Top 5 most promising Patriots from 2020

[50-yard-line]

Just as a counter to the most disappointing performances of the year, let's flip it. Who are the five who showed more than expected and have you excited about the team going forward?

1. Michael Onwenu - steal of the draft. Hard to believe that someone with his size and athleticism fell so low. Should become a staple on the OL for years.
2. Jakobi Meyers - okay, these first two were easy. Meyers is the real deal - a lot of people thought so last year. Can't believe it took so long for him to get the playing time.
3. Damien Harris - runs downhill, and seems like he's reminded Sony of doing the same. Very happy with the 1-2 punch that backfield will present.
4. Kyle Dugger - seems to always be around the ball. Quick and tough.
5. Adrian Phillips - great pick-up. Get that thigh healed and patrol the secondary, please.

Thoughts?

 

[sb1]

Was going to post a 5 most pleasant surprises topic but this will do.

1. Gunner
2. Harris
3. Onwenu
4. Meyers
5. Jackson

Folk and Michel were also pleasant surprises.

 

[Nikolai]

Before I read these threads, I did the exercise in my head and one of the things I came away with was that there were a lot more honorable mentions among the "promising" group than the "disappointing" group. That's a good thing.

 

[oldrover]

Just as a counter to the most disappointing performances of the year, let's flip it. Who are the five who showed more than expected and have you excited about the team going forward?

 

[Toofy]

Onwenu
Thuney
Harris
Meyers
Jackson
Gunner
Bailey
Adrian Phillips

Honorable mentions

Lawrence Guy
Tereza hall
Herron
Michel

 

[captain stone]

Onwenu
Thuney
Harris
Meyers
Jackson
Gunner
Bailey
Adrian Phillips

Honorable mentions

Lawrence Guy
Tereza hall
Herron
Michel

I think the premise in this particular thread is to find players under contract who might have promising futures here, so that would leave out well-deserving ones such as Thuney & Guy because of their contract situations...

In no particular order:

- Damien the Omen Harris
- maybe JJ Kid Dyno-mite Taylor
- Meyers
- need more out of Gunner than punt returning
- Big Mike Onemenu
- I'm giving Wino at least another season...but he needs some help too...
- Uche, I guess, but whatever...happy?

- Uncle Dugg? He blows chunks in rooftop coverages, but he might not kill you as an off-the-line weak-side LB if he can eat about 10 pounds of Fatburgers and keep the weight on him...and that's only if he even has the grey matter for the position...

- Myles Bryant; need an understudy to Jonny Jones' slot/nickel role...
- JCJack, but don't expect 8 INTs every season, though I do expect to see him get burned more than a couple of times each season...
- Adrian Phillips was already a known commodity when he arrived, and I'm glad he's here...Yo Adrian get well soon.
- Does the Punter & LS count?

 

[farn]

Really like Bailey & Onwenu. To me, they were standouts in 2020 which is even better than potential. Hoping they continue / exceed their excellent play in September. If you bypass Folk (as mentioned, this thread seems to be about longterm outlooks), I’d round out the 5 with Jackson (you don’t need to be a top 5 cb to be valuable & productive), Harris, and Meyers (who’s hopefully a #2 or 3 solid receiver).

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

I don’t think Jackson will be back.
Him or Gilmore or with as good as we have been at finding and coaching up DBs could both be gone.

who here wouldn’t do Gilmore for Jimmy G straight up.

 

[Pape]

who here wouldn’t do Gilmore for Jimmy G straight up.

lol, i dont think even Madden would allow that trade

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

lol, i dont think even Madden would allow that trade

Wouldn’t be fair for which side?

 

[TheRainMaker]

My Top 5:

1. Onwenu: What a find! Does he stay at RT or move to LG when Thuney leaves. Yes, he's leaving.
2. Harris: I love his running style and wants to run you over if you get in his way. He's extremely decisive and can change directions fast. Doesn't hesitate to get to the outside. Him and Michel will be a fine tandem. I don't want to see White vulturing anymore carries from these guys.
3. Myers: The fact that he outperformed Harry is quite pathetic, but great for him being an underdog undrafted FA. With that being said, I like him as a #3 right now and possibly a #2. Pats need a an Alpha Dog at WR that has confidence he can make a play at any time.
4. Jackson: He makes plays flat out. Second straight year he gets 8+ INT's. He's not ready to be a #1 CB, but he's a damn fine #2. He doesn't get down when he gets roasted by an elite WR (as he did several times this year) and isn't afraid to talk smack. He's got a lot of swag and I like that. He's not going anywhere.
5.Dugger: He's here by default as there's nobody else to put here. He seems to be weirdly popular on this board as I think people deep down badly want this pick to work out. He's not horrible, but there's nothing that stands out to you that says "damn"! He's fairly invisible during games as there are no message sending hits, no INT's, no forced fumbles, etc.. Only one pass breakup. He needs to be more of an irritant in year 2 since he plays so close to the LOS.

