Pats need a reboot or no?

[n1997y]

Where’s Ray?

I refuse to participate in a poll that slights him.

 

[n1997y]

Bottomfeeders reboot. Contenders evaluate and plug and play.

Pats need some more speed on defense and in the receiver Corp

Not bottom feeders. Losers.

The Cleveland Browns of the world reboot. The Colts (remember “suck for Luck”?). The Jets. Etc etc. but not the Patriots. They rebuild on the fly, every year.

 

[n1997y]

Any old IBM S/360 people out there remember Z EOD?

0xB221
0x470
0x01FF

 

[ivanvamp]

The Pats have a very real shot at 12-4 again. They've been very bad on the road this year and tremendous at home. Remaining schedule:

bye (which they definitely need)
at NYJ - should win
vs Min - tough game, but at home, they should win
at Mia - always a tough game
at Pit - toughest game on the schedule
vs Buf - should roll at home
vs NYJ - should roll at home

The two vs NYJ and the Buffalo game are games they should win handily (of course, they should have beaten Detroit handily too). That would put them at 10-3. That leaves three difficult games: home against Minny, and on the road at Pittsburgh and Miami. Miami is bad, but they definitely play us tough there, so who knows. The home game against the Vikings will also be hard but I think that's the kind of game they should win in Foxboro. So that leaves at Pittsburgh, who is playing great but NE does well there historically. Assume they win the "should win" games and then they have to go 2-1 in the other three challenging games to get to 12-4. I think that's doable.

They don't need a "reboot". They just need to play like they're capable of playing.

 

[farn]

NE continued competing WHILE rebooting just a few years ago... I look at the 2012-13 drafts as the setup to the 2014 and 2016 championships.

In 2013 they picked up key players Collins, Ryan, Harmon. None were perfect, but all played a hand in a great run.

In 2012 NE chose Jones and HT - again, key cogs in a changing team.

I don’t think NE needs to « blow it up » but I do feel they need 2012-13 type success to replenish.

 

[Tunescribe]

Pats need a reboot or no?

Days ago you were saying the rest of this season is a cakewalk. Now this? You need a boot in the hind quarters.

 

[Easywolf32]

Pats need 1 STUD LB tackler because obsiously no one wants to tackle anymore, 2 safeties and 1 or 2 good cb's. Otherwise it's the same old welfare defence.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Yeah Pats need to reboot Tenn in their Azz in Gillette.

 

[203Pat]

We need to draft better would be step one. Step two would be find better players in free agency/pony up for homegrown stars.

The bad drafting has absolutely killed our depth. In the past few drafts we end up with maybe one solid starter and a ton of busts. I mean the only “studs” I would say we have drafted lately are Mason and Flowers (who is likely gone). At the skill positions you have to go all the way back to James White for a real contributor and that was in 2014 (I’m not factoring in this years draft yet). Lots of busts drafted high with a few solid starters sprinkled in is a recipe for failure on any team that isn’t quarterbacked by the greatest of all time.
As far as free agency/trades most of those have been busts as well. The Garapollo trade was one of the strangest in recent memory and by all accounts we didn’t maximize value on that one. The same can be said for Jaimie Collins as well. Shelton, Gillislee, Clayborn, Sheard, Burkhead, Bradley Fletcher and Scott Chandler are all FA signings/trades that underwhelmed. Bringing in subpar talent while trading away guys like Collins (would instantly be our most athletic LB) and Chandler Jones (third highest sack total over the last few years) at positions that we are weak at is killing us.
Now I know the salary cap is a factor and you can’t re-sign everyone but do we really need 300 strictly special teams guys every year? Especially when kickoff return is being phased out and offensive numbers are so ridiculous teams hardly punt anymore. You look at most of the Super Bowl winning teams we’ve had they have been deep at almost every position. The early dynasty teams went from 4 or 5 solid players in both groups in the front 7 rotating in to what 2 real legitimate LB’s and one good D-lineman and a bunch of role players or average guys.
Moral of the story, until we draft better and get better contributors in free agency we will be patching together a roster and hoping it holds up at crucial points in the season.

 

[Brewskies]

Gronk is still better than any rookie TE asked to take his spot next year. The odds of a rookie being that complete TE (blocking/catching) are slim. I think Gronk still has quality play in front of him.

He can't be as good as a rookie TE if he is not on the field playing. Too many injuries. He won't get a better contract from the Pats next season and I am not sure BB wants him at the old contract next season. I don't and I love the guy and what he has done in the past for the Pats.

 

[goheels22002]

We need to draft better would be step one. Step two would be find better players in free agency/pony up for homegrown stars.

The bad drafting has absolutely killed our depth.

Shelton, Gillislee, Clayborn, Sheard, Burkhead, Bradley Fletcher and Scott Chandler are all FA signings/trades that underwhelmed. Bringing in subpar talent while trading away guys like Collins (would instantly be our most athletic LB) and Chandler Jones (third highest sack total over the last few years) at positions that we are weak at is killing us.

Moral of the story, until we draft better and get better contributors in free agency we will be patching together a roster and hoping it holds up at crucial points in the season.

First of all, the Patriots have won 10 AFC East championships in a row. They have been to seven straight AFC Championship games. And, three of the last four Super Bowls. The people in Foxboro know what they are doing more than any other NFL franchise.

