Some Patriots news and notes on this Thursday:
1) Boston Sports Journal owner/writer Greg Bedard put together his latest 53-man roster projection that he talked about in his most recent podcast, with Bedard making a couple of interesting points when it came to potential surprise moves we might see happen next month during final roster cutdowns.
One of those had to do with a couple of names at running back. It appears Lan Larson is going to be a name to watch, as he’s a guy who Bedard has making the club. He also wonders if the Patriots might explore a trade with Antonio Gibson, who he believes might be someone other teams might see value in.
“I have four running backs on the roster: [Rhaomondre] Stevenson, Gibson, [TreVeyon] Henderson, and Lan Larson, the undrafted free agent,” said Bedard. “Antonio Gibson is a guy that I’m probably going to think long and hard about as this summer goes along. I put him on there for now because I just don’t know what Henderson is capable of.”
“I would not be surprised – and at some point in time – where I put sort of Gibson in the cut, possible trade. I don’t know how many people are trading for running backs these days, but I do think he has a lot of value. And if I were a contender, I would be interested in him. Maybe somebody like the Chiefs, depending on what they’re doing at the position, it seems like they’re always a little bit light there. But anyways, for example, right now I have four running backs.”
2) Bedard also kept seven wide receivers as part of his final 53-man group. Among them, he has Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, and Kyle Williams as three players he believes are “Stone Cold Locks.” He then has Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, Ja’Lynn Polk, and undrafted free agent Efton Chism each sticking with the team.
Bedard then goes on to say he still believes Kayshon Boutte could be moved in a trade, with some questions still remaining for the team from that standpoint.
“We’ll see how that all goes down over the course of the summer,” said Bedard. “Once we get pads on and we get to see guys like Chism, we’ll see more where Polk is, considering he was limited in the offseason workouts. I have Kayshon Boutte down as a trade, so we’ll have to see how all that goes. I think that’s another position that could be in flux.”
Boutte’s name is one that came up previously this offseason when Adam Schefter felt he could have been a trade candidate ahead of the draft. That never materialized, and the question still remains how the team views him when it comes to their plans for this season.
Still, one other thing that was also mentioned pertains to Diggs, with Bedard indicating that his future might not be set in New England. It sounds like there still might be some questions internally about the veteran receiver, and if the club still has concerns, Diggs’ performance in camp could open the door to the team exploring options to move him.
“We talked about it last time. If they’re not crazy about him, could he be trade bait, that thing?” said Bedard. “I leave that open. But somebody’s got to be coming in. If Diggs is going out, somebody’s got to be coming in.”
3) The difficult thing with Diggs is just how his knee is going to respond when he starts really ratcheting things up. He’s looked solid in the videos he’s posted on social media, with the veteran not exhibiting any signs of any issues.
Still, Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston talked about him last week in a recent episode of his Next Pats Podcast, and the question is really whether or not he can be an anomaly, given that guys his age coming off that injury often have a tough time bouncing back the next season.
“He’s going to be 32 this year. He’s coming off an ACL injury,” said Perry. “At that position, history of players coming right back and being number one types just isn’t great. It doesn’t mean he can’t do it. It just means for me, it’s a really hard thing to bet on.”
He’s really the X-factor in this offense, and everything this season will likely hinge on his mere presence on the field. He’s a guy who will still command attention, and it’s likely going to have a trickle-down effect on the rest of the group, as it will potentially open things up for other guys to put up better numbers than they did a year ago.
Looking back at last season, Hunter Henry led the team in receiving yards with 674 (2 TDs) while finishing tied with Demario Douglas for 66 catches, with Douglas ending up with 621 yards and 3 TDs. Kayshon Boutte came in third in receiving yards last season with 589 yards and 3 TDs.
When it came to receptions, it was then Austin Hooper who finished behind both Henry and Douglas with 45, followed by Boutte (43), Rhamondre Stevenson (33), Kendrick Bourne (28), and Antonio Gibson (23).
4) They did a good job of spreading the ball around in 2024, and as Perry pointed out, it’s going to be interesting to see exactly how each of these guys might be used in 2025.
“21 personnel, 12 personnel, 13 personnel…I’m not sure we saw any 10 personnel, but if they really want to go and do that, they could do that, too,” said Perry. “One person back, no tight ends. Maybe it’s Rhamondre Stevenson back there. And then you’ve got Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, Kyle Williams out there on the field simultaneously. Wide range of formations.”
“And then in terms of the types of plays we saw, the screen game. I know you’re going to be stunned to hear this, having watched a lot of Josh McDaniels’ called offense over the years, it’s going to be prevalent, in my opinion. But we also saw play-action shots down the field.”
One other thing that Perry mentioned was that, based on people he spoke to this spring, there was some surprise around the league that Douglas wasn’t more involved last year, and he feels that will change this season.
“We saw the slot being used heavily throughout the spring. I thought Pop Douglas was one of their most impressive players,” said Perry. “And given Josh McDaniels’ history, we should not be surprised by that. And if you remember, pods that I remember recording from Indianapolis, from the Combine, in terms of people around the league looking at the Patriots, one of the things they were stunned by last year was that Pop Douglas wasn’t used more than he was. Josh McDaniels added to the fray, you would think all of a sudden his usage is going to see a bit of an uptick. Based on some of the things we saw in the spring, it would not surprise me if that was the case.”
We’re now officially 20 days from the start of training camp, which kicks off on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium on July 23rd.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
Pop Douglas not being used a ton was most likely due to needing WR’s that can run block. IE JaLynn Polk. Douglas isn’t a blocker type. Blocking is big for NFL coaches. The pats faced 8-9 in the box and yet they had to run into that as they couldn’t pass block it. Douglas sits. Hooper in a lot inline blocking. Polk in. That’s what happened. I can’t see the pats trading Gibson as they’d get a 7th rounder. To get through 17 games plus playoffs, you need 4 RBs to start with, and with those 4 having various roles… Read more »