This is the Gridiron Review’s grading and breakdown series of every team’s offseason. This article is the offseason in review: New England Patriots

Players Retained:

Offense: James White, RB; Jakobi Meyers, WR; Trent Brown, OT

Defense: Carl Davis, DL; Ja’whaun Bentley, LB

Specials: Matthew Slater; Nick Folk, K

Key Losses:

Offense: Brandon Bolden, RB; Devine Ozigbo, RB; Jakob Johnson, FB; Gunner Olszewski, WR; Troy Fumagalli, TE; Ted Karras, C

Defense: Kyle Van Noy, LB; Dont’a Hightower, LB; Jamie Collins, LB; Terez Hall, LB; J.C. Jackson, CB; Brandon King, S

Specials: Quinn Nordin, K

Key Free Agent Pick-ups:

Offense:  Ty Montgomery, RB/WR; Matt Sokol, TE; James Ferentz, C

Defense: Terrance Mitchell, CB; Malcolm Butler, CB; Jabrill Peppers, S

Specials: Tristan Vizcaino, K

Trades(If Applicable):

• Acquired LB Mack Wilson in exchange for DE Chase Winovich
• Acquired 2022 5th round pick in exchange for OG Shaq Mason.
• Acquired WR DeVante Parker and 2022 5th round pick in exchange for 2023 3rd round pick

Draft Class:

• Round 1, Pick No. 29: Cole Strange, G, Chattanooga
• Round 2, Pick No. 50: Tyquan Thornton, WR, Baylor
• Round 3, Pick No. 85: Marcus Jones, CB, Houston
• Round 4, Pick No. 121: Jack Jones, CB, Arizona State
• Round 4, Pick No. 127: Pierre Strong, RB, South Dakota State
• Round 4, Pick No. 137: Bailey Zappe, QB, Western Kentucky
• Round 6, Pick No. 183: Kevin Harris, RB, South Carolina
• Round 6, Pick No. 200: Sam Roberts, DT, Northwest Missouri State
• Round 6, Pick No. 210: Chasen Hines, C, LSU
• Round 7, Pick No. 245: Andrew Stueber, OT, Michigan

Our Offseason Grade:  Some decent additions, but a lot of head scratchers

Record Prediction(Division Rank): 4-13(4th)

Summary:

This may be the season the Patriots finally feel the affects of the rebuild they have somewhat entered. Mac Jones was better than expected last season as the Pats snuck into the playoffs. Unfortunately for them, a highly questionable offseason leads us to believe they take a massive step back this season. 

On the offensive side of the ball, there are a lot of new faces mixed in with returning ones. As stated Mac Jones looks to improve upon his impressive rookie debut, while he is joined by old man Hoyer again as well as his younger self from the past Bailey Zappe. While we cannot ignore the fit as a backup in New England for Zappe, spending a 4th round pick on a third QB in the room was one of many head shaking moves the Patriots made. The offensive line replaced Shaq Mason (who was traded for a 5th, ouch) with Cole Strange (a good pick in our eyes, but maybe they could have gotten him in the second). New England is good at drafting guards above anything else so we trust this pick, on top of Jack liking what he saw when he scouted him. The tight end room adds a few depth pieces, but will be headlined by pricey free agent additions from last year Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith, with the third likely being Devin Asiasi. The Pats need more out of Jonnu to be worth his contract, so expect more targets coming his way and possibly more 12 personnel, but the issue with that brings us to the receivers. New Englands traded for DaVante Parker so he would not wreck them twice a year. While he has flashed the ability to be a number one, he has never been able to stay healthy. They then drafted Tyquan Thornton in the second, an extremely risky pick that may have been the biggest “what?” moment of their offseason. I liked Thornton but as a day 3 steal, not as a second rounder taken ahead of guys like Skyy Moore. They also brought back Jakobi Meyers who most likely will be signing an extension, and all of the sudden you have a lot of pass catching options at both WR and TE so maybe they run a spread offense? Except, they drafted two more running backs in this draft in the 4th and 6th rounds, resigned James White (we like this move), and brought in Ty Montgomery in free agency. Adding all these players to Harris, Stevenson, and Taylor from last year and you just have to question what the heck is going on. To make matters worse reports are Joe Judge is coaching the QB room (because that worked so well in New York) and Matt Patricia, defensive extraordinaire, is the leading candidate to call the offensive plays.

All in all we think the offense does not seem to have a plan, but at least they will be decent. The defense however, is where we have a lot of skepticism. The defensive line brings back all of the tackles (Guy, Barmore, Godchaux, and the rest) and added a 6th rounder to the room. The pass rush is headlined by the trio of Judon, Uche, Wise, and Jennings. Besides Judon, Uche, Jennings, and Wise have proven nothing so far. Maybe Uche breaks out this year, but this pass rush will be rough for the Pats. They lost a trio of linebackers in Hightower, Van Noy, and Collins while resigning Bentley. Besides him they have newly traded for Mack Wilson and Raekwon McMillan, among other unknowns. There are serious questions whether these guys can cover anyone as they are all old school thumpers in play style. The secondary may be the worst part. They lost JC Jackson, and added Malcolm Butler, Terrance Mitchell, Jabrill Peppers, Marcus and Jack Jones (in the draft), and that is all. They are going to be depending on a lot of unprovens or old men at the corner position… But, at least their strong safety depth is great with Duggar, Phillips, and now Peppers who all play hybrid roles. We have concerns this defense will be a mess and while Billy B could prove once again to be a defensive mastermind, we do not think they will be able to match up well with any other team in their division, let alone the AFC as a whole. We have them finishing last in the division with 4 wins, and again they may get a couple more with scheming and preparation, but this is most likely a rocky year in New England.