Second, the draft is where you get inexperienced players. Trading away picks for proven players is as legitimate a use of a pick as selecting some college kid. (See Corey Dillon, Randy Moss, Josh Gordon, Aquib Talib, Wes Welker, etc.) As far as draft depth, we have never seen anything like this year where every single draft pick except for Michel got injured. That does not mean they are "busts." It means they got hurt. Next spring should be very interesting with a 2019 draft class to go with the 2018 draft class competing for jobs.

Third, of the list of "busts" above, Jabaal Sheard was terrific. Burkhead is a good player but gets an incomplete (he'll be back). Adrian Clayborn is good player. Collins was focused on his contract and not playing football, and Chandler was a cap casualty. The Patriots actually got a lot better after the Collins trade if you look at any measure of how the defense performed on its way to a Super Bowl.

One loss on the road and everybody is freaking out. The issue on Sunday, pure and simple, was the offensive line. The Patriots had zero running game not because the backs fell down after two yards, because the line was awful. If the line did its job (they really missed Mason), the Patriots could have sustained drives and ground out a win. Give Tennessee credit - Vrabel outcoached Scarnecchia on defense.

The two week break for the bye is so needed to get the line back in order, get Sony Michel right, and get some guys back.

 

[Biffins]

We're getting a reboot after the Bye. His name is Gronk.

 

[203Pat]

First of all, the Patriots have won 10 AFC East championships in a row. They have been to seven straight AFC Championship games. And, three of the last four Super Bowls. The people in Foxboro know what they are doing more than any other NFL franchise.

Second, the draft is where you get inexperienced players. Trading away picks for proven players is as legitimate a use of a pick as selecting some college kid. (See Corey Dillon, Randy Moss, Josh Gordon, Aquib Talib, Wes Welker, etc.) As far as draft depth, we have never seen anything like this year where every single draft pick except for Michel got injured. That does not mean they are "busts." It means they got hurt. Next spring should be very interesting with a 2019 draft class to go with the 2018 draft class competing for jobs.

Third, of the list of "busts" above, Jabaal Sheard was terrific. Burkhead is a good player but gets an incomplete (he'll be back). Adrian Clayborn is good player. Collins was focused on his contract and not playing football, and Chandler was a cap casualty. The Patriots actually got a lot better after the Collins trade if you look at any measure of how the defense performed on its way to a Super Bowl.

One loss on the road and everybody is freaking out. The issue on Sunday, pure and simple, was the offensive line. The Patriots had zero running game not because the backs fell down after two yards, because the line was awful. If the line did its job (they really missed Mason), the Patriots could have sustained drives and ground out a win. Give Tennessee credit - Vrabel outcoached Scarnecchia on defense.

The two week break for the bye is so needed to get the line back in order, get Sony Michel right, and get some guys back.

Lol I always love the “we go to the AFCCG every year so we don’t need to do anything differently” crowd. Bill the coach and Brady cover up for a ton of the personnel issues. A mix of trading picks for veterans is fine but when you estentially wipeout 2/3 of your draft and end up with Wise, healthy scratch Rivers, and a tackle who never played a snap doesn’t help you depthwise. Trading for veterans means you don’t get 4-5 cheap years to bring in other veterans who may be a tier above the guys you’re forced to sign up against the cap. As far as the veteran trades you mentioned above the only one who has amounted to anything recently is Josh Gordon. The rest of those guys were trades for in the ballpark of a decade ago. There were no personnel issues 10 years ago. I’m strictly talking about the last 4ish years.
As far as Sheard not being a bust he was a healthy scratch a few times so I wouldn’t call that a home run by any means. Burkhead can’t stay on the field which is why he was available in the first place and Clayborn has been pretty damn average. They limited him to 9 snaps against Tennessee because he is a liability against mobile QBs. As for Collins maybe we should’ve paid him maybe we shouldn’t have but when it comes to Chandler Jones I think he is someone we should have made cap space for. We have no pass rush and haven’t for a while and a guy who consistently pressures the QB is not east to come by.
Obviously this team is not terrible but the lack of depth is glaring and the recent moves and draft classes are a direct result. This is not a sky is falling post but this is certainly not a Kool Aid sipping “we win lots of games so everything is perfect” post either.

 

[TheRazorsEdge]

Patriots DO NOT need a reboot but a re-tool and a revaluation of where they are investing their assets.. I think they've missed on that more than anything. I agree with most posters on here who are echoing that we need to draft better.

I'll add on that what we are feeling here are compounding effects from a few different blunders both related to draft and not. One Example...in no particular order: Akieem Hicks skipping town, Alan Branch suddenly turning into a pumpkin at midnight, Failed Dominque Easley experiment, Malcom Brown not panning , and Danny Shelton living up to his Bust label, stripped or traded first round picks... All these things have halted the patriots from truly being able to develop a quality DT. Its almost as if they went all in on Aikeem Hicks and when he left just said...oh well.

I do believe we are at a critical point in time as it relates to the next 2 or 3 drafts. We need to rebuild the back end/depth of this roster. One of the staples of the 'dynasty' Patriots is a bench that is so stacked its arguable our second stringers as a unit are as good as most teams starting units. This is simply not just the case anymore.

We simply cannot judge this years class yet. Duke, Michel, Bentley, Wynn, Berrios might all go on to be etheir all pros/starters/quality depth pieces going forward. We dont know and wont for another year or 2.

1 other extremely important factor not really talked about is health. We came into the season under assumptions that wed have Jeremy Hill, Rex Burkhead, a healthy Hightower, Jordan Matthews, a healthy gronk.. If all these scenarios playout to our favor, I'm inclined to say wed be feeling a bit better.