2024 season grades

[sb1]

QB - C+. Challenging environment for the QB's this year. Good enough rookie season for Maye but he needs to cut down the turnovers. Also needs to be better identifying the blitz and dealing with pressure. Still raw in a few areas. Just 3-9 this season with realistically 1 legit win. Looking forward to his development in 2025 under a new regime. I don’t think many of us expected a regression from Jacoby that was disappointing. Think the Pats move on and find a new QB2. Milton is a project but he showed enough yesterday to get a shot at QB2 in camp.

OL - F. Unacceptable for an NFL team, period. Big part of the "Challenging Environment" mentioned above. Too many guys getting starts who don't belong in the league. Guys playing in positions that are not their strengths. One guy left the team. Only Onwenu is playing his proper position and he wasn't great. Strange came back from injury and they're experimenting with him at C. Wallace struggled a bit as a rookie + injuries. The offense is gonna suck until the OL is fixed.

RB - D-. Was supposed to be a strength of this team and it didn't turn out that way. Doesn't help that the OL stinks but Rham was a disappointment in 2024, notably his fumbling. Only 3.9 YPA. Gibson had a nice season but he shouldn't be our RB1. This spot could use an upgrade.

TE - C+. Henry was all right, similar stats as last year. Good blocker as always. Hooper was solid depth in 2024 but he is 30 and I don't think he will be resigned for 2025.

WR - D. Dreadful rookie seasons from Polk and Baker with Baker not even playing much in the first half. Huge disappointment coming out of our draft. What saves this from an F is Pop, Bourne and Boutte did well later in the season but none of them will scare opponents. Need to upgrade.

DL - D-. Loss of Barmore had a major impact on this group. Opposing OL's toyed with them a lot more than they probably should have. Run defense was putrid as was the pass rush, two things that were pretty good last year. Wasn't fun to see the Jags run 18 straight at them or whatever it was. White started hot then fell off the cliff. Upgrading this group went from a nice to have to a must as Barmore is up in the air.

LB - D+. Loss of Bentley had a similar impact as up front. Could have used Judon for sure. Jennings was a nice surprise. I don't think Tavai will be back after his comments before the game on Sunday, he seems to struggle more without Bentley. Uche is gone and probably won't be missed.

Secondary - C+. Gonzo turned into a really good player. Easily our best player on that side of the ball and he didn't regress like I thought he might. Dugger regressed partly because he was used in coverage schemes that did not suit him. He seemed slower... his ankle injury or whatever it was didn't help. Unfortunately they're stuck with him for better or worse. Peppers was decent when he came back but his availability for 2025 is up in the air pending the outcome of his court case. Jon Jones made plays but I think he's near the end of the line. Another area which could use an upgrade in 2025.

ST - C+. Baringer was good but that's as high as I'd go. Had some tough moments in the punting game. Slye is a good kicker but don't like the inconsistency. I think the team should look for an upgrade at K. Schooler was great as was M Jones. Coverage was iffy this year.

Coaching - F. Mayo was simply not ready for the job and it showed unless walking it back was in the job description. He gone. The coordinators were also out of their element. Massive regression on defense will probably be the reason why Covington is next out the door. The coaching staff needs a complete re-do. Not ideal trying to develop a young QB but it is what it is.

 

[Guts]

All of them failed
F for everyone

 

[sb1]

All of them failed
F for everyone

The word "for" being optional.

 

[archstanton543]

LB - Could have used Judon for sure.

Don't look up how Judon did in Atlanta this year.

 

[sb1]

Don't look up how Judon did in Atlanta this year.

I know. Still could have used him imo and that says a lot about this defense in 2024. No pass rush that scares anyone.

 

[lancerman]

WR should be F

 

[Thunderhead]

Franchise gets a Z for winning yesterday's game. They deserve to languish for the next decade.

 

[Drunken Cicerone]

Overall organizational grade is an F.

They did absolutely everything wrong this season, right down to winning the one game you should have lost

 

[archstanton543]

My season grades:

QB - C. Maye showed a lot of promise. He has the physical tools to be something special in this league. Still, he has a lot of growing to do. Needs to learn when to take a sack, when to throw it away and when to slide when running. He needs to cut down on the INT's (especially game-losing ones) when trying to do to much. Cryin' Jacoby was unimpressive and way too risk averse for today's game. Milton looked good in very limited action against backups.

OL - F. The worst O-line in the league. Can't pass block. Can't run block. Can't line up right. Can't not move before the snap. Lowe is one of the worst LT's I've ever seen. Often times blocking air as defenders simply run right around him. The rest of the rotating crew of guys were only slightly better.

RB - D+. Gibson saves this grade from being any lower. Rham regressed badly this year. He never had a fumbling problem now all of a sudden he does. Most fumbles in the league. That's the one thing you can't do as a RB.

TE - B-. Hooper and Henry were the biggest producers on offense. If there was a crucial catch to be make it was either of those guys making it.

WR - D. Worst WR room in the league. Polk and Baker made zero impact on the team nor has either developed over the course of the season. Pop, Bourne and Boutte were inconsistent but had a occasional flashy play. No consistency. WR's didn't seem to know where to line up or where to run to for the vast majority of the season.

DL - D. Can't stop the run. Can't generate pressure. Sure, injuries hurt this squad but they were still bad. White started off great but then became invisible unless he was making blatant horse collar tackles.

LB - D+. Nothing special out of this group. Again, injuries played a factor but like the DL, they couldn't generate pressure and also took bad angles on tackles or had poor fundamentals when tackling.

Secondary - C. Gonzo was a bright spot on a lackluster squad. A lot of the CB's a undersized and couldn't cover TE's and the taller WR's but it is what it is. The safeties were less than stellar. Peppers hurt himself by being off the team for a big chunk of the season. Duggar looked lost at times.

ST - B-. Barringer had a mostly up year. Sometimes he'd outkick his coverages and he did shank more than a few this year. Slye was okay. It's cool that he set the franchise record for longest FG. Schooler was the team's only Pro Bowl selection which tells you all you need to know. The squad, as a whole, was much improved after Cam Achord's disaster last year.

Coaching - F. I knew the Pats didn't have a great roster. I know that's it's hard for a rookie HC to come in and replace a legend. I didn't expect the Pats to win more than 3-4 games. What I did expect was a team that would steadily improve over the course of the year. They did not. They were still making the same dumb penalties, the same dumb mistakes and same coaching errors the entire season. Mayo never yelled at ref even when he had cause to do so. AVP was allergic to passing inside the 20. Covington had no idea how to adjust his D on the fly. It was a complete mess. You even had players that were supposed to be benched not being benched because of miscommunication. No accountability. No player development.

 

[mgcolby]

I keed, I keed... Sort of