10 reasons to be excited for in 2017

[BobDigital]

The Pats have free agency to deal with and we will see how that plays out but on the whole there is reason to be optimistic next years team will be better.

#1 Coaching - All 4 key coaches (BB, Patricia, McDaniels and Scar) are coming back next year. For a while it looked possible we could lose both coordinators. The Pats have a good reason to be excited because of this.

#2 Trey Flowers - After a a red shirt year and sitting a lot of plays out early he blossomed. 7 sacks in the the last 9 games and 2.5 in the Superbowl. He could very well improve next year but even if he keeps "just" that pace that would be enough to average 14 or so sacks in 16 games. Not to mention the pressure he gets.

#3 Vincent Valentine - He made a few key plays particularly the 2nd half of the year. The goal line stand vs the Steelers for all intents and purposes iced that game. DTs don't usually do that well year one. This kid will make a big impact year 2. I think he will be better than Brown who is pretty good as is.

#4 Malcolm Mitchell - Had to mention him. Malcolm Mitchell had every reason to not have a good year. He is a rookie trying to learn the system and behind some very good players. Even without Gronk you have Vets like Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, Bennett, White. who played nearly every game IIRC. Add in Lewis and Gronk and he could have easily been excused to have a red shirt year. Instead as a rookie WR he had 401 yards in the regular season and 70 in the Super Bowl.

#5 Joe Thuney - Started off hot then got cold. Maybe hit the rookie wall. But according to PFF had a good super bowl and looking back on the tape it seems he stepped up there with 2 weeks to rest. I am curious what he can do with another year.

#6 Rob Gronkowski - Yes this needs to be mentioned. Lets break up the talk of young players and bring up we will get one of the best players overall in the NFL back. If he can stay healthy I see no defense that can stop the Patriots if the OL blocks reasonably well.

#7 60M+ in cap space - The Pats can if they want bring this whole team back and then some. We will see what they want to do but they are limited by nothing. When you are eyeing over 60M in cap space with most of your key players under contract for 2017 it is hard to assume you will enter this year with anything but a better roster.

#8 Dion Lewis - Why Dion Lewis? Cause lets be honest. Though he was good he was not the 2015 Dion Lewis. That and he got to end the year on a healthy note generally. Now he will get a full off season to rest and there is a very good chance in 2017 we get a Dion Lewis that looked like a character out of a video game.

#9 Jimmy G - It doesn't matter if they trade him or not. Either way Jimmy will be of huge value to the Patriots. If you are a believing in Jimmy (and I am) you have 1 of 2 options. #1 We trade him for draft value (yay!) #2 He is on on roster (yay!). In the first cause we improve our team with talent and low priced players to help Brady. In the 2nd case a Brady injury will not derail our chances. Though I would not like Jimmy to play in the super bowl or anything if Brady goes down 4-8 weeks we would have a QB that could do well and keep us in the hunt for the first seed where in years pass on other teams that would not be the case. Either way it is a very good situation.

#10 AFC will be weak most likely. I have said before and will say again. We have a good path for another championship. Assuming if we do trade Jimmy he goes the the NFC (or Browns) there is no team that will get a great QB to help them. Cousins isn't going anywhere. Romo can't seem to stay healthy so even if traded odds are come the playoffs he won't be there. Mike Glennon doesn't scare me nor does any rookie. To me the only QB that will be in Brady's ball back is Carr (we will see how he looks coming back from his injury). Ben looks shaky at this point. I see some good teams but no great ones likely.

 

[NashuaPats]

One minor critique on your first point. We have five key coaches coming back. Let's not forget about Joe Judge.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

On another note, how many weeks until morons who completely ignore Brady's entire career against the team start talking about how they're "scared" about facing the Steelers?

There are only two ways a healthy Pats team (possibly) does not make the SB again next year

1. Denver gets homefield (They have a lot of work to do on offense first, to say the least)

2. The Ravens get in the playoffs, only team I ever give a shot (not favor of course, but a shot) in Foxboro.

BB/Brady Patriots are 2-5 in the above situations during the playoffs.

They are 18-2 in the AFC playoffs in any different scenario.

 

[Bradyking12]

1. 19-0
2. 19-0
3. 19-0
4. 19-0
5. 19-0
6. 19-0
7.19-0
8.19-0
9. 19-0
10. 19-0

 

[irishfanatic]

The Pats have free agency to deal with and we will see how that plays out but on the whole there is reason to be optimistic next years team will be better.

#1 Coaching - All 4 key coaches (BB, Patricia, McDaniels and Scar) are coming back next year. For a while it looked possible we could lose both coordinators. The Pats have a good reason to be excited because of this.

