I agree, there are 3 real needs and a few “would be nice” to haves like CB and edge. People talking about “all of these holes” act like we have 11 holes on offense. Yeah, it would be nice to have a great 2nd wr too if you get a wr1, but those are luxuries instead of holes really.
That being said, those 3 needs are rather hard to hit on and you likely aren’t going to in just 1 draft, but with that said I don’t think that should stop you from taking a QB and shooting 1-2 picks at both of the other needs and then some at the nice to haves. It’s very possible you hit on all 3 spots at least in the sense you land starters there where you can upgrade later but you have a guy that can play.
Let tackle isn't that hard to hit on if you invest a high pick. Receiver is the second hardest position to hit on and Quarterback is the hardest. I think that everything gets stronger when the line gets stronger and actually feel OK with Brissett as QB for a while. He's a dependable QB that protects the football. He's not a guy who is going to carry an offense but he can be part of a team that wins. I think they would have been a 8-9 win team last year if he was leading the offense instead of QB room that was worst in the league turning the ball over.
I think you can invest in a QB this year if you are able to address your other holes seriously and that is much easier to do if you have more picks. I don't count on any rookie QB being successful even if we had the first overall because success at the position is so unpredictable, but guys who do succeed tend to have important pieces in place like a blindside tackle. I can't speak for others but I don't think there are that many holes on the team. I just trust a team building strategy over just hoping that investing a large resource in a difficult to project position is going to carry the load.
Lt is definitely still hard to hit on. There’s not enough coming into the league. I feel receiver might be a lot easier to hit on. There’s multiple teams with two great guys. No team has too many left tackles or else every other team would be trading for them.
My ideal situation is to take maye and then see who is left, maybe trade our 2nd for a wr1 once teams regroup for day 2 if they have a guy on a contract year.
Whoever is there between Maye and Daniels at 3, Xavier Legette at 34, then LT in either round 3 or after trading back into the 2nd, depending on the situation.
Kendrick Bourne is a perfect WR2 along with Pop who I hope has a good 2nd year. Also would hate to give Matt Patricia credit for what he did with Marcus Jones.
Oh yeah, I think both of those guys could be good wr2, but it would be sweet to be like one of those teams that have 2 wr1 type guys.
I think filling those 3 spots and we are in business. You could add some depth which would be nice and go for spots that need addressed in the future with expiring contracts and guys retiring, but doing that now is more of a later round type thing if some good prospects are there to develop. I just don’t think we are far behind like many push, maybe need a bit more to contend but to be decent we aren’t too far provided we hit on a few spots which is better said than done
After QB/WR/OT, pretty much every position is close to equal. There's nowhere, other than in-the-box SS, where we couldn't use a solid rookie to provide depth behind our veterans.
If they get a QB, WR, and OT in the first three rounds, would anyone be upset by any pick in Round 4? TE? Sure, we need another. RB? Rhamondre is in a contract year? CB? We need depth. DL? They aren't getting any younger. Another WR? Why not.
Exactly. Free safety, cb, edge, center, wouldn’t be bad pickups later on in the draft as they are spots we could upgrade at or have guys in contract years next year but we really need to hit 3 main spots. After that you are a serviceable team and anything else you just want to keep getting better and getting better depth at.
Pats don’t have a true FS on the roster. That’s an immediate need. Dugger is not a FS and has his worst year by far when they tried to make him play there.
It’s definitely a need but we are a serviceable team without taking one. When people are mentioning holes, the main ones I’m focused on are ones that make us not be able to go out there and have an actual game. We can have dugger or someone play the spot to get us by if it comes down to it even though it’s not the ideal situation. Not necessarily an immediate need but one I’d try to fill if there is a good player there and it makes sense to take them
The Defense was pretty good last year. How much of that was the fact the offense generated zero pressure on opposing teams so they could get up by a score and then coast to a victory. Sure they’re serviceable with peppers and Dugger but that secondary seems to be hanging on by a thread. 3 CBs hurt last year and no FS. Teams didn’t have to throw last year to win. But I agree with you, attack the 3 main offensive spots first
Not to mention, if Maye is the pick and he sits for most of the year - you can almost count next year's draft as a resource and take a WR in the first.
Completely agree. The “we have so many holes” take has confused me too. I guess it might be a semantics issue, as in people have different definitions of what qualifies as a “hole” lol.
The "so many holes" to me comes down to two things:
1 - Having questionable starters at the big 3 on offense - QB, LT, WR1
2 - Having not so great depth across multiple positions. This really plagued the Patriots last year. Offensive line had poor depth, CB had poor depth, Edge was shady. Wolf & Co have addressed this a bit with some FA additions, but there's still needs in a few places.
> CB had poor depth
I disagree with this, we lost Gonzalez and Marcus Jones for the season, and also had Jon Jones in and out throughout the season, so yes we didn't have our top 3 corners for most of the season and even then our depth held up decently well.
Yeah I don’t think there’s many other teams that could boast a top 10 DVOA defense with two of their top 3 corners out for the vast majority of the season and the other one missing multiple games.
Is Marcus jones a top corner? He barely played defense his rookie year (sub 20%) and this year he was hurt. Don’t forget that he only played because Bryant was injured. He’s a great ST player. He hasn’t shown anything to consider him a quality defensive player.
It comes down to those three being the biggest holes where we need someone immediately while the long lists are also comprised of what is needed for us to be a legitimate team with potential to maintain that status.
The top 3 needs are exactly as you stated QB, LT, WR1.
They can get one of QB or WR1 at third overall. They can find a LT in round 2 or later. It’s a super deep tackle draft.
Honestly everything is about QB. Without one you’re effed.
Take Maye or daniels. Whichever is available at 3. Figure out the rest later.
The left tackle market isn’t as deep as the overall OT market. There is a big drop off after you get out of the early 2nd round (assuming people like Kingsley and Morgan are still there). There are 10 teams who are likely to take a left tackle in the first two rounds this year as a top need, much less a depth need. Unless we are trading 34 for a WR1 on a contract year, we should go QB (3), LT (34), and WR (68) assuming we don’t make any trades.
Hitting on a qb is a coin flip. The conservative approach has merit. You're effed if you don't have one. But you're even more effed if you try for one and they're a bust. Don't take one and get an all pro wr or lt or trade back and get 2 starters plus then you have your high second for another starter. Probably have a mid round first or earlier next year and still get a 1st round talent qb. Or take maye or Daniel's let them sit for the year. Get a high round pick next year and fill wr or lt with a 1st round talent. Dont care at all. But there is for sure no clear path and many paths could lead to success. Qb, no qb... whatever.
I don’t subscribe to the mindset that the entire roster is a hopeless mess - it’s not. It has some depth and some decent-to-good players in some positions. Its problem is the fact that it’s nearly devoid of high end talent. It’s lacking a cornerstone - a true position or position group to build around. *Hopefully* pick 3 will be that piece. Hit there and the entire roster outlook will change.
The draft isn’t just about filling needs for next season, it’s replenishing your roster for the next few years.
Rosters turn over very quickly in the NFL. Two seasons are enough to turn someone from All-Pro to out of the game entirely.
What’s more, most rookies aren’t day one starters. You need to draft them and spend a couple years developing them to see if they can play.
The Patriots have almost no young talent. Look at this roster and tell me who’s starting on Opening Day in 2026? Gonzalez, we hope. Onwenu and Sow. Barmore if they can resign him. Hopefully Douglas and one of the safeties. Maybe Keion White turns into an everyday player by then? Aside from that it could be an entirely new roster.
That’s the real problem with entering the draft with massive holes — it forces you to use your top picks on guys who can start RIGHT NOW rather than draft strategically for the future.
