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Hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July, and here’s some Patriots News for this morning:
1) One thing I wondered earlier this week was whether or not, without Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels would have the same success he had previously, now that he’s paired up with Mike Vrabel.
However, Greg Bedard shed some light on that during a recent Q@A he did on Thursday, providing some insight to that question.
He was asked by someone about a bit from Michael Silver’s book ‘The Why Is Everything: A Story of Football, Rivalry, and Revolution’ as it pertained to Kyle Shanahan, with Silver noting that the 49ers coach has been able to coach every single position on offense, from the offensive line, QB, and to the skill players, and whether or not McDaniels is able to do the same or if he relies on the other coaches.
But Bedard cleared that up, noting that McDaniels can not only handle of that, but also has a good grasp on the other side of the ball as well.
“From what I’ve been told, not only can Josh coach all the offensive positions, but he basically held Patrick Graham’s hand to help improve the Raiders’ defense,” said Bedard. “Belichick has told people the only people he has been around that can coach every position is [Nick] Saban and McDaniels.”
Couple that with Vrabel’s experience on both sides of the football, and it definitely feels like the right pairing for two guys who are hoping to turn things around following two-straight four-win seasons here in New England.
2) It appears that undrafted receiver Efton Chism III has options if things don’t work out with the Patriots over the next month.
The CFL made their negotiation lists available to the public on Thursday, and looking quickly at that list, there was one name that certainly was notable among that list of players.
New England Patriots undrafted wide receiver Chism’s name was among the group that showed up under the BC Lions.
His name being there puts him among a 45-player group for the Lions that grants them exclusive negotiating rights, provided Chism doesn’t end up on an NFL roster.
Chism was already in demand this offseason prior to the Patriots outbidding other teams during the undrafted free agent negotiations. He actually signed a three-year deal at the time, with Mike Reiss reporting that it included $234,000 in guaranteed base salary, along with a $25,000 signing bonus. The Broncos were said to be another team interested in Chism, with other unnamed clubs also reportedly in the mix, but the Patriots seemingly came up with the better offer.
Reiss also pointed out it’s the largest deal among the 16 players they signed at the time, with more guaranteed money than seventh-round selections Marcus Bryant, Julian Ashby, and Kobee Minor.
So far, Chism’s had a strong spring and appears poised to fight his way onto the roster in what’s currently a crowded receiver room.
3) Looking at Greg Bedard’s pre-camp roster predictions, there was another interesting name that stood out as Bedard looked at the offensive line.
Last season was clearly difficult at offensive tackle, with the Patriots making two key moves this offseason to solidify both spots. The first was the signing of veteran Morgan Moses, who will anchor the right side, while rookie Will Campbell is set to hopefully nail down things at left tackle.
From there, it comes down to what they want to do in order to build depth behind those guys. For a good portion of last season, it was Vederian Lowe who started at left tackle, while Demontrey Jacobs held down things on the right side.
Jacobs actually got some work early in the year at left tackle as the club went through 11 different offensive line groupings and sixteen different players playing at least one snap up front in 2024, before Jacobs eventually settled in at right tackle by Week 10.
This year, with Moses and Campbell at the top of the depth chart, it’s going to come down to who can earn a back up role behind them, which Bedard said is going to make for some tough decisions.
“I think it’s going to have a lot to do with who’s on the practice field,” said Bedard during his recent podcast. “Vederian Lowe is a guy who did not take part in many of the offseason practices. I did like what I saw out of him last year. And really, we’re looking for a couple of swing tackles with the third or fourth or fifth tackle position. Patriots normally keep four, two backups. Basically, to me, it’s between Vederian Lowe, Caeden Wallace, Demontrey Jacobs, and Marcus Bryant. I might as well put him in there, the seventh-rounder.”
“But somebody, Bryant could get a future slot. They put him at left tackle at times in the offseason. Looks like a talented kid. Here, he’s a pretty smart kid. I would not be surprised if we get to a scenario where they look at it and they say he’s worth keeping. And we all know how there’s a dearth of tackle play around the league, and it behooves you, you look at the Eagles, these guys who draft guys, sign guys, and just develop them. And I think the Patriots need to start getting into that.”
