"Better"? "Worse"? LOL!
I can only say with confidence that it will be different from the 2017 offense. It's different every year due to personnel availability, and it's always adapted to play to the strengths of the available personnel as much as possible.
Duh.
In 2016, the ground game was a throwback, "pound the rock with Blount" thing. Lewis was just starting to work his way back from injury, so that was what what they had to work with. It was well-supported by the excellent blocking work of Develin and Bennett, Gronk (when healthy) and Fleming (as an extra TE when Gronk was injured).
The 2016 passing attack was dominated by relatively quick middle-distance throws (9-13 yds). This, combined with the strong, power-running attack, helped keep Brady clean by making play-action extremely effective. With Edelman on his game, and assisted by White, Bennett and Amendola/Mitchell, these middle-distance throws comprised 75% of all tgts/rec. Hogan/Gronk, when Gronk was healthy, were the deep threats (> 15 ypc), combining for 63/96 (66% cr) for 1220 yds (19.4 ypc), and another 17% of the overall passing attack. Very short throws (<7 yds) accounted for the remaining 8%.
In 2017, Edelman, Bennett and Mitchell were unavailable, and the middle-distance part of the passing attack dropped off a cliff to 28%. It was carried almost entirely by Amendola and Hogan (when healthy), who combined for 95 receptions, with very minor assists from Britt/Hollister/Bennett. And these mid-range routes were clearly not Hogan's forte - his catch rate of 66% on a 17.9 ypc in 2016 dropped to 58% at a 12.9 ypc in 2017.
With Cooks and a healthy Gronk (and a minor assist from Dorsett), deeper throws increased to 38% of the passing attack ... 146/237 tgts (62% cr) for 2360 yds (16.2 ypc). Shorter throws (7.6 ypc) - principally to White, Burkhead and Lewis - also increased dramatically to 35% of the passing attack (White's routes also change a bit from 2017).
The ground game was also different - more "finesse running", more broadly-distributed, and based more on the versatility of the RBBC members - and it evolved over the course of the season as circumstances and personnel capabilities changed. But it was consistently supported by the blocking of Develin, Allen and a healthy Gronk (Fleming was rarely used as a TE in 2017, even before he started subbing at RT).
In the end, all the dramatic, personnel-driven changes between the 2016 offense and 2017 offense didn't mean a damn thing. In 2016, the offense generated 441 points on 6180 yards. In 2017, the offense generated 458 points on 6307 yards (McD really sucks at OC, right?).
For 2018? There's really no way to know yet what they'll come up with. Over the next six months, McD and company will review all the offensive personnel who are available (including the OTs), judge their current capabilities, and design an offense that maximizes those strengths while minimizing the exposure of any weaknesses. It will also evolve over the course of the season.
IOW, it will adapt; it will be different. And it probably won't be bad at all.
