MORSE: Patriots Offseason Review – Offense
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Offseason Review – Offense
The play of New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye has given the fans some optimism heading into the 2025 season. A look back at what Maye and the offense accomplished last season can best be described as trying circumstances.
Quarterback – The Jacoby Brissett experiment as a placeholder for Maye until he was ready was a complete failure. Brissett behind the sieve that was the Offensive Line was a complete disaster. I still don’t know how they won the game versus Cincinnati. To his credit, Jacoby Brissett was a great mentor for Drake Maye, and he is one of the reasons that Maye was so successful as a rookie. Brissett should not be returning in 2025.
Maye was thrust into the starting lineup much earlier than anticipated. He started his 1st game versus Houston at home in Week 6, and their pass rush overwhelmed him. Remember, he had just two years of college ball and missed his Senior year of High School because of COVID.
Let’s compare Mac Jones rookie season with Josh McDaniels calling the plays to Maye’s freshman season under Alex Van Pelt.
Jones 17GS 10W – 7L 67.6 Comp % 22 TDs to 13 INT
Maye 12GS 3W – 9L 66.6 Comp % 15TDs to 10 INT
Maye had no offensive line in front of him and no running game. He was literally running for his life, as he led the NFL in QB rushing with 421 yards on 54 attempts. However, his running ability was never featured as part of the offense until the last few games of the season. With the innovative McDaniels back in charge of the offense and his ability to coach young players, the future is bright in New England.
Joe Milton was a 6th round pick and a surprise pick at that. Former GM Scott Pioli predicted before the draft that the Patriots would take two rookie Quarterbacks. They took a shot at the big-armed Milton.
To the credit of Alex Van Pelt, Ben McAdoo, and QB Coach TC McCartney, they did a terrific getting the very raw Milton up to speed. Milton started the final game against the Buffalo Bills, and he put on a show. He went 22 of 29 (75%) for 241 yards, a TD and no interceptions. Granted, he was playing against backups, but these are legitimate NFL players, not some scrubs inserted into the 4th Quarter of a pre-season game.
Unfortunately, Buffalo was trying to lose the game to rob the Patriots of the #1 pick in the draft and succeeded. Going into 2025, Milton will be the #2 QB. They will sign a veteran to serve as a mentor and insurance.
Offensive Line – They were truly Offensive. The Patriots started 9 different Offensive Line combinations over the course of the season. Buffalo, on the other hand, has had the same starting group together for 33 of the last 34 games over two seasons.
The problem started in Free Agency as the new regime under Eliot Wolf failed to identify a quality Left Tackle in Free Agency and convince him to play here. Instead, they opted to sign a Right Tackle, Chuks Okorafor, who had lost his starting job in Pittsburgh. They didn’t do their homework on Okorafor because they tried to make him play Left Tackle, which he couldn’t do. It was later discovered that he was having mental health issues and eventually left the team. He was officially released last week.
That left the Draft. After selecting Maye at #3, they opted to trade out of #34 but didn’t take a tackle. Four tackles were taken after pick #37, leaving the Patriots holding their schmenzer in the 3rd round. Finally, the Patriots panicked and took Caeden Wallace at pick #68 in the 3rd round. Wallace was taken a full round earlier than the Pats wanted to take him because of the run on Tackles in the 1st two rounds. Wallace was a Right Tackle at Penn State and had never played Left Tackle in his career. Guess what, Wallace can’t play Left Tackle. His rookie year was a disaster because of the injuries he sustained.
Cole Strange took a half year to recover from his off-season surgery and ended up at Center. This may be his best position, and given David Andrews’s age and recent injury history, this may be a permanent change. Layden Robinson taken in Round 4 played well at times.
Vederian Lowe was acquired in a trade with Minnesota at the end of training camp in 2023 when the Patriots were also in rough shape at the tackle spot, and with the situation even more dire last season, he ended up in a more prominent role. He struggled at Left Tackle, but in comparison to all the rookies that were taken, he played better than all but one left Tackle from the rookie class. The top rookie Left Tackle in the draft, Joe Alt, played Right Tackle, as did Roger Rosengarten, taken just ahead of Wallace.
Ben Brown signed off the Las Vegas Raiders Practice Squad was pressed into service. He was one of the worst centers in the league according to PFF. Jake Andrews was hurt and placed on IR. Sidy Sow was hurt often and when he played, was ineffective. Big Mike Onwenu signed a big contract extension in the off-season and didn’t play up to the amount he was being paid. Demontrey Jacobs was picked off waivers from Denver who had hoped to pass him through to their Practice Squad. Week 4 he started his 1st game at Right Tackle. He had his moments but for the most part he was a turnstile.
Lecitus Smith, Tyreese Robinson, and Lester Cotton are jags and nothing but camp fodder. Hopefully new Offensive line coach Doug Marrone will have a positive effect on the line. They also added Jason Houghtaling, retained Robert Kugler and it has been reported that Dante Scarnecchia will be assisting the team in an unofficial capacity. However, Scarnecchia has since denied those reports, which is disappointing given how incredible of a coach he is.