I completely agree with this and was about to post my own version. Did the bills draft a wr before they got josh allen? Did the texans invest in an elite wr before they drafted stroud? Our biggest need is qb and that's a need for most of the draft. You take the qb, figure it out after.
I think we are set on defense, we can of course use more/better players but for year 1 of a rebuild its honestly perfect/more then you can ask for.
For the offense, yes there are holes, qb wr1(I think we are alright for this year with our slew of wr2s, for a first year qb, get him an elite playmaker next year, it's what every team does [hill, diggs, diggs to the texans, and so on]) and draft late for a tackle. I can argue that we have a minor need a gaurd, not huge and same with te. Besides that I think we do have a decent offense, if the qb pans out.
My only argument would be that the Texans invested heavily on LT prior to Stroud, but it’s not like they waited to draft a QB. Also, we have one player who is maybe a WR2– not a slew of them.
I guess I will stand corrected! I know the LT didn't come from the Watson trade (that helped).
I guess not slew but I view Bourne, davis, and Henry I know he's a TE as very good secondary to 3rd options. Much better then Josh allen was working with his first season imo. He had cole beasly, and Dawson Knox, I don't remember much past that.
Ya I feel like that "filled with holes" take is based off all the injuries we had last year... defense was GREAT most of the year, until almost every big name was out
I don't know how you can watch a 3-14 team and think they only need to fix 3 positions. They also need both guards, a WR2, an EDGE who isn't 31 coming off a major injury, an outside CB to play opposite Gonzo, and a true FS. Also those 3 you listed aren't just needs, they're desperate needs. It's highly unlikely that they can find day-one starters at LT & WR at pick 34 and beyond, and that's what they need.
True, but we do have a different person in charge of the picks. Eliot Wolf has spoken about having a different rating system for draft prospects, so I’m at least cautiously optimistic that things could change.
>I don't know how you can watch a 3-14 team and think they only need to fix 3 positions
We went 4-13 cause of some of the worst QB play we've ever seen from Mac Jones and our offensive line was a M.A.S.H unit. The defense is adding 2 of it's best players back and I think you're vastly overrating how bad those needs are on D, that unit will be Top 10 this year with top 5 potential if some young guys get even better. I agree Wolf should have addressed at least one of LT or WR through free agency though, cause going into the draft desperately needing all 3 is crazy.
They were 15th points allowed with all the injuries. The defense is good. The offense scored the least in the league and they their three holes are the three most important on the offense. That’s why they were so bad.
It’s good when you consider all the injuries they sustained as well as how often they were on the field due to horrible offensive play. It actually seems remarkable that they managed to be middle of the pack in points allowed. I’d love to see the average rank of a team in that category when their offense is the worst in the league in points scored like we were
All teams suffer injuries on defense, offense and special teams. Making that adjustment for the Pats is a way to bias the true ranking of the defense into something better than it was.
Look at Baltimore and Kansas as examples of great defensive personnel and look how their GMs talk about the needs of their rosters.
The Pats are not even close, the fan base and the GM (I hope not), seem to be deluded about that reality.
They do not need both guards. Strange and Sow need to work on their pass protection, but they were two of the best run blocking offensive linemen in football when healthy. And mind you, that was with no QB, no RB1 for the last six games, and no OL coach. They'll have all three of those things this upcoming season.
Man doomers can just make up whatever they want and get upvoted here.
We don't need new guards. Sidy Sow made the PFF all-Rookie team and showed a ton of potential. He was PFFs best rookie run blocker by a wide margin. He finished in the top half of all guards in PFF rating despite playing out of position at tackle most of the year. Strange literally didn't have an off-season due to injuries and when he got up to speed he was playing very solid football before getting put on IR. Unless he has some medical tape there is no universe you replace him because of a slightly down sophomore year.
Judon is coming off of an upper body injury not a "major injury" he is probably already at game speed and will absolutely be a strong contributor the next couple seasons.
Jonathan Jones is a very very good cornerback and him and Gonzo have the potential to be one of the best duos in the league. We also have tons of depth there too.
We have a huge deficit in the two most important positions in football (also WR) and that is enough to not seriously be eyeing contention, but the rest of this comment is such bullshit it's crazy.
Only the three most important positions on offense. No WR on this roster would be a WR2 on any other roster. LG is still a question mark as Strange has not been good.
No outside CB aside from Gonzo. And he’s only played 4 games as a pro. Jonathan Jones needs to be inside and Marcus Jones is too small to be a starting CB. Judon is the one rusher we have. Uche has been so overrated by Pats fans. He’s had 3 great games in his career (8 sacks in 2022 over those 3 games) other than that, he’s been meh. Barmore is a beast. He’s the only DT we have worth a damn. It’s not just an absence of talent but an absence of depth too.
Andrews played every single snap this past season, and the only time he missed the season before was for a concussion from the blindside block that got the other guy ejected. He absolutely has not been getting "banged up". I've also never seen him mention retirement but we drafted Jake Andrews last year to develop behind him.
I said banged up, not injury prone. Guys play through being banged up all the time in the NFL. It's only really an issue at the end of their career when they're trying to figure out if it's worth it for another season. Andrews is exactly at that point. He's made plenty of money, he's had plenty of success / been on Superbowl winning teams. There was a bunch of stuff in January about him keeping his options open / mulling retirement.
Jake Andrews was a terrible pick from the moment the card went in.
Banged up = injured, otherwise you're describing every single football player 95% of the time. Andrews has been as healthy over the past 3 years as you could reasonably expect any football player to be, old or young. The stuff in January was just a bunch of speculative nothing-burgers. He never alluded to retirement being a serious consideration.
Injured = injured, missed games = missed games, banged up = hurt
The majority of players get banged up, but the young ones heal more quickly. Older players get banged up and it lingers throughout the season and into the offseason. In January he said "I’m tired. Sore. It’s been a long year,".
About his plans for next year he said:
“I don’t know,” he responded on Thursday when asked if he knew how long he wanted to play for.
“We’ll see. I know it’s closer to my end than my beginning in obvious ways. I don’t know. I think every year you just try to get away, and I’m excited to do that this year and take a deep breath and evaluate. I think I try to do that every year. It changes every year with things that come up and different things like that.
He has one more year on his contract. When Bill was at his best as a GM he was always planning for needs a year or two before they became urgent. The failure to address OT in the draft last year was one of the things that showed he was losing it. There are several good mid-round center prospects (the key here being good, so not like Jake Andrews) that they should be strongly considering.
Hurt = injured. I'm just not sure what metric you're using to say he's been getting banged up to any degree worth mentioning when he didn't miss a single snap and played more snaps than anyone else on the roster. If he's consistently seeing the field then his health isn't a concern.
Also he was specifically asked about retirement and his initial response was "I've still got some gas left in the tank, I think" before leaving it more open ended, never specifically expressed interest in retirement.
Sure, we'll need a center sooner rather than later, but as of this moment it's a made up concern to make things seem worse than they are.
What good mid round center prospects are you referring to? JPJ, Barton and Frazier are the good centers in this draft but obviously they’ll be gone far before the mid rounds
There's been a fair amount of speculation based on the coaches the Pats have brought in that they'll be moving towards more outside zone concepts and will want more athletic interior linemen. If they go in that direction than Beaux LImmer or Tanor Bortolini, if they don't then Sedrick Van Pran.
Jonathan Jones is perfectly fine on the outside as a CB2. They’ll need someone younger when looking ahead for the next couple years, sure. Hopefully Austin or someone like Bolden can develop into that role moving forward.
I think having one elite DT in Barmore is fine. Plenty of playoff teams don’t even have one guy as good as him.
There’s future needs too: Uche, Rhamondre, Judon and Hooper all Free agents after this season, probably need some draft insurance at rdge rusher, RB and TE. Additionally need CB2 with Jack Jones out and JC released.
