Patriots Daily Notebook 7/7: Surprises Likely Ahead, Harrison To Be Honored
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A little late with this entry today, but here is some Patriots news on this Monday:
1) One aspect of the team that will be interesting to follow will be how 7th-round pick Julian Ashby fits in this season, especially given that his pick ultimately led to New England parting ways with long-time standout Joe Cardona.
Ashby played three seasons at Furman and finished his career at Vanderbilt, where he managed to make a name for himself. He ultimately garnered interest on draft day, with the Patriots pulling the trigger with the 251st pick back in April.
Some reports at the time indicated that part of the reason New England spent a seventh-round pick on him came due to the fact that Ashby was rumored to have a number of clubs vying for his services. That led to New England’s decision to take him in the draft, guaranteeing that they’d have him in the fold.
Meanwhile, the Patriots ended up turning heads when they ultimately followed his addition by parting with Cardona, which now makes Ashby – barring a disastrous training camp – a likely lock heading into the 2025 season.
However, contributions by long-snappers are definitely an underrated part of team’s special teams units. When things go well, it’s easy to forget they were even out there, and the Patriots were fortunate to previously survive Cardona’s absence, having lost him late during the 2022 season after he suffered a torn tendon in his foot.
Cardona suffered the injury on December 12th during New England’s 27-13 win in Arizona, and played through it the following week during a 30-24 loss in Las Vegas against the Raiders. However, after returning home, the club determined his season was over.
That led to Tucker Addington, who was on their practice squad, getting the remainder of the action to finish out the season.
Addington was solid over the final three games of the season, which was fairly quiet. That span saw the club attempt just 2 field goals to finish out the year before Cardona returned the following season.
2022 Field Goal / Punts – Weeks 16-18:
vs Cincinnati: 0 FG attempts, 4 punts
vs Miami: 1/1 FG attempts, 5 punts
at Buffalo: 1/1 FG attempt, 4 punts
They’ve been lucky from a longevity standpoint. Cardona was a consistent presence during his incredible tenure in New England, so there is some risk in turning the reins over to Ashby.
Mike Reiss of ESPN caught up with Ashby’s special-teams coach at Vanderbilt, Jeff LePak, who praised Ashby’s accuracy, noting that he made things easy for them in the kicking game.
“Julian’s accuracy makes it easy for the punter on his long snaps, and easy for the holder on the short snaps,” LePak told Reiss. “We had a really good year last year field goal kicking and punting, and a lot of that was due to him. We have really good punters and kickers, but when they don’t have to worry about a bad snap or misplaced snap, it makes their job so much easier.”
Bad snaps can certainly cost teams games. New England has been fortunate over the years from that standpoint, having had Cardona since taking him in the fifth round back in the 2015 draft (166th overall). Cardona replaced Danny Aiken, who spent three seasons with the team but was someone they continually brought in competition for.
Cardona’s selection in the fifth round that offseason certainly raised some eyebrows, as there were some who weren’t necessarily keen on the club taking a long-snapper that high. Still, Cardona became a key player on special teams, allowing the long-snapper position to be one that has essentially flown under the radar since he’s been here.
Former head coach Bill Belichick was asked back in 2021 why teams didn’t turn those duties over to a center or another lineman, which would potentially save a roster spot.
Belichick explained that it’s something that requires a lot by the player handling those duties, which given how much linemen are already responsible for, isn’t quite as easy as it looks.
“I mean, it’s a great question,” Belichick said via former Patriots.com writer Erik Scalavino. “There would be so much value in a player that could do a couple of things and save a roster spot, but I would say there are so few of those players available … I’m not saying it’s impossible or unheard of, but it’s a lot to ask, and that’s why you don’t see it very much.”
As for what life is like when a long-snapper ends up in the crosshairs, all you have to do is look at the 49ers last season. A blowup between Deebo Samuel and San Francisco long snapper Taybor Pepper during a match-up in Tampa Bay came after kicker Jake Moody missed three field goals. At one point during the game, Samuel went after Pepper following a miss, grabbing Pepper’s throat before the two were separated.
Clearly, Samuel blamed Pepper for Moody’s struggles, despite the fact that video of Moody’s third miss showed a clean snap from Pepper, with the kicker simply pushing it wide right.
