Mike Dussault

On offense the breakout player has to be Amendola. If it isn’t, the Pats could be in trouble, because a receiver HAS to break out this season. Amendola should get plenty of passes thrown his way, and if he stays healthy he should be fine.

On defense, I’m going with Dont’a Hightower. I just think he’s in position to make a big jump, and really be a force on the edge of the defense.

As for underachievers let’s go with Aaron Dobson. I think his development will be slower than most would like, and won’t be surprised to see him make a minimal impact this year. But I do think there will be a rookie receiver who makes an impact, with Josh Boyce, Kenbrell Thompkins, and Mark Harrison being the other candidates.

On defense, it kills me to write this, but it could very well be Chandler Jones. He could go either way in my book, and I’m not sure why I’m feeling down on him, but I’m glad the Pats have good defensive end depth in back of him.

And don’t forget about Jake Ballard, let’s just go four tight ends and either a running back or Amendola. Seriously, I wouldn’t rule it out inside the 20 yard line.

But let’s see how good Sudfeld is once the hitting starts. Still, I think the Pats are well-prepared to run their tight end-based offense this season. Between all those guys and Fells and Hoomanawanui they have plenty of insurance for Gronk despite the talent drop-off. Just hope the offense doesn’t become too plodding. They’ll need some explosion from the young guys.

At this point it seems to make the most sense to just PUP him and get him as healthy as possible. It mitigates the risk a little bit, he’ll only miss two division games, and three of the first six are out of conference, so it’s favorable to the Pats if they stumble a bit.

Win the war, who cares about the early battles.