Mike Dussault

If you’re like me you’ve been on Patriots overload the last few days, taking in all the reports, pictures and videos. So what can we tell so far about the 2010 Patriots? Let’s run it all down.

OFFENSE

It’s a good bet that Wes Welker will be back for the opener. That’s great news of course, but even better news is that it sounds like the 2010 Patriots have added four young weapons who all look legit. Brandon Tate, Taylor Price, Aaron Hernandez, and Rob Gronkowski have all had shining moments in the first four days of camp and should form the core of offensive firepower for the next four years at least. The 2010 offense should be far more challenging to defend than the 2009 squad, and when you factor in Randy Moss being in a contract year, well… let’s just say this offense could once again be scary.

On the line Logan Mankins remains MIA and no one seems to have any clue how this will end. Nick Kaczur was filling in for him at LG until getting getting hurt and missing the last few practices. Now Dan Connolly is filling in. Offensively this will prove to be the biggest question mark of the new season. If Mankins returns this offense would look as good as any in the NFL. We’ll see how it all plays out, if Kaczur’s injury is serious it could speed up the process with Mankins, whatever that process may be. He could also be trade bait for a pass rusher at this point.

DEFENSE

The good new is that right now the Pats look stacked at inside linebacker and in the defensive backfield. My woobie Pat Chung has had a challenging start to camp, getting burned in coverage a couple times, but even the most novice Pats followers have taken note of Chung’s development. 

Meanwhile the Pats have suddenly gone from Tedy Bruschi and ? at inside linebacker to a stable of four young players who all look solid. Tyrone McKenzie has drawn a lot of praise. It will be most interesting to see how BB gets them all on the field. Eric Alexander’s days could be numbered.

It’s at DE/OLB and D-line that things seem a little more hazy. There has been lots of rotation going on, everyone getting reps, and chances to show what they got. With Derrick Burgess in retirement limbo, and Shawn Crable gone the pressure has been place squarely on rookie Jermaine Cunningham and veteran Rob Ninkovich. Until the first preseason game it’s hard to have an opinion how this will all play out. Pass rush and run stopping can be two of the hardest things to evaluate solely in practice.

But if we were concerned about pass rush with Burgess and Crable in the mix, we’re even more concerned now. We’d welcome bringing in Aaron Schobel as a PRS, perhaps playing for a winner would revitalize him.

3 STARS OF CAMP SO FAR

• Bradon Tate
• Tyrone McKenzie
• Darius Butler

As anyone who has ever read this Patriots blog knows I’m really not all that big on doing linkage anymore. If you’d like the best Patriots linkage on the web I suggest you go over to Marima’s posts on PatsPulpit.com. The last day has been a whirlwind of Pats activity, and most Pats blogs out there are in overdrive, except mine, which as you can see is pretty barren because like you I’ve been overwhelmed taking it all in.

But slowly I’ve been formulating the big picture of what’s developing at camp. Some major points/observations to note.

Brandon Tate is sounding legit. Running crisp routes, looking like the favorite to win the kick returner job, a weakness of the 2009 Pats, and getting praise from BB for his offseason work.

Pat Chung had a rough first day, struggling in coverage against bigger tight ends. This is very noteworthy, but there have also been a lot of reports that Chung looks solid otherwise. Just listening to Chung talk (vs. listening to Meriweather) I am more convinced that Chung will develop into a better leader that Brandon. No offense to Brandon, he still could be the better player, but for a team that needs leadership all signs continue to point to Chung as a legitimate leader of men.

Derrick Burgess’ pondering of retirement sounds like a genuine surprise to Belichick as well. This can’t be a good sign, especially with how much we needed a lot of depth and competition at OLB, the numbers have already been knocked down by two (Crable). This puts a huge spotlight on the development of Jermaine Cunningham (who will need a nickname at some point) as well as veteran Rob “Ninkopoop” Ninkovich.

Fred Taylor has consistently been mentioned as struggling with pass pro and catching. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, I would not be surprised to see a running back cut if they can’t hack.

It looks like McCourty is already at least 3rd on the depth chart, and getting time at starting LCB as well. In the modern NFL you need 3 good corners and it looks like the Pats might finally have them.

Tyrone McKenzie laid out Laurence Maroney Friday morning. It made me happy to read this, because a) it should help Maroney hold on to the ball and not be lazy and b) we all know we need a hard hitting linebacker. McKenzie is such a wild card this year. I can’t wait to see him in preseason. And I also hope he keep number 44, though I’d bet we could see him in Eric Alexanders 52 at the start of the season. But 44 would be a lot cooler to me.

That’s all I got for now. Will continue watching and reading everything and blogging only the most important stuff.