Watching a compilation of bad snaps from previous years, those are plays that often change the outcome of a game. A botched snap where the ball goes over the punter’s head or a missed field goal typically provides terrific field position for the opponent, which is why the emphasis on special teams has been so key here in New England. Mike Vrabel has also mentioned it since being hired, and this move is definitely a risk.
For now, Ashby will remain a player to keep an eye on in a couple of weeks. Hopefully, after that, like Cardona, he plays well enough that people forget all about him.
2) Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison is finally getting some recognition from another one of his former teams.
The Chargers announced last Monday that Harrison will be enshrined during a ceremony next season, which is set to occur during halftime in a Thursday night game against the Vikings on October 23rd.
Harrison was previously inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame back in 2019, capping off what was certainly an outstanding career. His arrival in 2003 ignited an unbelievable defensive performance that season, with Harrison bringing an attitude and energy that was absolutely a major factor in what ended up being a dominant season on that side of the football.
He’s a player who was well-respected by Belichick, and someone who he believes absolutely should be in Canton.
During Tom Brady’s Roast on Netflix last May, Belichick said that he felt it was a “joke” that Harrison isn’t in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“One man that it’s always great to see, Rodney Harrison. Rodney Harrison there [gestures toward him],” said Belichick. “One of the greatest players I’ve ever coached. I mean, he was a great, great football player, great person, great competitor. He’s not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and, to me, that might be the biggest joke of the night.”
“Give it up for, Rodney. Just invite me to your induction.”
For now, it will be the Chargers who at least finally give him the recognition he deserves. With it coming six years after his induction here, it’s safe to say it’s also well overdue.
3) Looking back at around this time back in 2016, the Patriots were also in the middle of a youth movement.
In a piece that’s no longer available, Boston Globe writer Christopher Price, who at the time was with WEEI, took an in-depth look in his Sunday column at the Patriots’ roster, breaking down each positional group by their average age.
After one season of getting a little older, the Patriots crept backward a little age-wise to that point in 2016, going from an average age of 26.3 back to 25.6, more in line with where they had been around this time in 2013 and 2014.
Here’s a look at the numbers Price posted:
June 2016 — average age of Patriots roster: 25.6
June 2015 — average age of Patriots roster: 26.3
June 2014 — average age of Patriots roster: 25.3
May 2013 — average age of Patriots roster: 25.3
Their youngest group was at the cornerback position, which at the time came in with an average age of 23.9. From their it was the linebackers (24.9) and the offensive line (25) as the other two groups as the youngest on that year’s team.
Right now, New England has over 30 players between the ages of 24 and 26, with the club having spent the last two offseasons trying to rebuild its foundation after a pair of 4-13 seasons. They have three key players who come in even younger, with newcomer Will Campbell (21), Drake Maye (22), and Christian Gonzalez (23) rounding out that group.
One area that has been mentioned repeatedly is development, and the hope is that we see some progress out of various parts of a roster that felt like it was stuck in neutral for most of last year, on both sides of the football.
4) Greg Bedard had an interesting mention last week, noting that Mike Onwenu may be under the microscope heading into training camp.
After his recent extension, which came last offseason, it’s possible that he could be among the guys who might be on their way out if Vrabel and the front office decide to start shedding salary, especially depending on how things play out on the field.
“This is one where we really do not have much information at all. I’ll also mention this, could I see a situation where, for some reason, they move on from Mike Onwenu?” said Bedard during his podcast. “Again, that would not be a shock. If the Patriots, if they think they have any bad contracts that they want to get out from underneath, use the Cap money now to do it so that you’re not, all of a sudden, when they’re getting a roster that’s better and you’re paying people, and they don’t have a whole lot of cap room, you don’t want to be in that position where you have to eat a bad contract, and then you really limit your options as far as roster building. So I don’t totally rule that out either, that Onwenu, depending on how he does, he says he’s in great shape. We’ll see how that all goes this summer.”
“So yeah, Onwenu, [Garrett] Bradbury, I would probably have [Jack] Conley as the backup at right guard. Also, get him some reps on the scout team at tackle. I would have Wilson as the center backup, and I would have [Layden] Robinson and Cole Strange guard. But I do think that there’s going to be a lot of movement at that position as we go on.”
As Bedard mentioned last week and Reiss has pointed this out as well, Vrabel has no history with any of these players. It’s a clean slate as they head into training camp, which could definitely result in some surprises ahead of when they line up and start playing for real in September.
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