{"id":45810,"date":"2023-03-28T08:22:38","date_gmt":"2023-03-28T12:22:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=45810"},"modified":"2023-04-26T16:11:35","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T20:11:35","slug":"morse-patriots-team-priorities-as-we-head-into-the-draft-stanley-morgan-for-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/03\/28\/morse-patriots-team-priorities-as-we-head-into-the-draft-stanley-morgan-for-hall-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"MORSE: Patriots Team Priorities as We Head into the Draft; Stanley Morgan for Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots have finished the 1st<\/sup> phase of Free Agency and have improved their roster significantly.\u00a0 It is time to re-assess the teams\u2019 priorities as it applies to the draft.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the players the Patriots wanted to bring back.\u00a0 The Patriots have re-signed OC James Ferentz, DTs Carl Davis and Dan Ekuale, \u00a0LBs Mack Wilson and Raekwon McMillan, DB Jonathan Jones, and S Jabrill Peppers, and then made offers to their two Restricted Free Agents Yodny Cajuste and Myles Bryant.\u00a0 The Patriots released and then re-signed Jalen Mills to a one-year contract.\u00a0 As of right now, they have the entire defensive backfield back from last season until Devin McCourty makes his retirement official.\u00a0 He signed a contract extension which will help the Patriots’ salary cap, but he is going to retire.\u00a0\u00a0 So finding a Free Safety replacement is the 1st<\/sup> Patriots priority.<\/p>\n

The Patriots have some flexibility in finding a replacement for McCourty.\u00a0 They have three options, #1 move Jonathan Jones to Free Safety.\u00a0 I personally like this idea the best.\u00a0 Playing a single high safety requires speed and Jon Jones has that.\u00a0 He is also a very good open-field tackler.\u00a0 \u00a0Jones is short and has trouble with bigger WRs.\u00a0 Moving Jones to Safety changes the priority to get a #1 shutdown CB in the draft.\u00a0 #2 Move Jalen Mills to Fee Safety.\u00a0 I hate this option.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think Mills is fast enough and if the Patriots were to move him to FS and he was a success, why would they reduce his contract to one year?\u00a0 The #3 option is Safety by committee.\u00a0 This could be an interesting scenario with 3 in-the-box safeties in the game with them being interchangeable.\u00a0 My big concern here will they be fast enough.<\/p>\n

Matthew Slater is coming back for a 16th<\/sup> season and will be 38 during the season.\u00a0 The Patriots also re-signed Special Team players LS Joe Cardona and Ace Cody Davis.<\/p>\n

The Patriots decided to let Jakobi Meyers walk away and sign with Las Vegas by presenting him with a non-competitive offer.\u00a0 Word has it that the Raiders and Patriots were the only two teams to offer Meyers a contract.\u00a0 I was sad to see Meyers go.\u00a0 I wanted the Patriots to keep him and show the rest of the team that you can develop under the tutelage of the Patriots coaches and be rewarded for your contribution with a competitive contract.\u00a0 Meyers led the WRs in catches the last two seasons and was Mac Jones’s go-to guy.<\/p>\n

That hole was quickly filled with the acquisition of Juju Smith-Schuster.\u00a0 JSS had a little better stats in 2023 playing for Kansas City.\u00a0 His contract numbers are reasonable with a lot of it tied up in Not Likely To Be Earned (NLTBE) incentives.<\/p>\n

The Pats followed that up with the trade of TE Jonnu Smith to Atlanta for a 7th-round pick (#245) in this year\u2019s draft.\u00a0 The reason they got so little in return was that his $17.2M Salary Cap hit went with him.\u00a0 This was strictly a salary cap dump and an admission that he was a bust from the 2021 Free Agent class.<\/p>\n

The Patriots didn\u2019t wait long to replace him with TE Mike Gesicki from Miami.\u00a0 Initially, I didn\u2019t like the signing because I thought they paid too much.\u00a0 However, the one-year ($9M) contract is loaded with incentives that will make the team and player happy to achieve.\u00a0 Gesicki is a superior athlete and doesn\u2019t play the true TE role, much like Travis Kelce in KC. \u00a0He is a move TE that played 228 snaps in the slot in 2023.\u00a0 He was unhappy with the Miami Offense under Mike McDaniel and asked to be traded early in the season.\u00a0 In 2021 he played 453 snaps in the slot.\u00a0 What if we look at Gesicki as the replacement for Meyers rather than Smith-Schuster?<\/p>\n