We need at least three new Offensive linemen, and the Patriots should acquire those players through Free Agency. I don’t like the overall draft pool of talent in this draft. Perhaps they will draft and develop an Offensive Tackle in the mid to late rounds. The class isn’t that good, and it’s unfair to ask one of these potential draftees to come in and start right away.
Runningback – Rhamondre Stevenson had a great game against Cincinnati and was the primary reason they won that game with his Yards after first contact. That quickly disappeared, and Stevenson developed a fumbling problem. There was no accountability for Stevenson fumbling. Those days are over and if Stevenson can’t correct his problem, he will likely be gone. Mike Vrabel will not stand for that.
I loved the play of Antonio Gibson and didn’t think he received enough touches. The team also didn’t use him enough in the passing game. Ja’Mychal Hasty is a Free Agent and probably won’t be re-signed. Terrell Jennings was an UDFA who made the Practice Squad and was called up late in the season.
Tight Ends – Hunter Henry had one of the best seasons of his career. He topped his season high number of receptions (66) and total yards (674). However, he only had 2 TD receptions. Austin Hooper is a Free Agent and also had a good year. He chipped in with 45 receptions, 476 yards and 3 TDs. Both Henry and Hooper are entering their 10th year in the league and are on the other side of 30. I don’t think Hooper will be re-signed. Jaheim Bell was a 7th round pick. He stands only 6’2” and weighs 241 pounds. All three TE’s offer nothing in the trenches as they are all below average blockers. Jack Westover was elevated from the Practice squad and the team picked up Giovanni Ricci and signed him to a futures contract. It is believed that Ricci will be a Fullback at 6’3” 240-pounds.
Wide Receiver – The team finally ended the Tyquan Thornton experiment. Another Bill Belichick the GM failure, as was the signing of Juju Smith-Schuster. Eliot Wolf made the mistake of the ages in trading back from pick #34 and allowing the Chargers to draft Ladd McConkey. In my opinion he deserved to be fired over that mistake. Instead of taking a Tackle, they chose Ja’Lynn Polk, who went on to have one of the worst rookie seasons ever. He followed that up with drafting Javon Baker. He was all talk and no action. Together, they had the worst WR rankings in the entire league.
Kendrick Bourne was nothing special after finally getting healthy enough to play. Kayshon Boutte made a surprising impact when he got on the field. With his disastrous rookie season behind him and his legal troubles in the rearview mirror, he continued to press on and come up big in spots for the team.
The overall best receiver in the room was Pop Douglas. It only took 4 games for Alex Van Pelt to incorporate him into the Offense. John Jiles signed a futures contract after spending the year on the Practice Squad. The 24-year-old Jiles is 6’3” 219-pounds and went undrafted in 2024. He signed on with the NY Giants for training camo. He was cut and the Patriots signed him to their Practice Squad. Jiles played at D II West Florida.
JaQuae Jackson who had been on IR since Training Camp signed an extension this week. During the Pre-Season Jackson had a 38-yard TD strike from Joe Milton against Carolina. Jackson was an Exclusive Rights Free Agent. Obviously, the team must have thought a lot of him to be re-signed. This means the entire Wide Receiver room from the end of the season has been kept intact. The 26-year-old Jackson is a 6’1” 184 wideout from Rutgers. Wide Receiver, and in particular a #1 X receiver, is a top priority in Free Agency. There are also possibilities of trades, where the team can fit an established receiver with a big contract under their large salary cap. Will Bob Kraft spend the money?
Re-sign Let Go
Demontrey Jacobs Jacoby Brissett
JaQuae Jackson (Resigned) JaMychal Hasty
Chuks Okorafor (Released)
Austin Hooper
The annual Underwear Olympics will again be held in Indianapolis. This is the opportunity for the scouts to get accurate measurements on the players (height, weight, speed) as well as conducting Medical Physicals. A few years back Marcus Cannon was an elite Offensive lineman projected to be drafted in the 1st two rounds. At the combine, the Doctors found out he had cancer, which was unknown to Cannon. The Patriots drafted him in the 4th round and moved his treatment to Boston. He went on to have a fine career in the league.
New Offensive Line coach Doug Marrone requires his Offensive Tackles to have long arms. That means if the Tackle’s arms are not 34” long, the Patriots are not considering them a tackle. Grey Zabel’s arm length is 32 ¾” (Official Measurement from Senior Bowl), therefore he will be a Guard/Center in the NFL. I will be interested in seeing what LSU Offensive Tackle Will Campbell’s arm length is. It has been rumored that he has short arms (just short of 34″), and will be forced to move to Guard, not Tackle in the NFL.
Next week I will highlight a few players I am curious to learn more about at the Combine.
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