anyone???
4. Offensive Tackle
Again, here’s what seems like another pretty obvious choice, but I’m not highlighting the position solely due to the loss of Trent Brown. After all, the team did spend a first-round pick on a guy last year, Isaiah Wynn, whom is expected to take over and slide right into the left tackle spot this season. And they still have a steady-but-declining Marcus Cannon on the right side as well. Pretty much, the starters are set.
But behind that, there’s really not much. After losing swing tackle Cameron Fleming to Dallas in free agency before last season, the Pats then lost LaAdrian Waddle as a free agent to Buffalo this offseason. Waddle, while not a stud by any means, is a guy who played in 30 games (starting seven of them) for the team since 2016, filling in at both tackle spots whenever needed. (He wasn’t spectacular, but he was a solid, reliable guy who knew the system nonetheless.) So, in reality, the team is down two of its top four tackles from last season.
They did just go out and sign some guy named Cedrick Lang this week – who was drafted in 2016 and has yet to see an NFL snap – and there’s some who really believe in third-year man Cole Croston. Still, though, I’d like to see another solid tackle added within the first couple rounds this April, especially in a draft that is so deep at the position.
I don’t know anything about this Lang guy. But I guess a 26-year-old, 6’7″, 300-pounder is never a bad thing to have.
To me, these are the areas in which the team could see the biggest issues in 2019 if not addressed right away. While a lot of people may also bring up positions like the defensive line or quarterback, I feel as though the team already has enough at both of these spots to get them by for now. (The draft is also LOADED at pass-rusher, so we can feel pretty safe assuming we’ll get at least one or two of ’em.)
What do you think, Pats Nation? Do you agree with my rankings? Is there another position I overlooked entirely? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
ESPN – New England Patriots top draft choice Isaiah Wynn tore his left Achilles during Thursday’s preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles and will miss the 2018 season, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Last year the Patriots top pick Derek Rivers blew out his ACL and missed the whole season. Granted he was “only” a third round pick, he was supposed to be a solid young infusion of talent the Patriots were banking on. This year their top overall pick Isaiah Wynn just blew his achilles and is done for the year. Add that to the fact that they’re other first round pick this year in Sony Michel has missed the entire pre-season with a knee injury and the Patriots draft is looking like a shaky class already, at least in the immediate future.
My point here though is that the Pats have not gotten much out of the draft in the past several years, which is essentially playing with fire in today’s NFL. If we go back and look at the Patriots draft picks in the first 2 rounds over the past 10 years and the contributions they’ve gotten — it gets ugly. I took the first 2 round as the barometer as that is normally the elite young talent you expect immediate contributions from. Guys you’re getting in the later rounds are oftentimes lottery tickets and/or end of the roster players. Anyone that makes a significant contribution from late in the draft is a pleasant surprise, no more no less.
With that being said, lets take a look…
2018
1st Rd – Isaiah Wynn (No. 23), Sony Michel (No. 28)
2nd Rd – Patrick Chung (No. 34), Ron Brace (No. 40), Darius Butler (No. 41), Sebastian Volmer (No. 58)
2008
1st Rd – Jerod Mayo (No. 10)
2nd Rd – Terrence Wheatley (No. 62)
As you can see, in the last 10 years, the Patriots had great success in the first half of the decade, drafting guys like McCourty, Solder, Mayo, Gronk etc. But in the past 5 years (not counting the 2018 draft) the Pats have exactly ONE of those players still on the roster in Malcolm Brown who is solid but unspectacular.
And for the guys that were actively traded away, the Patriots have not received great value in return.
Chandler Jones – Received OL Jonathan Cooper (cut before his 1st season with NE) and a 2nd Round draft pick, which the Pats then traded to the Saints for 3rd and 4th Round draft picks ultimately turning into Joe Thuney, and Malcolm Mitchell (recently cut).
Jamie Collins – Received Browns 3rd Round draft pick, which the Pats then flipped to Detroit for No. 85 overall, which the Pats then used to take Antonio Garcia (played 0 snaps for NE and missed his entire rookie season due to blood clots in his lungs before getting released).