When comparing Gesicki\u2019s athletic measurement against Jakobi Meyers as a WR rather than TE, he meets or exceeds Patriots standards in 10 of 11\u00a0 categories.\u00a0 The only one he was deficient in was speed as he ran a 4.54 40.\u00a0 Patriots like their WR to run 4.49.\u00a0 When compared to Jakobi Meyers who runs a 4.65, Gesicki is fast.\u00a0 He is a matchup nightmare.\u00a0 Gesicki also has some history with Bill O\u2019Brien.\u00a0 O\u2019Brien was the Head Coach of Penn State and he recruited Gesicki to play there.\u00a0 Unfortunately, O\u2019Brien left to coach the Houston Texans and never actually coached Gesicki.\u00a0\u00a0 I would also like to add that O\u2019Brien had tremendous success the last time he was coaching here with a two-TE setup of Gronk as the in-line TE and Aaron Hernandez as the move TE.\u00a0 I could see this type of play returning to the Patriots’ offense.<\/p>\n

To fill the void left by James White, the Patriots added RB James Robinson from the NY Jets.\u00a0 Robinson was traded from Jacksonville to New York when they had a rash of injuries to the RB corp.\u00a0 Robinson never really caught on in New York, probably because of their poor O-Line play.\u00a0\u00a0 He can make all the catches as his 49 catches for 344 yards as a rookie indicates.\u00a0 In 2020, he had 1431 yards from scrimmage in just 14 games.\u00a0 That is the most by an Undrafted rookie in league history. \u00a0Robinson has been nagged by injuries.\u00a0 In 2021 he tore his Achilles in week 16.\u00a0 Through diligence nad hard work, he was ready for the start of camp in 2022.\u00a0 He was brought along slowly, splitting time with Travis Etienne. At just 24 years old (25 in season) the 5\u20199\u201d runningback is worth taking a chance on.<\/p>\n

The Offensive line was addressed with some unspectacular low-level signings.\u00a0 First, the Patriots retained starting RT Connor McDermott with a very reasonable contract.\u00a0 They went out and got Calvin Anderson who started the last 7 games of the year at LT for the Denver Broncos.\u00a0 Then they signed veteran Reilly Reiff, a former first-round pick that played 8 games for Chicago and was credited with solidifying the Oline and being a great influence in the locker room.\u00a0 Both Anderson and Reiff have the flexibility to play both Tackle positions.\u00a0 Pro Football Focus grades the play of the Offensive Line and here is how the Patriots’ OTs ranks<\/p>\n

Overall Rank\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pass Block\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Run Block<\/p>\n

Brown\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 43\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 76.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59.5<\/p>\n

McDermott\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 46\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 53.7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 79.8<\/p>\n

Anderson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 48\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 66.1\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59.3<\/p>\n

Reiff\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 51\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 67\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 59.1<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Trent Brown played uninspired last season.\u00a0 He looked like he didn\u2019t want to be there.\u00a0 Also, he accumulated way too many penalties, especially pre-snap motion.\u00a0 It looked like a lack of focus and discipline.\u00a0 I would be happy to see his $10M contract off the books and see him moved off the team.<\/p>\n

Special Teams added three more players.\u00a0 Chris Board LB from Detroit is a special teams ace.\u00a0 Belichick has a soft spot for ST players and he calls Board one of the best.\u00a0 In his words, Board is a matchup nightmare.\u00a0 Punter Corliss Waitman became available from Denver last week and the Patriots grabbed him.\u00a0 He was middle of the road, ranked 19th<\/sup> in the league, but Jake Bailey was dead last in the league. \u00a0Waitman had a 46-yard average but that may have been aided by kicking at altitude.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be surprised if Belichick, with 11 draft picks, takes a kicker and punter in the draft.\u00a0 The third new member is ILB Olakunle Fatukasi, a former Rutgers player who made the Tampa Bay 53-man roster last season and played in 13 games with 6 tackles.<\/p>\n

Team Needs<\/strong><\/h3>\n

What is your #1 priority?\u00a0 Given how I think the draft will fall out in the 1st<\/sup> round through 13 picks is that the top OTs and CBs will be off the board.\u00a0 Chris Gonzalez and Joey Porter are both over 6 feet tall and above 190 lbs.\u00a0 The rest of the top CBs are under 171 lbs.\u00a0 No 1st round CB playing at under 171 lbs has been successful.\u00a0 Porter is a human pterodactyl with an 80 7\/8\u201d wingspan.\u00a0 Add that to the 37 \u00bd\u201d vertical leap and he will knock away a lot of passes..\u00a0 If either one is available, I would be tempted to take him and have a solid shutdown corner for the next 5 years.<\/p>\n