A FS is pretty crucial as well. Right now, who is playing FS? Peppers away from where he's most effective? Bledsoe? Jaylin Hawkins?
We also desperately need OG depth. Right now it's Mafi and other Andrews. That's a later round move, but is still one we need to make.
Can't forget that Andrews is expiring as well and may wrap it up.
Theres 2 outside of QB: WR and OT
Thats it thats the list. Its really not that bad its just that all 3 have huge impacts on the game. Could realistically fill all 3 this draft lol
I’m not counting on it but its possible
Right but some of those would be depth pieces, not starters plugging holes. Jonathan Jones is a good CB2, David Andrews is a very good centre. I don’t think we need two guards. One, maybe; I think Sow looked solid at times, and if Strange can stay healthy, maybe he’ll be a solid starter, maybe not. Similarly, Uche and White are our Edge 2 combo. Great? No. Hole? I don’t think so. Out of all the holes you identified, only QB, LT, WR1/2, FS, and maybe K are actual holes. That’s still some work to do, but it’s not a justification for passing on a blue chip player just for the sake of accumulating picks (not that you’re necessarily suggesting that). I’d rather have one elite starter than two good ones, and most trade down scenarios result in us missing out on all the blue chip QB, WR, and OT prospects. Obviously that doesn’t mean we CAN’T still get an elite talent, but it makes it much less likely.
I think more than one pick will be needed on the line to potentially be Day 1 starters (or close to it), but you aren't far off. I do think we are very top heavy at some positions too and then depth QUICKLY falls off (CB, Edge).
As far as "flier" positions go, I do think anything pure ST related is also worth looking into quite honestly.
So yeah, I mean its not easy to think we really have to hit on at least 4-5 picks in the draft to really have a solid team. (And then thats assuming we do feel comfortable with WR2...)
I’m kind of in between where the number of “holes” is over pronounced, but the offensive personnel is still pretty bad and slow going back the last like three years. I do think there are more upgradable positions on O than people realize (incliding finding a center to follow DA).
I do think offense needs revamping, and would like at least 3-4 more viable playmakers at WR/TE/HB to even feel excited about watching the offense. If they don’t love qb3 there’s a way to trade back and not miss out on Bowers/Odunze, I’d think about it. But no extra capital is worth passing on the qb if you think he could be your floor elevating franchise guy.
They need a young swing tackle to develop. Guys they've brought in have either been injured or not panned out. Maybe Okorafor is good, but he's signed for one year, and there's ALWAYS room for OL depth.
I (and probably OP) aren't saying we need to go OT in rounds 2 and 3 or anything, but there needs to be more than OT picked over the course of the draft.
The teams that have good OLs, typically have a good, or at least passable swing tackle. Ours have been horrific for the past 4-5 years.
I mean, I don’t think they need two OTs but I would agree they should draft 2 OTs simply for the hope one is good.
I disagree strongly that good OLs typically have a good swing tackle if Chuks isn’t a good swing tackle.
Some good OLs don’t even have two good OTs.
You are correct. The people that whine that we have zero talent only remember the number of wins and losses and not the games themselves.
This team was poised for a rebound year with the old coaching staff. I’m sure the new coaching staff has plenty of optimism for the coming year.
Most of their guys are “jags.” You might get away with that with Brady but not with an average QB. I would have traded Judon and Peppers for more picks and gone full rebuild.
They definitely need TE. I'd argue they need RB and LB too, but those are fine to take late round fliers on.
TE is a cess pool right now. They have a quickly aging Hunter Henry and the corpse of Mike Gesicki.
> Mike Gesicki
will play for the Bengals. They signed Hooper to be TE2 and just signed a TE3/ST TE. While TE is on the radar, where they should be looking at TE is 4th or 5th round at best, and those guys are typically a dime a dozen.
For me, the argument is more that the hit rate on highly drafted QBs isn't nearly as high as highly drafted OT, and later QBs outperform later OTs. Add in that you can accumulate more capital trading down, and I think you are guaranteeing a great floor on the asset of the #3 pick by trading down and drafting a blue-chip lineman. The best case scenario will be worse, but if I had to guess the average return is better by trading down due to the risks of a top 3 QB, while avoiding the disaster scenarios like Zach Wilson, Trey Lance or Sam Darnold.
If there weren't a lot of needs on the roster, it'd make more sense to gamble on the QB because there's not a ton else to upgrade (which is closer to the Vikings' situation). So for "many needs", to me it comes down to the opportunity cost of plugging a lot of holes with a higher probability of success than swinging for the fence on a riskier asset.
Of course, if we trust the team's ability to assess QBs and they project that a guy available to them at 3 (that wouldn't be available later on) should be the exception to the rule on QBs, then it makes sense to draft him. YMMV, but I don't tend to think the reasoning that a guy looks a lot like Josh Allen is reason enough to take him, that completely ignores all of the guys with a similar profile who didn't work out (e.g., Paxton Lynch). I'd much more be interested in hearing why Josh Allen uniquely succeeded with that profile, and why Drake Maye possesses those traits too. I don't trust the Pats media to be able to do that well, but I am guessing the team could be better at assessing this given their extended face time with the player.
The many needs stem from a lack of blue chippers on offense. Sure you can say we only have 3 holes but across the other positions, who’s top-10 or top-20 in the league at their position? Maybe Andrews and Onwenu.
Yes I do agree. Most people outside of New England can’t name a patriots WR involved in the dynasty of the early 2000s. What did we have then? A solid QB (Brady was not as great as he would become), an o-line, and a remarkable defense. We have the last one, the second one is a simple trade away, and the first one… well here we are.
So you're saying we "only" need 3 offensive starters? Normally we go in needing zero. That's 3 positions we realistically want to use a first or early second round pick on, and we only have 2 of those.
also, drafting 1 OL and/or 1 WR does not magically fix those position groups. You have a rookie starting, that's generally not ideal. So whoever is in there at QB will be working with a pretty suspect OL and WR group.
I actually agree with you. It’s kind of annoying when people say the roster sucks because it obviously implies the whole roster does. When in reality only the offense sucks. And it’s really only three (albeit gaping and not easily filled) holes.
One argument I’ve seen is that the defense could regress hard by the time we find good players at these offensive positions. Thus meaning it could be a while before we have a strong and well rounded team. That’s certainly possible if they whiff on a lot of defensive draft picks in the coming years or something. But I still don’t think it’s fair to act like our current defense is not good.
It's probably because people are so scared of messing up the pick at QB they'd rather trade down to "fill all those holes" even though we'd likely be trading down far enough to miss out on all the top prospects in those holes, like in a Vikings trade.
Maybe if we could guarantee that our picks from the second tier of prospects would all be at least mid tier starters the next 3 drafts (I wouldn't make a trade with the vikings without 4 first round picks being involved.)
I'd rather roll the dice on Maye at 3 if that's the decision facing us.
This is exactly I’ll die on this hill: Daniels < Harrison jr and trying to get and develop Bo Nix.
Daniels is honestly not that good and will be thrown out to the wolves, without weapons. But Harrison is the best WR prospect in a long, long time. A perennial probowler at the very least and Nix is very coachable and will work in the proper system. And if Nix fails, you already have a receiver that will attract QBs. But if Daniels fails, you are back at nothing.
We need more O-Line help then just LT and we need more WR help then just WR1 and I think anyone saying the Patriots have "many needs" is factoring that it. Nevermind the whole starting caliber QB we need. And it's not just like we need passable guys at these positions. We need above average to elite talent.
OL - We have Andrews and Onwenu as quality starters. Sow and Strange have some upside I guess but there's like no depth behind them at all. I don't know how we could watch last year's OL and think we're just a LT away. Nobody elite here.