Jimmy Garoppolo – Received a 2nd Round draft pick, which the Pats then flipped to Detroit and traded down for a 2nd and a 4th, which they then flipped a couple of times again in a whole bunch of draft day trades to wind up with Duke Dawson and a 2019 Bears 2nd Round draft pick.
It obviously doesn’t help that three of the last 5 years the Patriots didn’t even have a first round pick due to various reasons, trades, and league mandated penalties from absurdly overblown alleged incidents. This is not a great way to build a deep roster guys.
Your team is built around that young talent because you can’t overpay for everyone. With guys like Logan Ryan, who was formerly the third CB on the Pats, getting $30 million contracts — you rely on young cheap talent to flesh out the rest of the roster. But the Patriots have failed to do that over the better part of the last decade.
That is how we find the Patriots suddenly with the fourth oldest team in the league at an average age of 26.7. The cabinets are bare my friends and most of that is masked by Tom Brady being the goat.
Part of the problem here is the high risk/high reward approach the Patriots tend to take in the draft. Because they have been set at quarterback for the better part of the last 2 decades, they have been able to take some big swings (and misses) on risky players. Taking Rob Gronkowski in the 2nd round with a bad back was a big risk because he was just coming off a missed season due to back surgery. But obviously that paid off as Gronk, when healthy, has turned into arguably the greatest tight end the league has ever seen.
But then there are cases where the team is taking risks in the 1st Round on guys with pre-existing injuries and unsurprisingly those same injuries pop up and the guy never makes an impact. Easley was a guy with two bum knees coming out of Florida and never made an impact with the Patriots because he was always battling, yup, knee injuries.
So it should come as no surprise really that the Patriots lack a core of young, elite players on the roster. All of their best players are on the back 9 of their careers; Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski Devin McCourty, Julian Edelman. They had 2 players in the NFL Top 100 (Gronk and Brady) and exactly 0 players on ESPN’s top NFL players under 25 years old.
Listen this team will be good as long as Brady is upright and pliable in the pocket and Gronk is on the field. But probably not a second longer. With each passing mediocre draft, I am less and less confident that this team will be all that good the second Brady and/or Gronk call it a career.
Quick: name the Patriots linebackers this season besides Dont’a Hightower.
For all the attention the team’s depleted receiving corps has received so far this summer, the current group of linebackers lacks some serious name recognition as well.
Everyone knows what to expect from Dont’a Hightower, the team’s unquestioned leader at the position. It’d be nice if he could stay healthy for once, after missing all but five games last season and not playing a full 16-game slate since his second year in 2013. But when he’s on the field, the guy’s pretty damn good.
And sure, Elandon Roberts and Kyle Van Noy started 14 and 12 games, respectively, for the Pats last year, and they’re likely to be the top two playing alongside Hightower in 2018. But I’d be willing to bet that seven out of 10 fans you’d find on the street couldn’t name them both with a gun to their head.
That doesn’t mean these guys are necessarily anything to sneeze at; Roberts and Van Noy each had 65-plus tackles last year, and Van Noy added 5.5 sacks to boot. Both also received above-average ratings from Pro Football Focus last season. Still, neither player is necessarily going to win you any games, and there’s definitely room for improvement.
Marquis Flowers also came out of nowhere and played all right after the team’s Week 9 bye last season, finishing with 27 total tackles and 3.5 sacks over that time – albeit with 10 of those tackles and 2.5 of those sacks coming in one game against Buffalo in Week 16. He’ll most likely serve as the team’s top reserve.
No matter how you feel about them, though, it seems the team didn’t view linebacker as a big area of need this offseason. They did draft two this past May (Ja’Whaun Bentley and Christian Sam), but other than that there was not one notable move at the position.
The Pats also signed former Falcon Adrian Clayborn. And last year’s second-round pick Derek Rivers – who missed his entire rookie season due to injury – is back as well. Both are expected to help the defense this year, but both are also much more of a defensive end than they are a stand-up linebacker. (Some, though, believe Rivers could eventually become a solid outside linebacker due to his great pass-rushing ability – a la Chandler Jones – so we’ll see what happens there.)
It should also be noted that the Patriots finished with the fifth-best mark in the league in terms of points per game allowed last season (18.5), so it’s not like the defense is in bad shape overall. But the team was 20th when it came to rushing yards allowed per game (114.8), and while that has just as much to do with the defensive line it’s still not a very positive note for the rest of the front seven.