I also don\u2019t think the prime OTs will be available at #14.\u00a0\u00a0 I believe they will have to wait and hope one is available when their turn comes up again.<\/p>\n

That leaves WR as a priority and need.\u00a0 However, I don\u2019t want to take a WR at #14 and will offer to trade back.\u00a0 I have my eye on a rising OT in Anton Harrison Oklahoma.\u00a0 In my trade-back scenario, I offer #14, #76, and Trent Brown to TB for #19, #50 and #83 then take Harrison.\u00a0 I want to trade back into the 1st<\/sup> round and offer 2nd<\/sup> round picks #46 and #50.\u00a0 It actually works to the detriment of the Patriots as they lose the point differential 840 to 780.\u00a0 But I want to take BC WR Zay Flowers.\u00a0 \u00a0I think they would have to jump ahead of the NY Giants as they seem interested in Flowers.\u00a0 This way I have addressed two of the three main needs.<\/p>\n

I end up with a top-notch OT, two WRs, two CBs, two TEs, an edge player, a QB, C, and K.\u00a0 We need the TEs because both our TEs are Free Agents next season.\u00a0 Nick Folk is a dinosaur and I can\u2019t believe he is still kicking.\u00a0\u00a0 David Andrews is not getting any younger.\u00a0 A third QB is needed for camp and as an emergency backup on the PS.\u00a0 The edge player has potential as an ILB and is sideline-to-sideline fast.\u00a0 Can\u2019t draft enough DBs.\u00a0 One of the CBs will move to FS and back up whoever is the starter.\u00a0 The other will have a chance to start at LCB.<\/p>\n

I would bring in a P, DT, OT, OG TE, and another WR in the UDFA class and give it a full and open competition to make the 53-man roster.<\/p>\n

Trade for a WR<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Doesn\u2019t look like that is going to happen.\u00a0 The cost of trading for Deandre Hopkins is too much and I don\u2019t even want him on the team.\u00a0 I think he is cancer in the locker room and a Diva.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t want to practice.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need that type of player on the team.\u00a0 New Denver coach Sean Payton has stated they are not trading either Jerry Jeudy or Cortland Sutton.\u00a0 So it looks like we need to build through the draft.<\/p>\n

Off-Season Schedule for Patriots<\/strong><\/p>\n

1st<\/sup> Day of Off-Season Program<\/strong> \u2013 Apr 17th<\/sup><\/p>\n

Rookie Orientation\/Camp<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 12-14 (est)<\/p>\n

OTAs<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 22-24<\/p>\n

May 25, 30-31<\/p>\n

Jun 2, 5-6<\/p>\n

Jun 8-9<\/p>\n

Mini-Camp<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jun 12-14<\/p>\n

Dead Zone (No Patriots Activity)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jun 15 \u2013 July 16<\/p>\n

Why is Stanley Morgan not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Receptions:<\/strong><\/td>\n557<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Receiving yards:<\/strong><\/td>\n10,716<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yards per reception:<\/strong><\/td>\n19.2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Touchdowns:<\/strong><\/td>\n72<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Yes, that is 19.2 Yards Per Catch for his entire career.\u00a0 No player in the Hall of Fame has equal or better than that stat.\u00a0 Is it his fault that the teams he played on in New England were not good enough to win Super Bowls?\u00a0 The Patriots in the 13 years Morgan played for them, only had two losing seasons.\u00a0 His 72 TDs are more than many of his contemporaries that are in the Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

The criteria to get into the Hall of Fame are not being evenly handled.\u00a0 Both Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers are in the Hall of Fame but the Bears only had two winning seasons in their careers.\u00a0 There is no reason that Morgan is not in the Hall of Fame.\u00a0 He needs an advocate on the committee to get him elected.\u00a0 The Veterans committee might be the place to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Patriots have finished the 1st phase of Free Agency and have improved their roster significantly.\u00a0 It is time to re-assess the teams\u2019 priorities as it applies to the draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":43885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_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":""},"categories":[23232,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-patriots-draft","category-patriots-news"],"yoast_head":"\nMORSE: Patriots Team Priorities as We Head into the Draft; Stanley Morgan for Hall of Fame<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Patriots have finished the 1st phase of Free Agency and have improved their roster significantly.\u00a0 It is time to re-assess the teams\u2019 priorities as it applies to the draft.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/03\/28\/morse-patriots-team-priorities-as-we-head-into-the-draft-stanley-morgan-for-hall-of-fame\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MORSE: Patriots Team Priorities as We Head into the Draft; 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