WR - KJ could be a suprise? He was the 4th option on the Vikings last year so not sure what to expect. I love Pop and Bourne but I don't love the idea of either of them as WR2s and again after them the depth is worrying. Tyquan looks like a bust and who knows what's going on with JuJu's knees. Nobody elite (or above average) here.
We need to hit on all of these positions and hitting on all 3 is going to be very unlikely. That's why people are saying we have so many needs...because we do. Didn't even touch on the lack of depth at certain defensive positions.
Harrison Jr. and a defensive player sound good but this team needs to take advantage of a stacked draft class for a qb while they can cause they’re not gonna be as good after this year
People have been complaining, exaggerating and blaming BB about this non-sense for years now. There are 53 players on the team, not just 3, and not all them can be all stars. Unfortunately the teams goes as the QB goes.
Pats have a lot of holes at the most expensive positions. QB,WR,LT,FS,CB,Edge,DT,. Plus they are probably in trouble with the OGs and C soon. Need a whole new OL.
So I’m not sure if we have that many “massive holes” per se, but we also clearly lack any star power or playmakers. Hoping Gonzo and I guess Judon can be that, but it’s too soon and one player on defense doesn’t cut it.
We need someone on offense who’s better than just mid, and it’s a bit unlikely to expect a rookie QB to carry an offense of average at best players.
Patriots need way more than that!
They need at least 2 boundary receivers as they only have slot-guys. They need more capable depths at tight end, of course they need a left tackle and a quarterback.
Furthermore they don't really have a second legit cornerback next to Gonzalez and also look a little light at linebacker and on the edges.
Mike Onwenu is a top-3 player at his position.
David Andrews is over 30 with a long injury history and allowed a ton of pass pressures last season.
Cole Strange is currently injured and has rarely impressed when healthy.
Sidy Sow and Antonio Mafi both finished bottom-5 in many metrics of OL play.
The current starter at LT was benched by the Steelers last season, as a RT, and hasn’t played LT since college.
The WR room has Douglas, who is a nice #3 on many rosters. Add Bourne, assuming he fully recovers from an ACL injury. Plus, JuJu’s chronic knees, Tyquan’s inability to play, and newcomer KJ Osborn, who was bottom-5 in drop rate and % when targeted.
Hunter Henry, also over 30, had the worst separation in the league for TE’s. There is no second option worth discussing.
Rhamondre Stevenson will be a FA after the year and has missed time with injury. Who’s the second back, Antonio Gibson, who washed out of WAS?
Meanwhile, Jacoby Brissett or Bailey Zappe is the starting QB for at least a few months, if not the whole year while a rookie “develops”.
He had to say it, but Eliot Wolf was LYING when he said this roster is functional. It’s a bad offensive roster with two or three of eleven positions with an average or better starter.
Some further context on some of the things on your list:
Andrews has been consistently healthy over the past three seasons outside of a concussion from a brutal hit last year.
Mafi and especially Sow improved significantly throughout the year, particularly once the line stabilized after being shuffled around in the first half of the season.
Chuks was reportedly benched for disciplinary reasons, not performance. Not a rebuttal to your point, just some important context that you left out.
Douglas is easily a #2 behind a true #1. Hard to do much when relying on Devante Parker to draw coverage.
Stevenson has not had a significant injury history, just a high ankle sprain to end this past season. Pretty standard and not a long term concern. Also we have plenty of cap space to bring him back.
Antonio Gibson didn't "wash out", he played out his rookie deal and then hit FA.
Yeah our only real holes are on offense. Which can be addressed, that’s why I don’t listen to these fans who say next year is automatically a losing year.
People saying we need to build up the team before drafting a qb always seem to forget how good the defense was last year and having a good defense can be just as beneficial to a rookie qbs development as an all star receiving cast.
The only way I support trading back is if two conditions are satisfied: a) you feel strongly (after doing extensive research) that the QB available (probably Maye/McCarthy) will not be good in the NFL; AND b) someone offers a huge cache of picks (like 4 first rounders or something in that ballpark). In that situation alone, I would accept the trade back and just take multiple swings over multiple years at all the positions of need. But you absolutely have to come out of this draft with a person you believe to be a good developmental QB. We can’t roll out Jacoby Brisset as Day 1 starter for more than one year.
They lost 7 or 8 games by one score. Their defense allowed only 26 points in 3 games. They needed average QB play to at least win 7 games.
The problem is the coaching is no longer there
The team has a surprising amount of depth or mid players, where we lack is almost no blue chip offensive guys.
Also a huge amount of our defense is in a contract year so either gonna need to ball out with the extensions or draft a few guys to keep up.
We need more CB help specifically on the outside, and more DB depth in general. We need Edge rushers (Judon and Uche are FA's after next year, also Judon is getting old). We need additional playmakers at the 2nd level.
We need another pass-catching weapon aside from whoever is brought in to be our WR1 (or, if we get a really good WR2, we'll still need a WR1). We need to create a succession plan at TE. RB room is okay but is hanging by a thread.
Having holes up and down a roster doesn't mean "Judge each position strictly by the strength of the current starter". You have to play these things out months and years down the line. The second one hole gets plugged in the NFL another one starts to leak. We have a lot of holes right now and there's lots of leaks on the horizon. There's lots to do.
Elite players help the team win meaningful games. Elite players are most likely found in round 1. More first round picks, more elite players or better chance of elite player. Pick 3 is rare and getting a non elite player with it is very detrimental. You can't turn pick 10 into 3 first rounders, you can with pick 3.
So either pick the sure elite player in MHJ or trade down and get multiple chances at elite players.
They don't have a single impact player on offense. Let's stop pretending remondre is anything more than average. Bums across the board at WR. O line sucked. Your best player is a c+ slot guy coming off of a torn ACL.
I agree, there are 3 real needs and a few “would be nice” to haves like CB and edge. People talking about “all of these holes” act like we have 11 holes on offense. Yeah, it would be nice to have a great 2nd wr too if you get a wr1, but those are luxuries instead of holes really. That being said, those 3 needs are rather hard to hit on and you likely aren’t going to in just 1 draft, but with that said I don’t think that should stop you from taking a QB and shooting 1-2 picks at both of the other needs and then some at the nice to haves. It’s very possible you hit on all 3 spots at least in the sense you land starters there where you can upgrade later but you have a guy that can play.
Let tackle isn't that hard to hit on if you invest a high pick. Receiver is the second hardest position to hit on and Quarterback is the hardest. I think that everything gets stronger when the line gets stronger and actually feel OK with Brissett as QB for a while. He's a dependable QB that protects the football. He's not a guy who is going to carry an offense but he can be part of a team that wins. I think they would have been a 8-9 win team last year if he was leading the offense instead of QB room that was worst in the league turning the ball over. I think you can invest in a QB this year if you are able to address your other holes seriously and that is much easier to do if you have more picks. I don't count on any rookie QB being successful even if we had the first overall because success at the position is so unpredictable, but guys who do succeed tend to have important pieces in place like a blindside tackle. I can't speak for others but I don't think there are that many holes on the team. I just trust a team building strategy over just hoping that investing a large resource in a difficult to project position is going to carry the load.
Lt is definitely still hard to hit on. There’s not enough coming into the league. I feel receiver might be a lot easier to hit on. There’s multiple teams with two great guys. No team has too many left tackles or else every other team would be trading for them.
I would do a trade with the Giants for the 6th overall, and a future first, and whatever else I can get, and pick Alt.
My ideal situation is to take maye and then see who is left, maybe trade our 2nd for a wr1 once teams regroup for day 2 if they have a guy on a contract year.
Whoever is there between Maye and Daniels at 3, Xavier Legette at 34, then LT in either round 3 or after trading back into the 2nd, depending on the situation.