Coverage is another area the team’s linebackers struggled with last season, particularly when it came to opposing running backs. They allowed a whopping 844 receiving yards out of the backfield in 2017, which was the second-most in the league behind Tennessee. The defense also (surprisingly) allowed the third-most passing yards overall in the league last year, which indeed has more to do with the secondary, but the linebackers play a big part in that as well.
And this happened just last week in the team’s first preseason game against Washington:
Here’s the Byron Marshall TD. Gets matched up in man vs a Pats LB, should win, does win and then runs away from him. #Redskinspic.twitter.com/dj2FGNVjCw
On the plus side, Bentley, the team’s 2018 fifth-round draft choice out of Purdue, has looked great so far, both in camp and during last week’s preseason opener, and he’s even been receiving reps with the starters at practice.
Hey, at least Bentley caught Marshall last week! (Photo credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports)
Still, the 6’2″, 255-pound rookie is viewed as much more of thumper who can help against the run, which does not do much at all in terms of helping the team’s pass coverage.
Fortunately, the team often employs a three-safety, two-linebacker scheme, limiting the amount of responsibility the linebackers have in coverage. The team’s solid group of corners as well as safeties Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon (Patrick Chung is more of a run-stopper) can oftentimes pick up the slack and hide the team’s deficiencies in the middle of the defense. This is also perhaps why Bill & Co. chose to focus on other more pressing areas of need this offseason.
The Pats also have guys like Nicholas Grigsby and Brandon King, who are expected to be solid special teams guys. And we can’t forget about second-year man Harvey Langi, who flashed at times early on last season before a serious car accident in October ended his season. Fortunately, it didn’t end his life or his career, and while he is still going to need to win his spot on the team this summer, don’t be surprised if he’s a factor by season’s end. I like what I saw from the kid in his limited action last year.
Welcome back, young fella.
So again, I am not saying the the linebackers are “bad”; I’m just saying that other than receiver, and maybe cornerback, this is probably the area that’s going to see the most ups and downs in 2018.
Gone are the days that guys like Bruschi, McGinest, Vrabel, and Mayo are seen roaming the middle of the defense, striking fear into the hearts of opposing offenses. But can the guys we have this year still get it done? Let’s hope so. For now, I’ll keep the faith.
Check out the rest of “The 300s Previews the Patriots” series here. And be sure to check out the Pats in action tonight against the Eagles in preseason game No. 2.
Browns Wire – “[Jamie Collins] is entering the second season of a four-year, $50 million deal signed after being acquired in a trade with New England. Collins has the seventh-highest contract at his position group. It’s a major stretch to include him as one of the 10 best at his position.
Collins ranks 19th on the list of the worst contracts for each of the 32 NFL teams. The explanation, from Jason Fitzgerald of indispensable contract tracking site Over The Cap, makes a lot of sense,
Collins is a good player, but he is not a difference-maker and does not play an expensive position. The Browns still signed him to a top-market contract, which treats Collins as if he were an elite-level player. He played only six games in 2017 and recorded just 21 tackles with one sack.”
Remember when every story written about the Patriots was focused around how they had so many budding young stars on defense that they would need to find a way to pay them all? Times have changed. Dont’a Hightower, Chandler Jones, Malcolm Butler, and Jamie Collins. Now just a couple of years later only one remains with the team. That is downright shocking.
Chandler Jones has come back to bite the Patriots hard, despite his fondness for consciousness altering edibles, recording 17 sacks last year, made the Pro Bow and finished 3rd in Defensive Player of the Year voting. I always take this list with a grain of salt because its voted on by the players, but Jones was also ranked 28th in the NFL Network Top 100 Players this year. Meanwhile the Patriots had only two on the entire list, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, with exactly zero on the defensive side of the ball.
Now the effect of Malcolm Butler’s departure remains to be seen as his tenure kicked off in an absolutely legendary fashion, clinching a victory in Super Bowl XLIX. It clearly ended badly in New England though with his ultimate and baffling benching in Super Bowl LII. I love Butler, I think he’s a great player but we’ll see how he performs down in Tennessee. Unless Butler is an absolute disaster for the Titans from Day 1, there’s probably no coming back from the roasting Belichick will get for benching Butler in the Super Bowl for the rest of his life.