#2 Trey Flowers - After a a red shirt year and sitting a lot of plays out early he blossomed. 7 sacks in the the last 9 games and 2.5 in the Superbowl. He could very well improve next year but even if he keeps "just" that pace that would be enough to average 14 or so sacks in 16 games. Not to mention the pressure he gets.

#3 Vincent Valentine - He made a few key plays particularly the 2nd half of the year. The goal line stand vs the Steelers for all intents and purposes iced that game. DTs don't usually do that well year one. This kid will make a big impact year 2. I think he will be better than Brown who is pretty good as is.

#4 Malcolm Mitchell - Had to mention him. Malcolm Mitchell had every reason to not have a good year. He is a rookie trying to learn the system and behind some very good players. Even without Gronk you have Vets like Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, Bennett, White. who played nearly every game IIRC. Add in Lewis and Gronk and he could have easily been excused to have a red shirt year. Instead as a rookie WR he had 401 yards in the regular season and 70 in the Super Bowl.

#5 Joe Thuney - Started off hot then got cold. Maybe hit the rookie wall. But according to PFF had a good super bowl and looking back on the tape it seems he stepped up there with 2 weeks to rest. I am curious what he can do with another year.

#6 Rob Gronkowski - Yes this needs to be mentioned. Lets break up the talk of young players and bring up we will get one of the best players overall in the NFL back. If he can stay healthy I see no defense that can stop the Patriots if the OL blocks reasonably well.

#7 60M+ in cap space - The Pats can if they want bring this whole team back and then some. We will see what they want to do but they are limited by nothing. When you are eyeing over 60M in cap space with most of your key players under contract for 2017 it is hard to assume you will enter this year with anything but a better roster.

#8 Dion Lewis - Why Dion Lewis? Cause lets be honest. Though he was good he was not the 2015 Dion Lewis. That and he got to end the year on a healthy note generally. Now he will get a full off season to rest and there is a very good chance in 2017 we get a Dion Lewis that looked like a character out of a video game.

#9 Jimmy G - It doesn't matter if they trade him or not. Either way Jimmy will be of huge value to the Patriots. If you are a believing in Jimmy (and I am) you have 1 of 2 options. #1 We trade him for draft value (yay!) #2 He is on on roster (yay!). In the first cause we improve our team with talent and low priced players to help Brady. In the 2nd case a Brady injury will not derail our chances. Though I would not like Jimmy to play in the super bowl or anything if Brady goes down 4-8 weeks we would have a QB that could do well and keep us in the hunt for the first seed where in years pass on other teams that would not be the case. Either way it is a very good situation.

#10 AFC will be weak most likely. I have said before and will say again. We have a good path for another championship. Assuming if we do trade Jimmy he goes the the NFC (or Browns) there is no team that will get a great QB to help them. Cousins isn't going anywhere. Romo can't seem to stay healthy so even if traded odds are come the playoffs he won't be there. Mike Glennon doesn't scare me nor does any rookie. To me the only QB that will be in Brady's ball back is Carr (we will see how he looks coming back from his injury). Ben looks shaky at this point. I see some good teams but no great ones likely.

Good post. The Cap Space aspect cannot be understated. Read somewhere recently that Pats have 6th most cap space in NFL and the other 9 teams of those in top 10 with the most space are generally the under achieving teams. If all that is accurate BB the GM, gets a tip of the hat from me.
I agree with the point made about all the Coaches coming back (I have stated this in another thread), but in addition the continued presence of Nick Casserio is a huge plus imo.
GO PATS

 

[PatsBoy12]

1. 19-0
2. 19-0
3. 19-0
4. 19-0
5. 19-0
6. 19-0
7.19-0
8.19-0
9. 19-0
10. 19-0

Not this again, please!

 

[gatsby47]

I like it! I hope that the Brain trust for the Patriots continue to beef up the Offensive Line ensuring our protection of TB12. It is always the best we can do to make our games. Simplifying the approach, Tom has weapons, he has the speed of delivery. All he requires is the protection. I sure hate seeing him thrown to the ground. It should be our priority again.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I like it! I hope that the Brain trust for the Patriots continue to beef up the Offensive Line ensuring our protection of TB12. It is always the best we can do to make our games. Simplifying the approach, Tom has weapons, he has the speed of delivery. All he requires is the protection. I sure hate seeing him thrown to the ground. It should be our priority again.

Yeah, he's 40 this coming season and teams focus on the short passing game in big games, it seems. So protecting him becomes even more important. He took a LOT of hits in the ATL game... more than I'd like to recall. And he got up very slowly after the first play of the 91-yard drive. We can't have that on a consistent basis. I know it was one awful game, but I'm still fuming at Shaq Mason. His atrocious play cannot be understated. Most of the hits were a direct result of him just being bull rushed or confused on the stunts. He was the weak link and continues to struggle in pass protection.