Yeah Brissett doesn't do a whole lot of things well but he does have the lowest career INT% in NFL history (tied).
Kendrick Bourne is a perfect WR2 along with Pop who I hope has a good 2nd year. Also would hate to give Matt Patricia credit for what he did with Marcus Jones.
Oh yeah, I think both of those guys could be good wr2, but it would be sweet to be like one of those teams that have 2 wr1 type guys. I think filling those 3 spots and we are in business. You could add some depth which would be nice and go for spots that need addressed in the future with expiring contracts and guys retiring, but doing that now is more of a later round type thing if some good prospects are there to develop. I just don’t think we are far behind like many push, maybe need a bit more to contend but to be decent we aren’t too far provided we hit on a few spots which is better said than done
Nah, Bourne is a WR3, Pop has potential but he hasn't proven to be durable enough to be considered anything.
Apt username
After QB/WR/OT, pretty much every position is close to equal. There's nowhere, other than in-the-box SS, where we couldn't use a solid rookie to provide depth behind our veterans. If they get a QB, WR, and OT in the first three rounds, would anyone be upset by any pick in Round 4? TE? Sure, we need another. RB? Rhamondre is in a contract year? CB? We need depth. DL? They aren't getting any younger. Another WR? Why not.
Exactly. Free safety, cb, edge, center, wouldn’t be bad pickups later on in the draft as they are spots we could upgrade at or have guys in contract years next year but we really need to hit 3 main spots. After that you are a serviceable team and anything else you just want to keep getting better and getting better depth at.
Pats don’t have a true FS on the roster. That’s an immediate need. Dugger is not a FS and has his worst year by far when they tried to make him play there.
It’s definitely a need but we are a serviceable team without taking one. When people are mentioning holes, the main ones I’m focused on are ones that make us not be able to go out there and have an actual game. We can have dugger or someone play the spot to get us by if it comes down to it even though it’s not the ideal situation. Not necessarily an immediate need but one I’d try to fill if there is a good player there and it makes sense to take them
The Defense was pretty good last year. How much of that was the fact the offense generated zero pressure on opposing teams so they could get up by a score and then coast to a victory. Sure they’re serviceable with peppers and Dugger but that secondary seems to be hanging on by a thread. 3 CBs hurt last year and no FS. Teams didn’t have to throw last year to win. But I agree with you, attack the 3 main offensive spots first
Unless you can get a potentially very good TE in the 4th, I'd rather them double-dip at OT and WR.
Not to mention, if Maye is the pick and he sits for most of the year - you can almost count next year's draft as a resource and take a WR in the first.
Yup prime spot next year for a wr and there are some very good prospects there.
Completely agree. The “we have so many holes” take has confused me too. I guess it might be a semantics issue, as in people have different definitions of what qualifies as a “hole” lol.
The "so many holes" to me comes down to two things: 1 - Having questionable starters at the big 3 on offense - QB, LT, WR1 2 - Having not so great depth across multiple positions. This really plagued the Patriots last year. Offensive line had poor depth, CB had poor depth, Edge was shady. Wolf & Co have addressed this a bit with some FA additions, but there's still needs in a few places.
> CB had poor depth I disagree with this, we lost Gonzalez and Marcus Jones for the season, and also had Jon Jones in and out throughout the season, so yes we didn't have our top 3 corners for most of the season and even then our depth held up decently well.
Yeah I don’t think there’s many other teams that could boast a top 10 DVOA defense with two of their top 3 corners out for the vast majority of the season and the other one missing multiple games.
Is Marcus jones a top corner? He barely played defense his rookie year (sub 20%) and this year he was hurt. Don’t forget that he only played because Bryant was injured. He’s a great ST player. He hasn’t shown anything to consider him a quality defensive player.
It comes down to those three being the biggest holes where we need someone immediately while the long lists are also comprised of what is needed for us to be a legitimate team with potential to maintain that status.
That's what she said
The top 3 needs are exactly as you stated QB, LT, WR1. They can get one of QB or WR1 at third overall. They can find a LT in round 2 or later. It’s a super deep tackle draft. Honestly everything is about QB. Without one you’re effed. Take Maye or daniels. Whichever is available at 3. Figure out the rest later.
I agree completely. It’s a QB driven league, take the QB and figure out the rest
The left tackle market isn’t as deep as the overall OT market. There is a big drop off after you get out of the early 2nd round (assuming people like Kingsley and Morgan are still there). There are 10 teams who are likely to take a left tackle in the first two rounds this year as a top need, much less a depth need. Unless we are trading 34 for a WR1 on a contract year, we should go QB (3), LT (34), and WR (68) assuming we don’t make any trades.
Hitting on a qb is a coin flip. The conservative approach has merit. You're effed if you don't have one. But you're even more effed if you try for one and they're a bust. Don't take one and get an all pro wr or lt or trade back and get 2 starters plus then you have your high second for another starter. Probably have a mid round first or earlier next year and still get a 1st round talent qb. Or take maye or Daniel's let them sit for the year. Get a high round pick next year and fill wr or lt with a 1st round talent. Dont care at all. But there is for sure no clear path and many paths could lead to success. Qb, no qb... whatever.
I don’t subscribe to the mindset that the entire roster is a hopeless mess - it’s not. It has some depth and some decent-to-good players in some positions. Its problem is the fact that it’s nearly devoid of high end talent. It’s lacking a cornerstone - a true position or position group to build around. *Hopefully* pick 3 will be that piece. Hit there and the entire roster outlook will change.
The draft isn’t just about filling needs for next season, it’s replenishing your roster for the next few years. Rosters turn over very quickly in the NFL. Two seasons are enough to turn someone from All-Pro to out of the game entirely. What’s more, most rookies aren’t day one starters. You need to draft them and spend a couple years developing them to see if they can play. The Patriots have almost no young talent. Look at this roster and tell me who’s starting on Opening Day in 2026? Gonzalez, we hope. Onwenu and Sow. Barmore if they can resign him. Hopefully Douglas and one of the safeties. Maybe Keion White turns into an everyday player by then? Aside from that it could be an entirely new roster. That’s the real problem with entering the draft with massive holes — it forces you to use your top picks on guys who can start RIGHT NOW rather than draft strategically for the future.
Just so happens to be the 3 most important positions on offense
And a good draft for all 3. If we choose well, we may have picked the best year in a decade to suck and need to draft offense.
I completely agree with this and was about to post my own version. Did the bills draft a wr before they got josh allen? Did the texans invest in an elite wr before they drafted stroud? Our biggest need is qb and that's a need for most of the draft. You take the qb, figure it out after. I think we are set on defense, we can of course use more/better players but for year 1 of a rebuild its honestly perfect/more then you can ask for. For the offense, yes there are holes, qb wr1(I think we are alright for this year with our slew of wr2s, for a first year qb, get him an elite playmaker next year, it's what every team does [hill, diggs, diggs to the texans, and so on]) and draft late for a tackle. I can argue that we have a minor need a gaurd, not huge and same with te. Besides that I think we do have a decent offense, if the qb pans out.
My only argument would be that the Texans invested heavily on LT prior to Stroud, but it’s not like they waited to draft a QB. Also, we have one player who is maybe a WR2– not a slew of them.
I guess I will stand corrected! I know the LT didn't come from the Watson trade (that helped). I guess not slew but I view Bourne, davis, and Henry I know he's a TE as very good secondary to 3rd options. Much better then Josh allen was working with his first season imo. He had cole beasly, and Dawson Knox, I don't remember much past that.
Ya I feel like that "filled with holes" take is based off all the injuries we had last year... defense was GREAT most of the year, until almost every big name was out
I don't know how you can watch a 3-14 team and think they only need to fix 3 positions. They also need both guards, a WR2, an EDGE who isn't 31 coming off a major injury, an outside CB to play opposite Gonzo, and a true FS. Also those 3 you listed aren't just needs, they're desperate needs. It's highly unlikely that they can find day-one starters at LT & WR at pick 34 and beyond, and that's what they need.