But, moving on to our old friend Jamie Collins. Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. For every move that Belichick screws up with a Chandler Jones, theres 10 Jamie Collins he ships out of town. The guy was an athletic freak, most notably jumping the offensive line and blocking a kick, as seen above, before the NFL outlawed that too. Collins fell out of favor though and famously bitched about his role on the team. Bill didn’t even blink before he shipped Collins out mid-season to the NFL purgatory that is Cleveland. That very offseason Collins got PAID by the Browns with a 4 year $50 million deal. I remember all kind of shook our heads. Sure Collins had great potential, but potential doesn’t sign the paychecks.
Well after just one year of that albatross of a contract, a year where Collins played only 6 games and had just 21 tackles, its already on the list of worst deals in the NFL.
Somewhere on the calm and icy blue waters of Nantucket Belichick smiles quietly to himself while laying out in the sun on the VII Rings.
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. I sense much fear in you.
A lot of my friends are still pretty pissed off at Bill Belichick for decisions made that may or may not have lost the Patriots a Super Bowl (i.e. benching Malcolm Butler). With all the negative publicity surrounding the Patriots recently fans are seemingly wavering in their confidence. There are a ton of dominoes that will need to fall one way or another before next season, which is what Patriots fans fear most.
Rob Gronkowski could be jumping ship to go hit people with steel chairs.
That would have sounded insane just a couple of months ago, but the longer we go the larger the possibility is that Gronk will walk away from the NFL to join the WWE and chase Hollywood. On the outside looking in that is preposterous because he’s arguably the greatest TE to ever play the game, only 28 years old, playing for an elite team with an elite QB, and coming off one of his healthiest seasons. But he’s also already made tens of millions of dollars and despite his relative health this season, another concussion notwithstanding, Gronk may be starting to think about his mortality. Is it worth it to play a few more years and possibly blow out my knee again, break my arm again, break my back again? People forget just how banged up this guy has been. With the recent run of NFL players retiring young these days it wouldn’t surprise me. It would borderline tragic as a Patriots fan to see Gronk step away, but I wouldn’t fault him.
The Patriots leading rusher Dion Lewis could be gone
Lewis sounded like a guy reserved to a fate of playing in Indianapolis or Tampa Bay next year in a recent podcast with Adam Schefter.
“I love it here…Hopefully it will work out, but at the same time, you can’t really think that way. You have to take care of yourself and your family…At the same time, I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket,” he said. “I know how the team likes to handle their business, and as a running back, you have to make the most of your opportunity…My main thing is just making sure I’m valued. That’s my biggest thing — to make sure I’m valued the way I value myself.”
Similar to many players that excel with the Patriots, Lewis bounced around the league for years before putting it all together and breaking out in New England. It would be a shame to see him leave as the Patriots are nearly undefeated with a healthy Dion Lewis on the field. Thats the key word there though; healthy. While another team may be willing to roll the dice on Lewis’ knees and pay big bucks to sign the RB, I don’t see Belichick doing the same.
Malcolm Butler is gone.
This one’s not even a question. I think Belichick could have burned Butler’s house down and we’d have a better shot at him coming back than we do after Bill benching Malcolm for the entire goddamn Super Bowl. Butler resigning with the Patriots would shock me more than him not playing in the Super Bowl.
Nate Solder is a free agent
He could return to protect Brady’s blind side, which might be the single most important job in all of New England, but he’s also dealing with some very serious real life issues as his young son continues to battle cancer. At some point the commitment it takes to play in the NFL may be more than Solder is willing to sacrifice at this point. I wouldn’t blame him if he walks away to spend more time with his family.
Danny Amendola is a free agent
After taking pay cuts each of the last 3 years, Amendola’s original 5-year contract is up. So while Amendola has clearly demonstrated he is a company man, does he want to play for less than market value yet again? He has carved out a folk hero-esque role here and seems to be BFFs with Tom Brady, so maybe he does, but if someone knocks down his door with a big money offer does that make him think twice?
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Okay, thoroughly depressed now? Time for some SILVER LININGS!