That said, I'm happy they were able too get things somewhat corrected by the 4th quarter. Brady had more time and that's when the offense began to click a little. They really didn't run plays that were all that different from the first half. They were there to be had. The difference was the OLine playing better mostly.

 

[drewskie]

We have officially filed trademark rights for "blitz for six" and "no days off". We're onto 2017.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

Another deep run because the AFC is ehhh again. Lets get #6 baby. In prime position for it

 

[dannydyn]

You guys are overzelous.... I'm just glad to have the GOAT another year at the helm

 

[50-yard-line]

#11 playing with house money.

 

[jefmblrd]

There's so much to be optimistic about in 2017.

Hogan and Mitchell really seemed to take to the Pats system, which hasn't always been the case with receivers in the past. I'd like to see them restructure Amendola again, because he's a clutch receiver. I'd also like to see them bring back Floyd; I'd like to see what he can do with a full year in our system as well as a training camp. He's intriguing.

Flowers should improve even more with another year in our system. He was disruptive and showed a nose for the QB; I'm looking forward to seeing his development.

Eric Rowe should improve with a full year in our system; he had a few ups and downs during the season, but he helped to solidify the CB position.

Gronk should come back healthy at some point; I don't think they'll rush him back.

ST's look strong and most of the core players should be returning. Gostkowski had an up and down year; I hope he can straighten out whatever inconsistencies that crept into his technique. I think he can.

The OL should improve with another off season with Scar; guys like Thuney and Karras know what it takes to play a full season in the NFL and should improve. Jackson should come back to provide some help. I'm sure they'll draft another tackle if they can find one with the right value. Vollmer is a candidate to have his contract renegotiated.

The DL with Brown, Valentine and Flowers should improve; I hope they re-sign Branch who had a strong year.

Also hope they re-sign Long at DE; he put a lot of pressure on the QB and still has a strong motor. Ninkovich can still play at a high level; I don't see them re-signing Sheard unless he comes at a cheaper price which I don't necessarily see happening.

 

[supafly]

He took a LOT of hits in the ATL game... more than I'd like to recall.

I could be wrong, but I think he took more hits in the SB vs ATL than he did in the AFCCG loss pummeling at Denver last year.

 

[deroc5050]

#10 AFC will be weak most likely. I have said before and will say again. We have a good path for another championship. Assuming if we do trade Jimmy he goes the the NFC (or Browns) there is no team that will get a great QB to help them. Cousins isn't going anywhere. Romo can't seem to stay healthy so even if traded odds are come the playoffs he won't be there. Mike Glennon doesn't scare me nor does any rookie. To me the only QB that will be in Brady's ball back is Carr (we will see how he looks coming back from his injury). Ben looks shaky at this point. I see some good teams but no great ones likely.

You just don't know, Will the Raiders take the next step? What about Denver? And there is always 1 team that ends up really good that no one expected. And where does Romo land? If Tony ends up on a good team they could be contenders if he can stay on the field.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I could be wrong, but I think he took more hits in the SB vs ATL than he did in the AFCCG loss pummeling at Denver last year.

I'm pretty sure you're right. The stat was 23 times in Denver. At one point midway through the third (don't quote me on that) he was already at 19. I'll look at that more closely when I watch the game again. The OLine, and particularly Shaq Mason, struggled with the stunts ATL ran up front. And when they didn't stunt, Mason was simply being overpowered by Jarrett and Solder had a hard time whenever Freeney used the speed rush.

Brady simply should not be getting hit so much at his advanced age. He's proven he is tough. And everyone knows he takes excellent care of himself. Still, you don't want a 40-something QB getting hit so much. He's also shown that getting hit so much can, at least temporarily, impact his accuracy - the wide open miss to Edelman late in the first half, for example. I hope the Pats can figure something out in big games especially.

 

[Family]

You just don't know, Will the Raiders take the next step? What about Denver? And there is always 1 team that ends up really good that no one expected. And where does Romo land? If Tony ends up on a good team they could be contenders if he can stay on the field.

You never know. Who would have thought Atlanta was a threat to the title a year ago?

 

[mgteich]

I would list White and/or Hogan instead of Lewis.

The Pats have free agency to deal with and we will see how that plays out but on the whole there is reason to be optimistic next years team will be better.

#1 Coaching - All 4 key coaches (BB, Patricia, McDaniels and Scar) are coming back next year. For a while it looked possible we could lose both coordinators. The Pats have a good reason to be excited because of this.

#2 Trey Flowers - After a a red shirt year and sitting a lot of plays out early he blossomed. 7 sacks in the the last 9 games and 2.5 in the Superbowl. He could very well improve next year but even if he keeps "just" that pace that would be enough to average 14 or so sacks in 16 games. Not to mention the pressure he gets.

