This thread makes me think of my parents, they are as diehard as you could want during the season, watch every game wearing jerseys yelling and screaming at the tv but the off-season they just have no interest or time to follow it like I do (on here an hour or two a day dissecting every single scrap of news). Does that make them bad fans? No just different and I have to do a quick fill in for them before every season. So actual big picture fill in.
All of the preseason pub this team is getting is legit. If healthy the pats are returning a better team on paper then the one that just won the Super Bowl. There is talk about 19-0 because, again on paper, there is no team as deep and versatile in the NFL. It was a typical patriot offseason in that while there were a bunch of departures none were "big names" and every one was replaced with an equivalent option. Right now the general consensus is the Patriots have a 50% chance of getting to the AFCCG and a 33% chance of winning the SuperBowl by far the highest odds of any team.
I'll start with the free agents.
Lost #2 CB Ryan to Tennessee but replaced him with Stephon Gilmore from Buffalo widely considered to be a top 5-10 corner. Tall and fast with excellent press man skills between him, Butler, McCourty, and Chung, plus the resigning of Harmon for depth, will most likely challenge Denver and Seattle for best secondary in the league.
Lost DE long, sheard to FA and Nink to retirement. Signed Guy and Easly decent role players out, decent role players in for a likely net zero.
Resigned Hightower to a reasonable contract and snatched up vet Jet LB David Harris who while older and needs his snaps managed seems to still have some gas in the tank. Still missing that explosive play making OLB after last years trade of Collins but they seemed to be just fine with a rotation of decent parts last year and look to have those same rotational players again.
Lost TE Bennett to Green Bay traded for excellent blocking TE Allen from Indy. Small downgrade in talent here but this is a guy who can at least step in and keep the offense running if Gronk goes down to injury. With all of the other weapons he would be at most the 4th or 5th option on any play and he is good enough to beat a bad LB one on one.
Lost Blount to philly signed/traded for Giselle and Burkhead. Blount seemed to have hit that 30 year old RB wall and both signings were backups that did very well in limited attempts. Either one could be a franchise back adept at running and catching. While neither is the 260 lb pounder they both have decent size, are younger, and more versatile. Add that to the resigned James White and the pats have 4 RB's with a wide range of skills that will challenge any defense.
The draft
The biggest shock of the offseason was the patriots trading their #32 pick in the first round to NO for 23 year old WR Brandin Cooks. This kid is a faster Deion Branch. Not very big but OUTSTANDING route running and legit break away speed. Already has two 1,000 yard receiving seasons under his belt. The comparisons to Randy Moss aren't fair because they are totally different kinds of players but his impact on the field could be simular especially with Gronk on the field. He requires a deep safety and extra attention as any 7 yard slant is one broken/ran away tackle away from a 50+ yard TD. Between Cooks, Gronk, Eldeman, and lead leader per reception Hogan the pats have an embarrassment of riches at the skill positions and can threaten every part of the field and that doesn't even count the expected second year jump of Mitchell who looked good as a rookie plus the always dependable Amendola.
The rest of the draft was more about the future then immediate impact players netting DE Derek Rivers (torn ACL), DE Wise (who looked like a starter in Preseason until suffering a concussion, LT Garcia, and LT McDermett. They also took 22 UDFA and you know the patriot track record with those is exceptional with at least one or two surprises that make the roster.
So to sum up, best team in the league based on winning the super bowl had no major losses and added two in the discussion best player at their position players. Clear favorites and fully expected to kick ass and take names once again in 2017. All aboard!
