I voted 10-11. I don’t know why, but getting O’Brien in as the OC/QB coach really has me optimistic. I think Mac knows he has to swim or sink this year, and I just feel that he’s going to have a good year (with BOB’s help). I think he’ll surpass his rookie season stats. I can see him surpassing 4,000 yards and 30+ TD passes.
I also think offensively, the fact that they didn’t select a WR high, they have faith in Thornton, and I expect a breakout year for him. I also think they upgraded by signing Smith-Schuster and Gesicki. I really like the Gesicki signing. I think that O’Brien will use the 2 TE offense that was so successful 10 years ago. Maybe not as much as back then, but Gesicki and Henry are both good pass catching TE’s who can be mismatches.
I also think we’ll see the emergence of Pierre Strong. Belichick truly is the master of the redshirt RB. So many successful Pat’s RB’s sit most of their rookie seasons (Stevenson was the rare Pat’s rookie RB who got a lot of playing time). Strong has blazing speed, shiftinesses and good hands. If he’s become a good pass blocker, he can be a 3rd down back. I think he’ll be the Pat’s #2 back, I’m not that optimistic about Robinson.
Defensively, the addition of Gonzalez, and hopefully the healthy return of Jack Jones, makes our secondary even better than last year. Of course I love our front four. LB we kept Wilson which I think was a good move, good speed, and I think Bentley has become a respected member of the LB crew (by his teammates, not so much by the fans).
Excited about Klemm coming in as our Oline coach, I think that was a big signing. Just feel optimistic.
But I honestly wish they did more for Mac, and though I felt Juju and Gesicki are upgrades, there weren’t any more offensive additions in FA or early in the draft. You look at what teams did for young QBs across the league this year and recently, and the Pats just didn’t do that. Don’t know if that will backfire.