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Tom Brady is the reigning MVP
Whether you believe Alex Guerrero is the next coming of Christ or if you think the TB12 Method is a total crock of shit, you can’t deny whatever Brady’s doing is working. He’s the goddamn MVP at 40 years old and just threw for 500 fucking yards in the Super Bowl. As always with an older player, I fear the end of the road, but Brady has been so damn good its hard to know if thats coming next year or if he’ll be collecting Social Security checks while under center. Either way, life is good.
Julian Edelman will be back
He has been posting workout videos almost daily and while I cringe watching him sprint, jump, and cut on his surgically repaired ACL, I gotta say he looks great. All that while not even rocking a shirt, impressive stuff.
Dont’a Hightower will be back
The Patriots missed him in a bad, bad way this past season. Relying on the likes of 40-year old James Harrison and signing guys like David Harris (who just retired) to fill in for the likes of All-Pros like Kyle Van Noy. So Hightower will be back next year. Until he gets hurt again. But he will be back!
Brandin Cooks will have a full offseason to work with Tom Brady
Who knows, he may even get invited out to the TB12 Neverland Ranch in Montana to work out with the rest of the receiving corp! A lot of the Boston media was pretty down on Cooks, which I just do not get. Was he 2007 Randy Moss? Of course not, but he was one of the most immediately successful wide receivers Belichick has ever picked up behind only Moss and Wes Welker. Usually these receivers come into Foxborough and are a disaster because they just don’t have it anymore, they can’t figure out the system, or they fall out of Brady’s circle of trust. Joey Galloway, Ocho Cinco, and Brandon Lloyd. In his lone season playing with Brady, Cooks had 65 catches for 1,082 yards and 7 TDs. Not too shabby, now give him 6 months to study the playbook and work with Brady and Belichick.
Fear not, young padawan. The city of Boston is not falling into a sinkhole. The Patriots are still elite and while there are some holes to fill and some air needs to be cleared, they will still be one of the favorites to win Super Bowl LIII. That’ll do, pig.
Its been too long, ESPN. I haven’t read a good Patriots hit piece in a few months. ESPN the Magazine just dropped this article today on Tom Brady and the TB12 Method. It used to be Greg Easterbrook randomly attacking the Patriots as part of his weekly 8,000 word diatribes. Then it was Mark Brunell crying on SportsCenter about DeflateGate. Well, now we’ve moved on to Tom Brady and the TB12 Method. Listen, I haven’t bought the book so take this with a grain of salt. I don’t know all the ins and outs of Brady’s program, but I do know a hit piece when I see one. So lets break it down.
“He tried his best, as he always does, but he was alone against a younger, faster opponent, and when he dove, he missed by a foot rather than by an inch and appeared simply to fall down, in pieces. Even those who root against him might then have pitied him, because it was one of those moments when the essence of sport is revealed to be cruelly and coldly biological: Tom Brady, in the course of throwing a pick-six to Robert Alford of the Falcons in the second quarter of Super Bowl LI, had grown old.”
Wait did the Patriots lose that game? Did Brady play terribly? Oh no, it was the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history in which Tom Brady won his fourth Super Bowl MVP and finished the game 43-62 with 466 yards for 2 TDs and 1 INT. Decent.
“He doesn’t just want to play until he’s 45; he has to play until he’s 45, or else he’s not Tom Brady, architect of the impossible.”
I’d say he’s doing alright thus far. While it would be a surprise for him to retire now after years of saying how he wants to play well into his 40’s, I don’t think anyone would necessarily fault him. I might weep like a small child, but certainly no one with a rational brain would put a negative spin on him retiring “early” if he did so.
“When [Tony] Robbins, smiling toothily in his headset, leads the crowd in rhythmic clapping, Brady gamely claps along. He is wearing his own headset, smiling his own toothy smile, and he appears for all the world to be an aging athlete doing what aging athletes have always done — trying to find a way off the field by turning himself into a salesman.”
Jesus christ, I mean I didn’t buy the TB12 book either, but this ESPN writer is out for blood. Maybe Brady is exaggerating? Or maybe the guy who is playing at the highest level a QB his age has ever played at is on to something? I don’t know.
“He answers questions about concussions by saying that his body is none of your business even as he begins to build a business around his body.”
