Good morning. Here is your Patriots news, 7-06, and NFL notes this week. But first, we hope everyone had a happy and safe July 4th holiday on Friday. It made for a nice, long weekend for most people, with the fireworks getting better each year. It is a great way to celebrate our Independence Day—still an excellent speech.
Or as my good friend Lee from England texts me jokingly every year, “Happy Traitor’s Day, you bloody Colonials!
During this early quiet period, big news is scarce, as players are on their last break before training camps and the preseason begins. However, ESPN’s Ben Solak compiled a list of the best player chosen at every single draft slot in the history of the NFL Draft.
In his list, 12 Patriots were selected, a perfect A-Team, if you will. One, of course, will be a no-brainer with Tom Brady chosen by New England at #199. But the rest are interesting. I’m not going to quibble over his selections, as it is his opinion.
However, here are the 12 Patriots judged the best player chosen at each of their individual draft slots.
# 23 – Ty Law (1995)
# 25 – Dont’a Hightower (2012)
# 41 – Andre Tippett (1982)
# 42 – Rob Gronkowski (2010)
# 78 – Joe Thuney (2016)
# 87 – Tim Goad (1988)
# 116 – Steve Grogan (1975)
# 124 – Ben Coates (1991)
# 164 – Dan Koppen (2003)
# 198 – Troy Brown (1993)
#199 – Tom Brady (2000)
# 232 – Julian Edelman (2009)
Solak penned a very good (sarcasm font needed) humorous quip about the Patriots drafting Brady at #199. “It was a close one between Brady and Ephraim Salaam, a 13-year journeyman at right tackle…”
Most of the names are well-recognized, with possibly the exception of Tim Goad, for the younger members of the fan base. Goad was a good nose tackle who played seven seasons for the Patriots and was selected to the Patriots All-1990s team.
Tippett has always been my favorite Patriot player of all time. However, during his tenure in the NFL, he played in the era of Lawrence Taylor and for mostly mediocre Patriots teams.
Tippett played his entire NFL career (1982-1993) with the Patriots. He was a five-time Pro Bowler and a member of the 1980s All-Decade team. Tippett was known for his ability to both rush the passer and defend against the run, making him a feared opponent.
He was named the NFL Players Association’s top linebacker in 1985, ’86 and ’87. That was in Taylor’s prime. Taylor acknowledged Andre Tippett as a great player and friend, even calling him “the second-best linebacker I ever saw.”
Quick Hitters For the Patriots and NFL News:
Robert Spillane: The Patriots’ linebackers were the focus of our Patriots No Huddle co-host Mike D’Abate this week—especially Robert Spillane, the middle linebacker, who he thinks will pay big dividends this fall.
“Since 2023, he has been a member of the Raiders. The 6’1” 229-pound linebacker has compiled 497 tackles, 8.5 sacks, six interceptions, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries throughout his NFL tenure,” Mike wrote for SI.
The Athletic also gave high marks to Spillane as a potential “gem” of the free agency class of this season.
“Linebacker Robert Spillane may not be as splashy as the other Patriots signings, but he’ll be a quiet lynchpin on the second level,” wrote NFL Analyst Ted Nguyen. “Competent linebacker play is increasingly harder to find, and teams have paid a premium this offseason to re-sign their linebackers, but the Patriots outbid the Las Vegas Raiders for Spillane’s services. He’s excellent at diagnosing the run and is an underrated zone defender.”
Efton Chism: The Patriots UDFA wide receiver, who is receiving a lot of praise for his spring, was the focus of another one of Mike D’Abate’s pieces for SI. Chism was advocating for his high school coach, Michael Bumpus’ training academy.
Earlier last month Bumpus said that the Patriots would be “freaking silly” if they failed to find a spot for the undrafted rookie on their initial 53-man roster.
D’Abate, with a “Godfather” reference, noted that Chism was happy to pay back his coach for his training methods.
“Accordingly, Chism is both proud and eager to share Bumpus’ wisdom, counsel, and training methods with those attempting to defy the odds through hard work. Despite not being selected in April’s draft, he is entering the NFL with quite an admirable resume — one which includes training with Bumpus since his days in the sixth grade.”
Josh McDaniels Effect: The Patriots’ offensive coordinator was the subject of an intriguing piece by PatsFans.com‘s Ian Logue. McDaniels, who was out of football last year, didn’t spend it sitting around the house.
He traveled around the country and spent time with various offensive minds in both college and the NFL, taking it all in while trying to meld some of the newer offensive philosophies with his own.
There have been some questions by the sports media in Boston and nationally of whether the game has passed McDaniels by. In his last season in Foxborough, the Patriots finished sixth in the league in scoring and third in point differential.
The Patriots in McDaniels’ last Patriots’ season, scored 462 points with rookie Mac Jones under center and offensive weapons that, at least on paper, were not as good as the ones that Drake Maye has now. Compare that to the 289 points the team scored in 2024.
Maye is much more talented physically than Jones. While the jury will be out on McDaniels all season, the feeling here is that the Patriots offense should click much better in 2025 if the group can stay healthy.
McDaniels is arguably the most intriguing member of the Patriots in 2025. If he can turn things around with the offense this year, it will significantly shorten the team’s rebuild. He’s done it before, and not just with Tom Brady. If he and Mac Jones could click, then he and Drake Maye should work really well together.
Aaron Rodgers: The Steelers went all in on Rodgers for just 2025, but there are conflicting opinions on whether it was a good move or not. Some believe it will put the Steelers back in contention for the Super Bowl. Others, not so much.
Former Steeler great James Harrison isn’t sold.
“I think they can make it work if they are winning,” Harrison said on the “Nightcap” podcast. “If they start losing and it’s looking like they ain’t gonna make above .500, I think it gets really ugly, really fast. To the point that they may just be like, ‘You know what, let’s let this dude go midseason. For Aaron, let’s just get him outta here and put one of these other quarterbacks in.”
Rodgers will turn 42 this season, and his skill set is far from what it once was. He padded his stats in garbage time last season, but the Jets were only 5-12 in his starts.
Patriots No Huddle Podcast: Derek, Mike, and I discussed the Patriots’ salary cap with New England’s salary cap guru, Miguel Benzan, aka @Patscap. You can find our podcasts on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. Please take a look and leave us a review.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position.
This will be displayed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
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“Somebody asked me what success looks like, and I said, ‘Yeah, you can judge it by wins and losses during the season, but success for me in the offseason is going to be that the players believe in what we’re doing, and they believe in the message, they believe in the teaching, and they believe in the connections that we’re making.’” — Mike Vrabel
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
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No doubt Maye and McDaniels will work well together. Look at the personalities and work ethic. If the offense doesn’t click however, the blame game media will need to assign what will likely be a team game/team issue singularly to one person. Can’t have a team issue or it diffuses the blame-game and drama angle to much. To complicated to analyze team play and god forbid get into what lineman do and x’s and o’s. Since the media blamed a roster debacle last year solely on Mayo’s head, Vrabel will get a pass unless it’s the D contributing to losses.… Read more »
Great stuff, Jim, as always. I agree with you. By the end of the season, McDaniels and Maye should be lighting it up, unless the injury bug occurs.