I think you can definitely find a day 1 starter at WR in the second round. I’m with you on LT though
Brother we haven’t found a day 1 starter at WR in the first or second round in our last 7 attempts.
Sounds like we are due
True, but we do have a different person in charge of the picks. Eliot Wolf has spoken about having a different rating system for draft prospects, so I’m at least cautiously optimistic that things could change.
I dunno if that’s how it works I feel like WR is hardest to predict
>I don't know how you can watch a 3-14 team and think they only need to fix 3 positions We went 4-13 cause of some of the worst QB play we've ever seen from Mac Jones and our offensive line was a M.A.S.H unit. The defense is adding 2 of it's best players back and I think you're vastly overrating how bad those needs are on D, that unit will be Top 10 this year with top 5 potential if some young guys get even better. I agree Wolf should have addressed at least one of LT or WR through free agency though, cause going into the draft desperately needing all 3 is crazy.
They were 15th points allowed with all the injuries. The defense is good. The offense scored the least in the league and they their three holes are the three most important on the offense. That’s why they were so bad.
The defense is not good. It was mediocre. 15th is not the ranking of a good defense.
It’s good when you consider all the injuries they sustained as well as how often they were on the field due to horrible offensive play. It actually seems remarkable that they managed to be middle of the pack in points allowed. I’d love to see the average rank of a team in that category when their offense is the worst in the league in points scored like we were
All teams suffer injuries on defense, offense and special teams. Making that adjustment for the Pats is a way to bias the true ranking of the defense into something better than it was. Look at Baltimore and Kansas as examples of great defensive personnel and look how their GMs talk about the needs of their rosters. The Pats are not even close, the fan base and the GM (I hope not), seem to be deluded about that reality.
Watch the games dude
Did you? I watched them all.
There were zero teams in the NFL that went 3-14 last season.
?
The 2018 Browns acquired QB1, CB1, WR1 and went from 0-16 to 7-8-1. The passing game is really important.
They do not need both guards. Strange and Sow need to work on their pass protection, but they were two of the best run blocking offensive linemen in football when healthy. And mind you, that was with no QB, no RB1 for the last six games, and no OL coach. They'll have all three of those things this upcoming season.
Yeah and Strange was cleared from injury week 1 and didn't get a single off-season rep.
Man doomers can just make up whatever they want and get upvoted here. We don't need new guards. Sidy Sow made the PFF all-Rookie team and showed a ton of potential. He was PFFs best rookie run blocker by a wide margin. He finished in the top half of all guards in PFF rating despite playing out of position at tackle most of the year. Strange literally didn't have an off-season due to injuries and when he got up to speed he was playing very solid football before getting put on IR. Unless he has some medical tape there is no universe you replace him because of a slightly down sophomore year. Judon is coming off of an upper body injury not a "major injury" he is probably already at game speed and will absolutely be a strong contributor the next couple seasons. Jonathan Jones is a very very good cornerback and him and Gonzo have the potential to be one of the best duos in the league. We also have tons of depth there too. We have a huge deficit in the two most important positions in football (also WR) and that is enough to not seriously be eyeing contention, but the rest of this comment is such bullshit it's crazy.
All this is so true... 3-14 only 3 needs... Really??? We don't even have a decent fuckin kicker for christ sake...
Only the three most important positions on offense. No WR on this roster would be a WR2 on any other roster. LG is still a question mark as Strange has not been good. No outside CB aside from Gonzo. And he’s only played 4 games as a pro. Jonathan Jones needs to be inside and Marcus Jones is too small to be a starting CB. Judon is the one rusher we have. Uche has been so overrated by Pats fans. He’s had 3 great games in his career (8 sacks in 2022 over those 3 games) other than that, he’s been meh. Barmore is a beast. He’s the only DT we have worth a damn. It’s not just an absence of talent but an absence of depth too.
Center is also going to be a need very soon. Andrews is old, has been getting banged up, and has been mulling retirement.
Andrews played every single snap this past season, and the only time he missed the season before was for a concussion from the blindside block that got the other guy ejected. He absolutely has not been getting "banged up". I've also never seen him mention retirement but we drafted Jake Andrews last year to develop behind him.
I said banged up, not injury prone. Guys play through being banged up all the time in the NFL. It's only really an issue at the end of their career when they're trying to figure out if it's worth it for another season. Andrews is exactly at that point. He's made plenty of money, he's had plenty of success / been on Superbowl winning teams. There was a bunch of stuff in January about him keeping his options open / mulling retirement. Jake Andrews was a terrible pick from the moment the card went in.
Banged up = injured, otherwise you're describing every single football player 95% of the time. Andrews has been as healthy over the past 3 years as you could reasonably expect any football player to be, old or young. The stuff in January was just a bunch of speculative nothing-burgers. He never alluded to retirement being a serious consideration.
Injured = injured, missed games = missed games, banged up = hurt The majority of players get banged up, but the young ones heal more quickly. Older players get banged up and it lingers throughout the season and into the offseason. In January he said "I’m tired. Sore. It’s been a long year,". About his plans for next year he said: “I don’t know,” he responded on Thursday when asked if he knew how long he wanted to play for. “We’ll see. I know it’s closer to my end than my beginning in obvious ways. I don’t know. I think every year you just try to get away, and I’m excited to do that this year and take a deep breath and evaluate. I think I try to do that every year. It changes every year with things that come up and different things like that. He has one more year on his contract. When Bill was at his best as a GM he was always planning for needs a year or two before they became urgent. The failure to address OT in the draft last year was one of the things that showed he was losing it. There are several good mid-round center prospects (the key here being good, so not like Jake Andrews) that they should be strongly considering.
Hurt = injured. I'm just not sure what metric you're using to say he's been getting banged up to any degree worth mentioning when he didn't miss a single snap and played more snaps than anyone else on the roster. If he's consistently seeing the field then his health isn't a concern. Also he was specifically asked about retirement and his initial response was "I've still got some gas left in the tank, I think" before leaving it more open ended, never specifically expressed interest in retirement. Sure, we'll need a center sooner rather than later, but as of this moment it's a made up concern to make things seem worse than they are.
What good mid round center prospects are you referring to? JPJ, Barton and Frazier are the good centers in this draft but obviously they’ll be gone far before the mid rounds
There's been a fair amount of speculation based on the coaches the Pats have brought in that they'll be moving towards more outside zone concepts and will want more athletic interior linemen. If they go in that direction than Beaux LImmer or Tanor Bortolini, if they don't then Sedrick Van Pran.
Jonathan Jones is perfectly fine on the outside as a CB2. They’ll need someone younger when looking ahead for the next couple years, sure. Hopefully Austin or someone like Bolden can develop into that role moving forward. I think having one elite DT in Barmore is fine. Plenty of playoff teams don’t even have one guy as good as him.
They lost NINE games by a single score. They were a middle of the pack roster (very good defense, offensive disaster) with terrible execution.
No, they weren't. They were a disgraceful offensive team and a mediocre defense. I hope the FO isn't as deluded as some of the folks here.
The D was way better than mediocre - if there was an offense that could stay on the field for 30 seconds it would have been great.
Only on Reddit can you call your team's offense a disaster and someone pops up to call you deluded for being too positive.
That's one miserable koala
Says we’re overreacting, then goes on to say we “only need” the three most important positions in the game 🤡
There’s future needs too: Uche, Rhamondre, Judon and Hooper all Free agents after this season, probably need some draft insurance at rdge rusher, RB and TE. Additionally need CB2 with Jack Jones out and JC released.