First real valid point of this article. But also, if you’re Brady why would you want to open yourself up to constant questioning about your personal (alleged) concussion history when you’re still lining up every Sunday. Maybe after he retires, but doing so now would just, all together now, create a distraction.
“The TB12 Method offers a portrait of a ferociously limited human being, albeit the world’s “most hydrated” one.”
Hey fuck you buddy, being hydrated is half the battle. Plus Tom Brady is the absolute antithesis of the all-time great QBs. He wasn’t handed a starting job on a silver platter or gifted golden NFL legacy genes like Peyton Manning. He was a backup in high school on a winless team and then was behind about half a dozen other guys on the QB depth chart in college. Sure, he has world’s more athletic potential than any of us, but I don’t fault the guy for harping on the limitations he overcame to get here. Because its exactly what he did. I mean have you ever SEEN his NFL Combine pic?
“In fact, two years ago, I took a hit on my knee during a practice, requiring an MRI. The doctors who read the MRI joked afterward that my knee looked so healthy, they seriously doubted I played professional football.”
Alright thats a bit of a hokey stretch from Tom, but again the guy has already torn his ACL horribly. Legitimately required multiple surgeries to fix it after nearly ending his career so is it out of the realm of possibility that Brady’s “pliability” work has helped avoid further injuries like this? Watch him play and he really does “know how to fall.” Thats a legitimate skill. Its why only children and old people break their arms when they fall down.
“However, if Alford had caught the ball Brady threw to him instead of Edelman, or if the ball had followed its natural course and fallen to the turf instead of being held up by a thicket of arms and legs — or if Pete Carroll had just handed the ball to Marshawn Lynch in Super Bowl XLIX — we might be having an entirely different conversation about Tom Brady. He wouldn’t be an immortal, and instead of talking about the efficacy of the TB12 Method in prolonging prime performance, we’d be shaking our heads about another NFL great reduced to chasing his own ghost. Brady didn’t only get good against Seattle and Atlanta, he also got lucky.”
If David Tyree the insurance salesman doesn’t make the luckiest catch in NFL history or if Mario Manningham doesn’t make that absurd sideline catch then Tom Brady could have SEVEN Super Bowl rings right now. Or Vinatieri could miss all of those clutch field goals and Brady could have none.
“The quarterback was still trying to adjust his game after five years of postseason struggle. Smart defensive coaches had started challenging him, clogging the middle of the field in order to force him to throw outside. In 2013, Brady’s yards per attempt had fallen to 6.92, his lowest since 2006, and he completed only 17 of 68 throws beyond 20 yards.”
In case anyone forgets, 2013 wasn’t exactly the kindest year as far as Tom Brady’s offensive weapons were concerned. While this was Edelman’s breakout season with 105 catches, Rob Gronkowski got hurt and played in only 7 games, Wes Welker left for the Broncos, Danny Woodhead went to the Chargers, oh and Aaron Hernandez got arrested for murder. The Pats signed Danny Amendola, who got hurt and played in parts of only 12 games. The Pats also brought in hugely disappointing rookies in Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce, and Kenbrell Thompkins. Just a little perspective. Moving on…
“The Chiefs drubbed the Patriots on Monday night early in the 2014 season, and Brady played so poorly — so creakily — that talk turned to whether he was, at long last, finished.
Yes the Pats had just drafted Jimmy G before the 2014 season, and yes people like Trent Dilfer danced on the Patriots’ graves.
But the team was not in this freefall that this article seems to suggest. Do we already forget what Belichick’s response was to people asking if Brady would be supplanted as the starter?
“A few days later, Belichick asked running backs coach Ivan Fears to speak to the team. Fears spoke about the importance of attitude, then turned to Brady and, with the entire team looking on, said, “Your body language reeks of fear.”
Thats the beauty of the Patriots as Tom Brady himself has said many times over the years, no one in that locker room is above criticism.
“On the night of Oct. 30, that question was answered — for now, at least — when he traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a second-round pick. The trade came out of nowhere, surprising people close to Belichick, Brady and Garoppolo. But while it’s easy to see the move as a demonstration that Brady is and always will be the one exception to the Belichick Method, it instead serves as confirmation that the Method will always win. Did Belichick trade his backup out of loyalty to a 40-year-old quarterback, or because cutting bait at exactly the right time is what he always does and always will do?”
