This team is now five years removed from Tom Brady, and they still seem to be searching for their bottom. Two seasons ago, Bill Belichick was only able to get four wins out of them…and it cost him his job. Last year, Las Vegas didn’t think too highly of them, only putting their win total at 4.5…they only managed four wins. They bookended a win to open the season and to complete the season. The opening-day win cost the Bengals a playoff berth, while their meaningless win to finish the year off cost them the no.1 pick in this year’s draft. The 4-13 season also cost first-year HC Jerod Mayo his job.
QB
With the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft, the Patriots took the third QB off the board, Drake Maye. Unlike the blueprint in Chicago and Washington, who each started their rookie QBs in wk.1, the Pats decided to take it slow with Maye. After the experiment with journeyman QB Jacoby Brissett ultimately failed, the team turned to Maye. He did manage to start 12 games this season, and his stats were mediocre at best. Maye only managed 2276 passing yards, averaging only 190 per game. He had a completion ratio of 66.6%, and threw 15 TD along with 10 interceptions. Many pundits have called him the next Josh Allen, but I just don’t see it yet…he just hasn’t proven the ability to win, and he was in a handful of winnable games. Brisset won on opening day, and third-string QB Joe Milton won in the season’s finale. After year one, I’d say he’s closer to Mac Jones than Josh Allen.
RB
The Patriots offense was anemic. But if there was a small bright spot, it was in their running game. While they ranked last in passing yards with only 3343, they were 13th in the league with 1969 rushing yards. They were led by Rhamodre Stevenson, who rushed for 801 yards and seven TDs. But he averaged less than four yds per run. He was complimented this year by Antonio Gibson, who was underused, in my opinion. He only gained 538 yards but averaged 4.5 yds per rush. The two men combined to catch 56 passes out of the backfield. The biggest issue, primarily due to Stevenson, was their inability to hold the ball. They led the lead in fumbles with 14.
WR
As I said, they were dead last in passing yards, so nobody in the receiving core performed particularly well. TE Hunter Henry and WR Demario Douglas led the team with 66 receptions, and Henry actually had more receiving yards, leading the team with 674 yards. After them, the next two were again a TE and WR. Austin Hooper caught 45 passes for 476 yds, while Keyshon Boutte caught 43 passes for 589 yds…he was the team’s lone deep threat. Henry only caught two TDs, while Douglas, Boutte, and Hooper each caught three TDs. Their rookie WR Ja’Lynn Polk only caught 12 passes for 87 yards…ALL SEASON.
DEFENSE
As awful as the team was this season, the defensive side of the ball outperformed the offense, as they did the year before. They overcame the loss of defensive lineman Christian Barmore to blood clot issues and traded away linebacker Matthew Judon to the Falcons. Their second-year CB Christian Gonzalez was healthy and almost singlehandedly saved their secondary. The Pats ranked sixth this season in defensive passing yds, while they were only 23rd in rushing yards. New HC Mike Vrabel is defensive-minded, and should be able to maximize the potential of this group while augmenting where needed. They have the potential to be a top-10 defense without too much work.
COACHING
It is unfathomable to me that Robert Kraft could have entrusted his team to a neophyte staff of coaches, especially following the greatest head coach of all time. HC Jerod Mayo, OC Alex Van Pelt, and DC Demarcus Covington had never been play callers before this season; for that matter, GM Elliot Wolf had never been given the opportunity to ‘buy the groceries” elsewhere either. After one disastrous season, which saw the team go 4-13 for the second year in a row, Kraft had no choice but to blow his entire coaching staff up. He brought in Mike Vrabel to be the team’s HC. And then this past week, the team brought back…for a third time, Josh McDaniels to be the team’s OC. And Vrabel brought in Terrell Williams to be the team’s DC. Williams worked on Vrabel’s staff in Tennessee from 2018 to 2023. Although Wolf is still on staff as the team’s GM, it seems like it’s in name only. Vrabel brought in Ryan Cowden from the Giants. He had worked in the front office for Tennessee when Vrabel was the HC there. There is no doubt this staff will produce better results in 2025. The question is, will it be enough to calm the fanbase, as well as the Kraft family? Anything under six wins is unacceptable, and anything over seven wins should be celebrated. This looks like a long rebuild.