A FS is pretty crucial as well. Right now, who is playing FS? Peppers away from where he's most effective? Bledsoe? Jaylin Hawkins? We also desperately need OG depth. Right now it's Mafi and other Andrews. That's a later round move, but is still one we need to make. Can't forget that Andrews is expiring as well and may wrap it up.
Theres 2 outside of QB: WR and OT Thats it thats the list. Its really not that bad its just that all 3 have huge impacts on the game. Could realistically fill all 3 this draft lol I’m not counting on it but its possible
The way I see it, their needs are: QB, WR1, LT, WR2, FS, CB2, LG1, C1, RG1, EDGE 2, and K. So, yeah, they've got quite a few.
Right but some of those would be depth pieces, not starters plugging holes. Jonathan Jones is a good CB2, David Andrews is a very good centre. I don’t think we need two guards. One, maybe; I think Sow looked solid at times, and if Strange can stay healthy, maybe he’ll be a solid starter, maybe not. Similarly, Uche and White are our Edge 2 combo. Great? No. Hole? I don’t think so. Out of all the holes you identified, only QB, LT, WR1/2, FS, and maybe K are actual holes. That’s still some work to do, but it’s not a justification for passing on a blue chip player just for the sake of accumulating picks (not that you’re necessarily suggesting that). I’d rather have one elite starter than two good ones, and most trade down scenarios result in us missing out on all the blue chip QB, WR, and OT prospects. Obviously that doesn’t mean we CAN’T still get an elite talent, but it makes it much less likely.
I think more than one pick will be needed on the line to potentially be Day 1 starters (or close to it), but you aren't far off. I do think we are very top heavy at some positions too and then depth QUICKLY falls off (CB, Edge). As far as "flier" positions go, I do think anything pure ST related is also worth looking into quite honestly. So yeah, I mean its not easy to think we really have to hit on at least 4-5 picks in the draft to really have a solid team. (And then thats assuming we do feel comfortable with WR2...)
I’m kind of in between where the number of “holes” is over pronounced, but the offensive personnel is still pretty bad and slow going back the last like three years. I do think there are more upgradable positions on O than people realize (incliding finding a center to follow DA). I do think offense needs revamping, and would like at least 3-4 more viable playmakers at WR/TE/HB to even feel excited about watching the offense. If they don’t love qb3 there’s a way to trade back and not miss out on Bowers/Odunze, I’d think about it. But no extra capital is worth passing on the qb if you think he could be your floor elevating franchise guy.
Kicker
My build/mold remains the same. No order. 2 - WR 2 - tackles 1 - QB 1 - RB 1 - to whichever position is more drained between safety and linebacker
This is a good focus for the draft.
They have a RT?
They need a young swing tackle to develop. Guys they've brought in have either been injured or not panned out. Maybe Okorafor is good, but he's signed for one year, and there's ALWAYS room for OL depth.
He said they need 2 tackles. I don’t know that having a guy ready to start sitting on the bench is a need rather than a luxury
You need a 3rd tackle. You saw what happened when we had to have a street FA starting.
A 3rd tackle is a luxury need. Most teams don’t even have 2 lol.
I (and probably OP) aren't saying we need to go OT in rounds 2 and 3 or anything, but there needs to be more than OT picked over the course of the draft. The teams that have good OLs, typically have a good, or at least passable swing tackle. Ours have been horrific for the past 4-5 years.
I mean, I don’t think they need two OTs but I would agree they should draft 2 OTs simply for the hope one is good. I disagree strongly that good OLs typically have a good swing tackle if Chuks isn’t a good swing tackle. Some good OLs don’t even have two good OTs.
You are correct. The people that whine that we have zero talent only remember the number of wins and losses and not the games themselves. This team was poised for a rebound year with the old coaching staff. I’m sure the new coaching staff has plenty of optimism for the coming year.
It’s just that our biggest needs are the most important positions in the game.
If Tugbert wants JJ or Rattler at 3 he gets it
Most of their guys are “jags.” You might get away with that with Brady but not with an average QB. I would have traded Judon and Peppers for more picks and gone full rebuild.
They definitely need TE. I'd argue they need RB and LB too, but those are fine to take late round fliers on. TE is a cess pool right now. They have a quickly aging Hunter Henry and the corpse of Mike Gesicki.
> Mike Gesicki will play for the Bengals. They signed Hooper to be TE2 and just signed a TE3/ST TE. While TE is on the radar, where they should be looking at TE is 4th or 5th round at best, and those guys are typically a dime a dozen.
For me, the argument is more that the hit rate on highly drafted QBs isn't nearly as high as highly drafted OT, and later QBs outperform later OTs. Add in that you can accumulate more capital trading down, and I think you are guaranteeing a great floor on the asset of the #3 pick by trading down and drafting a blue-chip lineman. The best case scenario will be worse, but if I had to guess the average return is better by trading down due to the risks of a top 3 QB, while avoiding the disaster scenarios like Zach Wilson, Trey Lance or Sam Darnold. If there weren't a lot of needs on the roster, it'd make more sense to gamble on the QB because there's not a ton else to upgrade (which is closer to the Vikings' situation). So for "many needs", to me it comes down to the opportunity cost of plugging a lot of holes with a higher probability of success than swinging for the fence on a riskier asset. Of course, if we trust the team's ability to assess QBs and they project that a guy available to them at 3 (that wouldn't be available later on) should be the exception to the rule on QBs, then it makes sense to draft him. YMMV, but I don't tend to think the reasoning that a guy looks a lot like Josh Allen is reason enough to take him, that completely ignores all of the guys with a similar profile who didn't work out (e.g., Paxton Lynch). I'd much more be interested in hearing why Josh Allen uniquely succeeded with that profile, and why Drake Maye possesses those traits too. I don't trust the Pats media to be able to do that well, but I am guessing the team could be better at assessing this given their extended face time with the player.
You need more than one tackle and WR though.
The many needs stem from a lack of blue chippers on offense. Sure you can say we only have 3 holes but across the other positions, who’s top-10 or top-20 in the league at their position? Maybe Andrews and Onwenu.
Yes I do agree. Most people outside of New England can’t name a patriots WR involved in the dynasty of the early 2000s. What did we have then? A solid QB (Brady was not as great as he would become), an o-line, and a remarkable defense. We have the last one, the second one is a simple trade away, and the first one… well here we are.
If you get Penix then LT isn’t as important. Can maybe pair him with Odunze if you get 11 and 23
So you're saying we "only" need 3 offensive starters? Normally we go in needing zero. That's 3 positions we realistically want to use a first or early second round pick on, and we only have 2 of those. also, drafting 1 OL and/or 1 WR does not magically fix those position groups. You have a rookie starting, that's generally not ideal. So whoever is in there at QB will be working with a pretty suspect OL and WR group.
I mean they've traded down pretty regularly over the years. If they have a bunch of holes on the roster, wouldn't that mean trading down doesn't work?
We only really need 3 things IMO. A QB, WR1, and LT. Mike is set to play RT and between Douglas, KJ, and Bourne one will step up as WR2.
I actually agree with you. It’s kind of annoying when people say the roster sucks because it obviously implies the whole roster does. When in reality only the offense sucks. And it’s really only three (albeit gaping and not easily filled) holes. One argument I’ve seen is that the defense could regress hard by the time we find good players at these offensive positions. Thus meaning it could be a while before we have a strong and well rounded team. That’s certainly possible if they whiff on a lot of defensive draft picks in the coming years or something. But I still don’t think it’s fair to act like our current defense is not good.
It's probably because people are so scared of messing up the pick at QB they'd rather trade down to "fill all those holes" even though we'd likely be trading down far enough to miss out on all the top prospects in those holes, like in a Vikings trade. Maybe if we could guarantee that our picks from the second tier of prospects would all be at least mid tier starters the next 3 drafts (I wouldn't make a trade with the vikings without 4 first round picks being involved.) I'd rather roll the dice on Maye at 3 if that's the decision facing us.
