With training camp just a few days away, the Patriots certainly have some significant questions on the offensive side of the football.
New England was near the bottom of the league in most categories on offense, having finished with the third-worst point total in 2024. Part of that had to do with the fact they had serious issues both with their offensive line, as well as having a lack of playmakers around rookie QB Drake Maye last season.
Both of those issues were addressed this offseason, with the hope that under both Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels, there will be growth from many of the new faces we’ll be following in the coming weeks.
Wide receiver is likely going to be a position that gets a lot of attention, especially given all the concerns on offense coming off a season where they saw just Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas finish the year among the top players at that position. Both tight ends, Hunter Henry (who led the team in receiving yards in 2024) and Austin Hooper, were actually in the top three in terms of receiving yards, and Hooper will start training camp on PUP.
We had NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry on our most recent “Patriots No Huddle” podcast, with Perry talking about who might be a surprise out of the 12 players in the receiving group to make the roster, and some of his comments were definitely interesting.
“I would just say because there are some locks at that position… Now, you might have some flexibility in that receiver room to start the year in terms of being able to keep an extra guy if [Stefon] Diggs isn’t ready,” said Perry last week. “That, to me, is still an if. He’s looked good in camp. He hasn’t looked great in camp, in my opinion. I think there are times where I’ve watched him – I know there are times where I’ve watched him, and he looks a little reluctant to cut. That was just my observation. It’s not surprising at all. The guy was seven months removed from a torn ACL. We’ll see. On the other hand, he’s looked much better than guys that have been seven months off a torn ACL.”
“It’s not the deepest roster across the board at other positions. And so if you feel like you want to keep a sixth wideout because you like the potential, and maybe he’s a healthy scratch. Maybe it’s a Malcolm Butler kind of situation. You’re just going to keep him, you like him, but he’s not going to play all year. That’s what happened in 2014 with Butler, essentially. Maybe he shows you enough that he’s worthy of that kind of thing.”
“I would say this, knowing that padded football is a far different animal than non-padded football. There are not a lot of guys that we’ve watched in the spring that, I would say, decelerate the way that Chism decelerates. He is very quick to stop, and that can help create separation. And we saw it. There were not … I’ll compare them to the other rookie, and their games are very different. But Chism, to me, looked more useful in that short to intermediate area because of his route running than [Kyle] Williams right now. And he just saw more targets. And he was not, I would say, as frequently with the top group as Williams was, which makes sense.”
“Obviously, he’s a third-round pick versus an undrafted guy. But that’s a name people should be keeping an eye on because we’ve seen crazier things happen with undrafted rookies, especially with McDaniels, especially when it comes to using that slot position. Guys that feel like they should be roster fodder, end up being anything but. I don’t know if he can block. He’s certainly not a big guy. I doubt he can block, quite frankly. So he’s not Jacobi Myers. That was one of the reasons why Myers was able to play as much as he did for McDaniels. But that’s a name to keep an eye on.”
Perry actually ended up talking about another position that will potentially be worth watching, which is based on a wrinkle he feels McDaniels might be incorporating this season.
“Another one because they’re going to use a fullback, in my opinion, to be Brock Lampe,” said Perry. “I mean, and I get it because he’s going to bring a skill to the table that not a lot of other people have. And so we’ll see, is there a tight end that maybe they could use? Could they use C. J. Dippre, another undrafted rookie? I’m trying to go under the radar for you, Mike [D’Abate], because like you said, people already know a lot of these names. But these undrafted guys, those three that I just mentioned, I think have a real shot at making the team. And maybe Dippre takes Lampe’s spot if he shows he can line up in the backfield and really lay into people. But that’s a different animal. You got to be wired a certain way and Lampe, to me, probably is the best fit there because he’s already shown, at the college level, at least, a willingness to take on that kind of role, whereas Dippre was more of a traditional tight-end.”
“Those would just be a handful of names because I think the depth of tight-end, even though they have [Austin] Hooper and they have [Hunter] Henry, it’s not amazing depth. And so Dippre, because of his size and his pedigree coming from Alabama, even things like just watching him work with Mike Vrabel closely in some of these special teams’ drills. During OTAs, it felt like he was getting a little … you know, some special time with the head coach. Those are the kinds of things that I’ll be paying attention to in camp to see if any of these guys can crack the roster.”
Could Lampe and Dippre Break Through?
Lampe played 47 consecutive games for Northern Illinois University, establishing himself as a playmaker at fullback in the Huskies’ offense.
He ended up among six of the school’s seniors to land possible opportunities in the NFL, with head coach Thomas Hammock expressing how proud he was of all of them back in April.
“First of all, I’m excited about all those guys having an opportunity to compete and prove themselves at the next level. Whether you get drafted or not, it’s about the opportunity,” head coach Thomas Hammock said in an NIU Athletics news release. “This group was one of my first classes so to see them be evaluated, get developed, get coached and move on shows the progression of our program. These guys are just the start; we have a bunch coming after them who will have similar chances to play at the next level.”
Looking at Lampe’s totals, he’s very similar to James Develin in terms of both being an excellent blocker, as well as a guy who can both run the ball and be a threat out of the backfield. He finished his collegiate career with 20 carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns, and was actually a bigger threat in the passing game, having caught 18 passes for 216 yards and a touchdown.
As for Dippre, in addition to being a good athlete, he also impressed with his strength earlier this offseason. The rookie put up the second-most bench-press reps by an Alabama player at the scouting combine earlier this year, putting up 225 pounds an impressive 32 times.
The undrafted free agent said back at the combine that he felt he was a player who could beat man coverage, and his confidence was high.
“I think I do have really good routes,” Dippre said via Matt Stahl of AL.com. “Can make people get off me. Can get away from a man defender really easily in coverage. I didn’t have the most opportunities, but I did what I could do with my opportunities.”
While Dippre didn’t end up getting drafted, that hasn’t stopped him. So far, according to Perry, the rookie tight end has quietly established himself as someone to watch in a tight end group that still could use some quality depth.
“I’m trying to go under the radar for you, Mike [D’Abate], because like you said, people already know a lot of these names. But these undrafted guys, those three that I just mentioned, I think have a real shot at making the team. And maybe Dippre takes Lampe’s spot if he shows he can line up in the backfield and really lay into people. But that’s a different animal. You got to be wired a certain way and Lampe, to me, probably is the best fit there because he’s already shown, at the college level, at least, a willingness to take on that kind of role, whereas Dippre was more of a traditional tight-end.”
“Those would just be a handful of names because I think the depth of tight-end, even though they have [Austin] Hooper and they have [Hunter] Henry, it’s not amazing depth. And so Dippre, because of his size and his pedigree coming from Alabama, even things like just watching him work with Mike Vrabel closely in some of these special teams’ drills. During OTAs, it felt like he was getting a little some special time with the head coach. Those are the kinds of things that I’ll be paying attention to in camp to see if any of these guys can crack the roster.”
(Editor’s note: Portions of the above appeared in this morning’s news and notes column.)
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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.
