Offense:<\/strong><\/p>\n QB \u2013 It all starts with the QB position.\u00a0 Jarrett Stidham vs the ghost of Tom Brady.\u00a0 Many people point to the successful pre-season Stidham had last year.\u00a0 Lets put it into perspective.\u00a0 He was playing against 3rd<\/sup> stringers and guys that never made it to the show.\u00a0 What was encouraging is that Stidham made the throws, completions behind a sub par O line.\u00a0 He threw to Jakobi Myers, who caught nearly everything thrown to him.\u00a0 He had no TE\u2019s.<\/p>\n What to expect?\u00a0 I think Stidham will be a much better passer than Brady was last year.\u00a0 Lets face it, Brady was very inaccurate last year.\u00a0 He would not throw to the rookies.\u00a0 Granted the offensive line was in shambles last year (more on that later).\u00a0 What you won\u2019t have is the pre-play recognition that Brady had from years of experience.\u00a0 Stidham will likely be goaded into mistakes, like the pick he threw in his only play against real NFL defenders.\u00a0 I think Stidham will have that quick release Brady had, not sure if he will have that pocket presence that comes with experience.\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t think they will ask Stidham to do too much especially early in the season.\u00a0 Don\u2019t underestimate the hiring of Jedd Fisch as QB coach.\u00a0 He is here to groom Stidham.<\/p>\n RB \u2013 The team has an above average group of Running Backs.\u00a0 With the O-Line improved, and an inexperienced QB, new and improved blocking TE\u2019s, and a new fullback, I see this offense running the ball more.\u00a0 Take the pressure off the kid, eat the clock, keep the defense off the field.\u00a0 I was not impressed with Sony Michel last year.\u00a0 Was that the ineffectiveness of the Oline?\u00a0 It could have been some of the problem, but I just didn\u2019t like the way Michel ran, picked his holes and followed his blockers.\u00a0 He also didn\u2019t display any break-away speed that I would expect from a number 1 pick.\u00a0 The difference between when James Develin was in the game and not was remarkable.<\/p>\n Rex Burkhead provides a nice change of pace.\u00a0 Burkhead can catch the ball too, which makes it difficult on the opposition.\u00a0 Burkhead also can contribute on special teams.\u00a0 James White is the best in the league at catching the ball out of the backfield.\u00a0 This may be White\u2019s last year with the Pats.\u00a0 He and Burkhead are Free Agents next year and the Patriots don\u2019t pay for running backs.\u00a0 Brandon Bolden has had a wonderful 8 year career in the NFL, mostly as a special teams player.\u00a0 We know how much love BB has for Special Teams.\u00a0 Bolden has become an effective runner too in limited carries.\u00a0 Damien Harris is a high draft pick from last year and was inactive for most of the games.\u00a0 Bolden is 30, Burkhead and White and all three are free agents next year.<\/p>\n FB \u2013 Dan Vitale was signed from Green Bay.\u00a0 He was called the \u201cSuperback\u201d at Northwestern, playing RB, FB, TE and Slot receiver.\u00a0 Vitale had 33 catches his senior season at Northwestern.\u00a0 Although not the size of Develin, he certainly won\u2019t back down from contact.\u00a0 \u00a0International designee, Jakob Johnson is back for another try but I think with Vitale and Keene, his chances of making the team are slim without an injury occurring.\u00a0 Remember what I said about Michel running with a FB vs not.\u00a0 It\u2019s different as night and day.<\/p>\n O Line \u2013 This is an area where we will see big improvement this season.\u00a0 Isaiah Wynn finally was healthy enough to get some significant playing time at Left Tackle and he looked good.\u00a0 He was excellent at pass blocking and is improving in the run game.\u00a0 Joe Thuney is on the verge of becoming a perennial All Pro.\u00a0 He is very durable and very good in pass protection.\u00a0 The return of David Andrews is a big plus.\u00a0 Although undersized, Andrews is good in making the calls and pass protecting.\u00a0 However, he can get overpowered at the point of attack by stronger NT.<\/p>\n Shaq Mason is a very nimble run blocker and when pulling on traps, very effective downfield and on sweeps.\u00a0 He sometimes gets overpowered on bull rushes, but his pass blocking has greatly improved.\u00a0 RT should be interesting competition.\u00a0 Marcus Cannon is turning 32 and has been injury prone the last few seasons.\u00a0 Mike Reiss reported Tuesday that Yodny Cajuste is fully recovered and ready to challenge Cannon for the starting job.