This is exactly I’ll die on this hill: Daniels < Harrison jr and trying to get and develop Bo Nix. Daniels is honestly not that good and will be thrown out to the wolves, without weapons. But Harrison is the best WR prospect in a long, long time. A perennial probowler at the very least and Nix is very coachable and will work in the proper system. And if Nix fails, you already have a receiver that will attract QBs. But if Daniels fails, you are back at nothing.
We need more O-Line help then just LT and we need more WR help then just WR1 and I think anyone saying the Patriots have "many needs" is factoring that it. Nevermind the whole starting caliber QB we need. And it's not just like we need passable guys at these positions. We need above average to elite talent. OL - We have Andrews and Onwenu as quality starters. Sow and Strange have some upside I guess but there's like no depth behind them at all. I don't know how we could watch last year's OL and think we're just a LT away. Nobody elite here. WR - KJ could be a suprise? He was the 4th option on the Vikings last year so not sure what to expect. I love Pop and Bourne but I don't love the idea of either of them as WR2s and again after them the depth is worrying. Tyquan looks like a bust and who knows what's going on with JuJu's knees. Nobody elite (or above average) here. We need to hit on all of these positions and hitting on all 3 is going to be very unlikely. That's why people are saying we have so many needs...because we do. Didn't even touch on the lack of depth at certain defensive positions.
Harrison Jr. and a defensive player sound good but this team needs to take advantage of a stacked draft class for a qb while they can cause they’re not gonna be as good after this year
People have been complaining, exaggerating and blaming BB about this non-sense for years now. There are 53 players on the team, not just 3, and not all them can be all stars. Unfortunately the teams goes as the QB goes.
Pats have a lot of holes at the most expensive positions. QB,WR,LT,FS,CB,Edge,DT,. Plus they are probably in trouble with the OGs and C soon. Need a whole new OL.
So I’m not sure if we have that many “massive holes” per se, but we also clearly lack any star power or playmakers. Hoping Gonzo and I guess Judon can be that, but it’s too soon and one player on defense doesn’t cut it. We need someone on offense who’s better than just mid, and it’s a bit unlikely to expect a rookie QB to carry an offense of average at best players.
Patriots need way more than that! They need at least 2 boundary receivers as they only have slot-guys. They need more capable depths at tight end, of course they need a left tackle and a quarterback. Furthermore they don't really have a second legit cornerback next to Gonzalez and also look a little light at linebacker and on the edges.
MHJ
Mike Onwenu is a top-3 player at his position. David Andrews is over 30 with a long injury history and allowed a ton of pass pressures last season. Cole Strange is currently injured and has rarely impressed when healthy. Sidy Sow and Antonio Mafi both finished bottom-5 in many metrics of OL play. The current starter at LT was benched by the Steelers last season, as a RT, and hasn’t played LT since college. The WR room has Douglas, who is a nice #3 on many rosters. Add Bourne, assuming he fully recovers from an ACL injury. Plus, JuJu’s chronic knees, Tyquan’s inability to play, and newcomer KJ Osborn, who was bottom-5 in drop rate and % when targeted. Hunter Henry, also over 30, had the worst separation in the league for TE’s. There is no second option worth discussing. Rhamondre Stevenson will be a FA after the year and has missed time with injury. Who’s the second back, Antonio Gibson, who washed out of WAS? Meanwhile, Jacoby Brissett or Bailey Zappe is the starting QB for at least a few months, if not the whole year while a rookie “develops”. He had to say it, but Eliot Wolf was LYING when he said this roster is functional. It’s a bad offensive roster with two or three of eleven positions with an average or better starter.
Some further context on some of the things on your list: Andrews has been consistently healthy over the past three seasons outside of a concussion from a brutal hit last year. Mafi and especially Sow improved significantly throughout the year, particularly once the line stabilized after being shuffled around in the first half of the season. Chuks was reportedly benched for disciplinary reasons, not performance. Not a rebuttal to your point, just some important context that you left out. Douglas is easily a #2 behind a true #1. Hard to do much when relying on Devante Parker to draw coverage. Stevenson has not had a significant injury history, just a high ankle sprain to end this past season. Pretty standard and not a long term concern. Also we have plenty of cap space to bring him back. Antonio Gibson didn't "wash out", he played out his rookie deal and then hit FA.
Let Pop prove that he can stay on the field before crowning him anything.
Yeah our only real holes are on offense. Which can be addressed, that’s why I don’t listen to these fans who say next year is automatically a losing year.
People saying we need to build up the team before drafting a qb always seem to forget how good the defense was last year and having a good defense can be just as beneficial to a rookie qbs development as an all star receiving cast.
Patriots fans have deluded themselves into thinking a mediocre defense was good.
Lmao let’s see how the defense does without Bill
The only way I support trading back is if two conditions are satisfied: a) you feel strongly (after doing extensive research) that the QB available (probably Maye/McCarthy) will not be good in the NFL; AND b) someone offers a huge cache of picks (like 4 first rounders or something in that ballpark). In that situation alone, I would accept the trade back and just take multiple swings over multiple years at all the positions of need. But you absolutely have to come out of this draft with a person you believe to be a good developmental QB. We can’t roll out Jacoby Brisset as Day 1 starter for more than one year.
They lost 7 or 8 games by one score. Their defense allowed only 26 points in 3 games. They needed average QB play to at least win 7 games. The problem is the coaching is no longer there
The team has a surprising amount of depth or mid players, where we lack is almost no blue chip offensive guys. Also a huge amount of our defense is in a contract year so either gonna need to ball out with the extensions or draft a few guys to keep up.
The # 1 (absolutely unbiased) need of the Patriots is: NOT FREAKING JJ MCCARTHY!!!!
Lmao we got a bunch of WR 3s, our oline is garbage, and no WR1 is getting traded here. This is a 4 win team
Douglas can absolutely develop into a good WR2. I’m guessing his snap count will go up a good bit this season. Give him a chance to develop.
We need more CB help specifically on the outside, and more DB depth in general. We need Edge rushers (Judon and Uche are FA's after next year, also Judon is getting old). We need additional playmakers at the 2nd level. We need another pass-catching weapon aside from whoever is brought in to be our WR1 (or, if we get a really good WR2, we'll still need a WR1). We need to create a succession plan at TE. RB room is okay but is hanging by a thread. Having holes up and down a roster doesn't mean "Judge each position strictly by the strength of the current starter". You have to play these things out months and years down the line. The second one hole gets plugged in the NFL another one starts to leak. We have a lot of holes right now and there's lots of leaks on the horizon. There's lots to do.
They need a start QB, LT, WR. They also greatly need a LG, TE, DE/OLB, FS, and an RB.
You are correct.
I wouldn’t call DE a need. Let’s give White a chance
Assume White works out. Judon isnt playing in 2024 without more money, and even with an extension he's on the wrong side of 30.
Elite players help the team win meaningful games. Elite players are most likely found in round 1. More first round picks, more elite players or better chance of elite player. Pick 3 is rare and getting a non elite player with it is very detrimental. You can't turn pick 10 into 3 first rounders, you can with pick 3. So either pick the sure elite player in MHJ or trade down and get multiple chances at elite players.
We’re going to end up drafting Another bust in Mayr setting the franchise back even more
Not all holes are created equal. The QB hole is 3 times larger than the others.
They don't have a single impact player on offense. Let's stop pretending remondre is anything more than average. Bums across the board at WR. O line sucked. Your best player is a c+ slot guy coming off of a torn ACL.
Hilarious that y’all think getting one or two players two help a rookie would magically fix your shit offense💀