#3 Vincent Valentine - He made a few key plays particularly the 2nd half of the year. The goal line stand vs the Steelers for all intents and purposes iced that game. DTs don't usually do that well year one. This kid will make a big impact year 2. I think he will be better than Brown who is pretty good as is.

#4 Malcolm Mitchell - Had to mention him. Malcolm Mitchell had every reason to not have a good year. He is a rookie trying to learn the system and behind some very good players. Even without Gronk you have Vets like Edelman, Hogan, Amendola, Bennett, White. who played nearly every game IIRC. Add in Lewis and Gronk and he could have easily been excused to have a red shirt year. Instead as a rookie WR he had 401 yards in the regular season and 70 in the Super Bowl.

#5 Joe Thuney - Started off hot then got cold. Maybe hit the rookie wall. But according to PFF had a good super bowl and looking back on the tape it seems he stepped up there with 2 weeks to rest. I am curious what he can do with another year.

#6 Rob Gronkowski - Yes this needs to be mentioned. Lets break up the talk of young players and bring up we will get one of the best players overall in the NFL back. If he can stay healthy I see no defense that can stop the Patriots if the OL blocks reasonably well.

#7 60M+ in cap space - The Pats can if they want bring this whole team back and then some. We will see what they want to do but they are limited by nothing. When you are eyeing over 60M in cap space with most of your key players under contract for 2017 it is hard to assume you will enter this year with anything but a better roster.

#8 Dion Lewis - Why Dion Lewis? Cause lets be honest. Though he was good he was not the 2015 Dion Lewis. That and he got to end the year on a healthy note generally. Now he will get a full off season to rest and there is a very good chance in 2017 we get a Dion Lewis that looked like a character out of a video game.

#9 Jimmy G - It doesn't matter if they trade him or not. Either way Jimmy will be of huge value to the Patriots. If you are a believing in Jimmy (and I am) you have 1 of 2 options. #1 We trade him for draft value (yay!) #2 He is on on roster (yay!). In the first cause we improve our team with talent and low priced players to help Brady. In the 2nd case a Brady injury will not derail our chances. Though I would not like Jimmy to play in the super bowl or anything if Brady goes down 4-8 weeks we would have a QB that could do well and keep us in the hunt for the first seed where in years pass on other teams that would not be the case. Either way it is a very good situation.

#10 AFC will be weak most likely. I have said before and will say again. We have a good path for another championship. Assuming if we do trade Jimmy he goes the the NFC (or Browns) there is no team that will get a great QB to help them. Cousins isn't going anywhere. Romo can't seem to stay healthy so even if traded odds are come the playoffs he won't be there. Mike Glennon doesn't scare me nor does any rookie. To me the only QB that will be in Brady's ball back is Carr (we will see how he looks coming back from his injury). Ben looks shaky at this point. I see some good teams but no great ones likely.

 

[mgteich]

There's so much to be optimistic about in 2017.

Hogan and Mitchell really seemed to take to the Pats system, which hasn't always been the case with receivers in the past. I'd like to see them restructure Amendola again, because he's a clutch receiver. I'd also like to see them bring back Floyd; I'd like to see what he can do with a full year in our system as well as a training camp. He's intriguing.

Flowers should improve even more with another year in our system. He was disruptive and showed a nose for the QB; I'm looking forward to seeing his development.

Eric Rowe should improve with a full year in our system; he had a few ups and downs during the season, but he helped to solidify the CB position.

Gronk should come back healthy at some point; I don't think they'll rush him back.

ST's look strong and most of the core players should be returning. Gostkowski had an up and down year; I hope he can straighten out whatever inconsistencies that crept into his technique. I think he can.

The OL should improve with another off season with Scar; guys like Thuney and Karras know what it takes to play a full season in the NFL and should improve. Jackson should come back to provide some help. I'm sure they'll draft another tackle if they can find one with the right value. Vollmer is a candidate to have his contract renegotiated.

The DL with Brown, Valentine and Flowers should improve; I hope they re-sign Branch who had a strong year.

Also hope they re-sign Long at DE; he put a lot of pressure on the QB and still has a strong motor. Ninkovich can still play at a high level; I don't see them re-signing Sheard unless he comes at a cheaper price which I don't necessarily see happening.

You have pointed out a couple of keys to the DL: re-signing Branch and Long. With both re-signed, I also see an improved DL. Also, I would expect DE to be a high draft priority, given the ages of Ninkovich and Long.

 

[fan345]

One minor critique on your first point. We have five key coaches coming back. Let's not forget about Joe Judge.

And Ernie Adams.