Literally NO ONE believes that Belichick traded Jimmy Garoppolo because he’s pals with Tom Brady. He did it because he saw an opportunity to get a draft pick that he valued more than he valued Jimmy G at this current time on his current contract. Thats it.
“[Brady] said, ‘I’m at the point where I want to be the best in every possible way. I came across the exercises in Popular Science, and I can already see the difference in my brain function. This kind of brain training is like physical conditioning. It can help anyone.’ “That’s just not how we thought of brain training before,” Mahncke says.”
Taking advantage of underutilized tools in unconventional ways. Very Moneyball of you, Tom.
“He has little sympathy for anyone whose experience might contradict the overarching TB12 narrative. “Players say the biggest reason [for early retirement] is their fear of the long-term effects of playing while injured. I don’t have that fear. They have no idea they can have a body or a career free of the pain that athletes of the past have endured.“
Okay, yes, if I was a fellow NFL player dealing with injuries this line would drive me up a wall.
“What would count as a failure for Tom Brady? Playing until he’s 41 instead of playing until he’s 45? Never winning another Super Bowl? Getting released at age 43 from the Patriots and spending the last days of his career hobbling around for the Browns, still angry that they took Spergon Wynn in the sixth round of the 2000 draft instead of him? Or getting all he wants — playing until he’s 45 and winning two more Super Bowls — only to discover 15 years later that he has recurring headaches and his memory is hazy and he can’t follow the route to the nearest TB12 training center?”
Pretty morbid from ya boy over at ESPN especially when all Brady is trying to do is mitigate the chances of injuries like that. Not glorifying CTE inducing hits like *your* employer ESPN used to do back in the day with the JACKED UP segment.
Then these guys completely forgo subtlety and all but blame the TB12 method for not helping prevent Julian Edelman’s torn ACL, or Dont’a Hightower’s torn pectoral muscle, or Amendola’s concussion. Listen, I’m not a disciple, but this book is not being sold to people as a way to never get injured again. Brady has said himself that its about preventative measures and recovery more than anything else.
I don’t know, if you want to read the article its pretty in depth, but I got a very haterade vibe to the whole thing; not just towards the TB12 Method, but towards Tom Brady himself. Color me shocked.
SI – New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower has a torn pectoral muscle and will miss the rest of the season, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
This Patriots team is falling apart at the seams. First it was Julian Edelman blowing his knee out and now its our defensive captain in Hightower. In the first year of his new contract too, what a goddamn bummer. This will be the first time that Hightower, who has a reputation for missing time, will miss more than 2 games in a row as a Patriot. So now the Pats will have to scramble to shore up yet another hole on their roster.
If theres any silver lining at all its that this injury happened a few days before the trade deadline. Not like theres a Pro-Bowl linebacker out there to be had for cheap, but it gives the Patriots way more options than if this injury happened next week.
I think Belichick secretly strokes it to situations like this though. He fucking HATED every minute of this pre-season when people saying the Pats could go 19-0. But, take away his best receiver and his best defensive player? Now we’re cooking with gas. People are doubting us now, saying we don’t have the personnel. Stephon Gilmore’s a bum you say? MEET JOHNSON BADEMOSI! Oh Hightower’s hurt? BRING IN CASSIUS MARSH! Edelman went down? I HAVE FIVE RUNNINGBACKS ON THIS ROSTER!
The guy just loves playing checkers especially when its on All-Madden mode with an injury plagued team. Belichick loves being in the trenches just putting out fires; thats where his genius really comes into play. If we’re being honest, anyone could have fell ass backwards into Tom Brady in the 6th round or known to take Vince Wilfork in the first round. Most guys though aren’t able to craft an entire roster and keep the train moving down the tracks while the engine’s on fire. As fictional Miami Dolphins GM Larry Siefert once said in Ballers: anyone can fill the top or the bottom of a roster, its those guys in the middle that set you apart.
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“In fact, two years ago, I took a hit on my knee during a practice, requiring an MRI. The doctors who read the MRI joked afterward that my knee looked so healthy, they seriously doubted I played professional football.”
The 300s 