Honorable mentions:
1. Wynn: He's good when he plays, but he's injured again.
2. Gunner: Should've played last year instead of forcing Sanu out there to pasture and getting injured.
3. Bailey: It's great to find a good punter, but we need more than that. You can't have Gunner and Bailey (special teams guys) leading your team.

 

[Ian]

1) Onwenu - Definitely a pleasant surprise.
2) Harris - Really glad to see him step up this season and given the changes we might see heading into next year, it comes at the right time.
3) Myers - Would love to see them put some additional talent around him to get him more favorable match-ups to see how good he could really be. But he's been terrific and I love this kid's fire and work ethic. Definitely excited about his future.
4) Dugger - It wasn't perfect, but I didn't expect him to contribute as much as he did and he's pretty tough, he held his own this year.
5) Jackson - He had a solid season. My biggest concern will be how he follows it up as the Patriots haven't been lucky in that regard in recent years. It would be great for that to not be the case and for him to grow into becoming the player everyone believes he can be. They'll need him.

One other note:
David Andrews - Can't say enough how crazy the difference was with him back in the line-up. You saw it in the ground game and it was completely different than last year. He was absolutely a difference-maker, and it only further emphasized how important he is to this football team.

 

[TheRainMaker]

David Andrews - Can't say enough how crazy the difference was with him back in the line-up. You saw it in the ground game and it was completely different than last year. He was absolutely a difference-maker, and it only further emphasized how important he is to this football team.

Yep. He had a fantastic year.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I don’t think Jackson will be back.
Him or Gilmore or with as good as we have been at finding and coaching up DBs could both be gone.

who here wouldn’t do Gilmore for Jimmy G straight up.

Jackson is an RFA.

 

[oceansizer]

1. Onwenu - a gem found in late rounds who played really well in his debut season.
2. Damien Harris - I know he has got a potential but he has never had opportunity to prove his value. This season has changed it and I believe we have a starter at RB position.
3.Jacobi Meyers - I remember when during preseason games he played amazingly with Stidham. And suddenly he disappeared because some had believed we had better WRs on our roster. He is not a star but seems to be a good WR3 in my opinion.
4.Kyle Dugger - say what you want but this kid has a heart. Ok,maybe sometimes he is able to lose the coverage but he is everywhere on the field. His athleticism let him play either safety or LB position and cover bigger like TEs opponents.
5. 15th pick in the draft - accustomed to my team playing high-stakes game this time it would be an unexpected surprise ( I hope not wasted)

 

[Flash]

Might be unpopular but I don't think Harris is the solution at RB. He's a good north-south runner that follows blocks well, but he doesn't have elite vision that separates the best from the rest.

This is important because no matter who we bring in at QB next year, this team will need a strong running game. Harris is fine if you have Tom Brady at QB, he's not good enough when we bring a rookie next year or bring back Cam.

Not that we should trade/cut him, but I'd be more comfortable with him as RB2.

And I'm not counting on Michel until he has a fully healthy season.

 

[zimmy]

5 pleasant surprises and 5 most promising are two slightly different categories. I'll say the following:

5 pleasant surprises:

1. Onwenu has to be top. Surprising stud
2. Folk. Was great all year and seemed to have added some leg strength
3. Harris. Looked great when he was on the field
4. Meyers. He's started to look like a building block
5. Philips. Took on the Chung role admirably

5 most promising (i.e. for the future) brings in Dugger and Uche, who I have really high hopes for as key pieces next year.
1. Onwenu
2. Harris
3. Dugger
4. Uche
5. Meyers.

 

[resdubwhite]

in no particular order.
1. Onwenu
2. Jakob J.
3. Harris
4. Dugger.
5. Meyers.

 

[borg]

Might be unpopular but I don't think Harris is the solution at RB. He's a good north-south runner that follows blocks well, but he doesn't have elite vision that separates the best from the rest.

This is important because no matter who we bring in at QB next year, this team will need a strong running game. Harris is fine if you have Tom Brady at QB, he's not good enough when we bring a rookie next year or bring back Cam.

Harris averaged 5.0 Y/A despite playing behind the worst passing QB in the NFL in the past 35 years.
Corey Dillon averaged 4.7 Y/A in his monster Super Bowl year 2004

 

[Flash]

Harris averaged 5.0 Y/A despite playing behind the worst passing QB in the NFL in the past 35 years.
Corey Dillon averaged 4.7 Y/A in his monster Super Bowl year 2004

Patriots offensive line was ranked 4th by PFF this year. Joe Thuney is probably leaving this off-season.