The question then becomes who the team will invest the time and energy to keep around, with the hope that their ceiling is high enough to make it worth it. Both Lowe and Jacobs saw a lot of action last season, and it was rough for both. They each finished tied for the team lead in penalties with 11, nearly three times as many as the next closest player.
Granted, one would have to believe the coaching last season came down to the fact a hold was better than their future franchise quarterback taking any big hits, but it obviously hindered their ability to operate for a good portion of last season.
Still, looking at the penalties, the split between the two players was notable. Five of Lowe’s penalties were false starts, with the young tackle getting flagged for three offensive holding penalties, an illegal use of hands, and an ineligible downfield pass. On the other side, Jacobs was flagged seven times for false starts, as well as drawing four holding penalties.
The pre-snap penalties were definitely the most irritating, and hopefully an area where we’ll see significant improvement this season.
Overall, as ugly as it was, Maye came out of the year relatively unscathed. Now, as they regroup, they’re basically starting over despite spending last year as starters. Bedard has Jacobs among his final cuts, with Lowe back with the group for another season.
“But to me, it’s Lowe, Wallace, and Jacobs for the veteran swing tackle. Who’s going to be the top backup swing tackle? Who’s going to be the guy as soon as somebody goes down, he goes in? I don’t know who that’s going to be. I don’t have a strong opinion on it. Right now, I have Vedarian Lowe because I do think at times, he did a good Did a solid job at left tackle. Better coaching this year. I think he has the most upside of these guys. Caeden Wallace definitely has upside. His athletic traits are off the charts from what I hear in terms of his ability, his physical ability to play in this league. There’s just a lot of intangible questions about him.”
“Demontrey Jacobs, I really like him. I think they like him. I think he played both tackle spots in the offseason workouts, so that helps him, I think. But in my mind right now, I’m keeping Vederian Lowe on the roster.”
4) Yesterday in this space I highlighted his comments when it came to potential trades, and Bedard believes the same could happen up front along the offensive line.
He feels that Lowe, Jacobs, and Wallace are guys the club could explore possible moves with. In the meantime, Bedard has Wallace being a guy he feels could be a possible trade option.
“I think that all three guys might have some trade interest. Right now, I have Caeden Wallace on the trade block. So I’m keeping Campbell, Moses, Lowe, and Bryant as of right now. I do think that you can get something for Caeden Wallace. I think you can get something for maybe all of them, depending on their preseason film.”
“There are some people that think he’s a guard,” added Bedard. “We saw the Patriots try him there in the offseason workout. I don’t know whether that was a real test or they were just short with numbers, but I just think the case with a lot of these guys, especially the 2024 draft picks, Eliot Wolf’s solo draft, I could see a lot of those guys out the door this year, other than, Drake Maye and those kinds of guys.”
In the end, Bedard also believes that by the end of camp, Maye and possibly Marcellus Dial might ultimately be among the few left standing from last year’s group of draft picks.
“That draft is, I think it’s going to look pretty rough,” said Bedard. “You have Drake Maye. Who knows if Ja’lynn Polk is here? Caeden Wallace, who knows if he’s here? Layden Robinson looking like long odds for the fourth-round pick. Javon Baker, fourth-round pick. Marcellus Dial, I think, has a chance to stick around. Joe Milton’s already gone. Jaheim Bell. I think the odds are long for him. So would I be shocked if the Patriots, once final cuts happen, that they have one player from the draft two years ago? I would not. Vrabel and those guys don’t care. They didn’t pick them.”
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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.
If McDaniels or any OC had a weak area (coaching TE’s or RB etc), enter in the position coaches. That’s their job, not the OC, and moreso not the head coaches job to fill gaps. Regards the 2024 draft class not being there end of summer minus Maye and Dial…. do you take a guy like Wallace, whom has all the talent needed to play NFL ball, and shove him to the exit door when his rookie year was lost due to injury? OMG NO!! Bedard knows that. Same for Polk – he played hurt and needed shoulder surgery in… Read more »