<\/p>\n Last year was a red-shirt year for Cajuste, who the Patriots knew was hurt when they drafted him.\u00a0 That is why he fell to them in the 3rd<\/sup> round.\u00a0 He was a three year starter with 30 starts at West Virginia.\u00a0 Backup spots will have plenty of competition.\u00a0 Last season draft pick Hjalte Froholdt and this years 4th<\/sup> round selection Michael Owenu will battle it out.\u00a0 Draft picks Dustin Woodard at Center and Justin Herron as a swing tackle round out the line.\u00a0\u00a0 Whoever among these 4 that makes it to the Practice Squad can be called up for game day roster expansion, then immediately sent back to the PS after the game.\u00a0 With the new TEs and Dan Vitale at FB I see the return to a dominating Ground Game, especially to take pressure of the young QB.\u00a0 Put him in manageable down and distance.<\/p>\n TE \u2013 you don\u2019t trade up as the Patriots did twice to nab Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene, just to sit them on the bench.\u00a0 This duo is comparable to the double dip the Pats made in selecting former Patriots Rob Gronkowski and the late Aaron Hernandez.\u00a0 Keene has been favorably compared to George Kittle. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His versatility and run after the catch are going to make him a fan favorite.\u00a0\u00a0 Josh McDaniels will have a field day with the ways they can utilize Keene.\u00a0 Keene is known to finish his blocks and plays right the whistle.\u00a0 His nickname is Rambo.\u00a0 \u00a0Asiasi was a good blocker in college, let\u2019s see how that translates into the Pros and the best blocker in the draft.<\/p>\n WR \u2013 N\u2019Keal Harry has been working on his footwork.\u00a0 He is very good at contested catches and usually come down with the ball.\u00a0 Let’s hope he is better at getting off the line and running the entire route tree.\u00a0 Mohammed Sanu played on a very bad high ankle sprain.\u00a0 That limited his production.\u00a0 I expect much more from him.\u00a0 Sanu is still in a walking boot from surgery he had in March.\u00a0 This bears watching, especially since he might be a cap casualty come June 1st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Picking up Marquise Lee at a bargain basement price is a no-brainer.\u00a0 Lee has had a couple of injury filled years.\u00a0 He has the opportunity to prove himself.\u00a0 It will be interesting what role Julian Edelman will have.\u00a0 He has had a high number of dropped passes the last couple of seasons.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think he will have as heavy a workload as he has had the last few years with Brady.\u00a0 Edelman\u2019s blocking is vastly underrated.<\/p>\n Jakobi Myers had a steady rookie season.\u00a0 He did not have the confidence of Brady.\u00a0 He does have Stidham\u2019s.\u00a0 He was his favorite target in the pre-season last year.\u00a0 Look for one of the three UDFA slot candidates to make the team either as a 53 roster member or practice squad.\u00a0 I like Will Hastings.\u00a0 He was a teammate of Stidham\u2019s at Auburn and they clicked.\u00a0 Hastings is a Groomsman for Stidham\u2019s wedding.\u00a0 He has lightning quick 3-cone time of 6.55 and a 40 time of 4.51.\u00a0 This despite have two ACL surgeries.\u00a0 Michael Thomas and \u00a0Sean Riley are the other two slot receivers.\u00a0 Both have return skills as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The roster stands at 89 players as of this writing.\u00a0 Let’s do some analysis of the team, coaches and the approach they might take.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":24314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2216],"tags":[216,2306,947,2292,21687,1773,2075,2019,156,78,2013,2223,514,1381,22,1776,21686,2011],"class_list":["post-30681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2020-patriots-offseason","tag-brandon-bolden","tag-dalton-keene","tag-dan-vitale","tag-devin-asiasi","tag-hjalte-froholdt","tag-isaiah-wynn","tag-jakob-johnson","tag-jakobi-meyers","tag-james-develin","tag-james-white","tag-jarrett-stidham","tag-jedd-fisch","tag-marcus-cannon","tag-rex-burkhead","tag-shaq-mason","tag-sony-michel","tag-toe-thuney","tag-yodny-cajuste"],"yoast_head":"\n![](\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/images\/us-presswire\/600w\/2019-Week-8-Sony-Michel-NbZPr-600w.jpg\")
Michel needs a stronger performance in 2020.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n