The Official 2024 New England Patriots Thread

[HuskyHawk]

Patriots should win next week. Indy and The Chargers are in play if just by being home and they have an outside shot at Arizona and vs. Rams. I don't think they win all of them, but, "any given Sunday," and all that jazz.

Considering compensatory selections, they are projected to have have 10 drafts picks next Spring, but 4 are projected to be in rounds 6 and 7. OTOH, They will also have 5 in the 1st four rounds and be among the leaders in cap room.

1/2 sample size so it very well could change, but I the Pats could pick anywhere from 3-7 if the season ended today. I wouldn't be surprised if that held. If Maye continues to improve, the biggest piece is in place, and there are plenty for the taking for a year 2 turnaround.

There are some encouraging signs. Maye is it. Gonzalez is a star. They really need Barmore and Bentley back and to add more at DL and LB via free agency and the draft. Ben Brown has been legit at C, which is stunning. Jordan has been decent to LG too. Still need OL help in a big way, but Strange will come back soon too.

WRs had a horrid day with drops again. I do think they have some talent, they did get open, but you have to catch the ball. Not sure if it's coaching, cold weather, gloves, but the team needs to get some consistency.

Uche healthy scratch so he'll be traded this week most likely. I think Osborn will be gone too. All those picks really allow you to trade up and get your guys. With the cap room they can also take on expensive guys via trades from teams like New Orleans that are in cap hell.

 

[Deepster]

So, a little offshoot for Gonzalez, Sauce Gardner and the like.

This came about this week talking about blowing the Jets up and I said I wouldn't protect a single player on their roster. Sauce was brought up as one and I said I wouldn't protect him. I feel like the "shut down corner" is a much different animal than it was 10+ years ago.

Back in the day, having a shut down really turned the other team's game plan on its ear. When Revis would shut down Calvin Johnson, their next 3 WRs were Kevin Smith, Dennis Northcutt and Brandon Pettigrew with Kevin Smith at RB. When Deion was on SF shutting down Irvin, the Cowboys had Alvin Harper and Kevin Williams.

I think most teams now regularly spread the ball around to 4-5 WR's, 2-3 TE's and 2-3 RB's every week. So Sauce slows the #1 guy a little? Doesn't impact the offense's effectiveness hardly at all.

Is the shut down corner a little overrated these days?

 

[HuskyHawk]

So, a little offshoot for Gonzalez, Sauce Gardner and the like.

This came about this week talking about blowing the Jets up and I said I wouldn't protect a single player on their roster. Sauce was brought up as one and I said I wouldn't protect him. I feel like the "shut down corner" is a much different animal than it was 10+ years ago.

Back in the day, having a shut down really turned the other team's game plan on its ear. When Revis would shut down Calvin Johnson, their next 3 WRs were Kevin Smith, Dennis Northcutt and Brandon Pettigrew with Kevin Smith at RB. When Deion was on SF shutting down Irvin, the Cowboys had Alvin Harper and Kevin Williams.

I think most teams now regularly spread the ball around to 4-5 WR's, 2-3 TE's and 2-3 RB's every week. So Sauce slows the #1 guy a little? Doesn't impact the offense's effectiveness hardly at all.

Is the shut down corner a little overrated these days?

Aha! You're describing what I've been saying but differently, "#1 WR" is overrated, because a shut down corner can more or less take them away. What you need is a deep receiving corps that allows you to spread the ball. It's what Brady had aside from a few years of Moss. It's what Peyton had. Apart from Thomas it's what Brees had. Clayton and Duper put up huge numbers for Marino, but neither of them were in the ballpark of a Justin Jefferson or Calvin Johnson type talent. Remember the smurfs?

So you do need that #1 corner bc the overall talent at WR is just way, way up across the league. He can also erase non-elite WRs in single coverage. But you also need good coverage guys at CB2 and CB3, S and LB. You also need a good TE and at least 3 good WRs. TE is very underrated right now.

Example: Garrett Wilson does nothing all year, because a guy like Gonzalez can take him away. Add Adams (who Gonzalez took away) and now Marcus Jones is on Wilson, who has a huge day (in some cases despite decent coverage).