Mike Dussault

1. Find a third defensive end. A veteran guy who might take lesser money for a chance at a Super Bowl. Maybe Jared Allen or (dare I say it) Demarcus Ware? Lamarr Houston might be the most realistic option. A rookie (nor Michael Buchanan) can be counted on to be the guy that they desperately need to rotate with Chandler/Nink.
2. Find an every-down Y tight end. This is Gronk insurance, and again, a rookie cannot be counted on for this role. It’s too vital, especially as a blocker. Bring back Hooman to ensure a minimal level of insurance, but also look at Scott Chandler.
3. Mid-range competition guys at WR, wouldn’t mind someone like Nate Burleson. Pats always give those guys a look. Need to push the second year guys and rookies.
4. OL depth. Doubt they’d go after a big name like Alex Mack, but they need some experienced depth in the middle of their line.
5. Internally – Talib is #1 priority. Blount would be a nice to retain as well. I think Edelman only has about a 40% chance to return. Someone will pay him just a little more than the Pats will. Lowball Wendell and try to bring him back but replacing him would be ideal. Spikes walks.

It’s a good question, especially at this time of year when there’s a lot of comparisons to previous draft picks from years past. Like “well they drafted a guy who was this size and had this kind of combine stats, so they’ll look at these similar guys this year” kind of thing. I think that’s putting the cart before the horse.

Defensively they are on the right track. No question. Add more a quality DE to rotate with Jones/Nink, get healthy at linebacker, round out the defensive tackle squad and bring back Talib and I feel more optimistic about the defense than I have in a long time. And I’m generally pretty optimistic.

Offensively, they need their WRs to develop this offseason. Shouldn’t be hard to upgrade the tight end position from what it was the majority of last season. Whenever Gronk comes back it should just be a bonus. I’d like to see them add a couple mid-range free agent receivers like they usually do to push the second year guys.

Maybe the biggest thing offensively is improving the center and right guard positions. That might be the most important personnel decision this offseason and one that could have the biggest impact. I’d love a big, dominating center. That would make life so much easier for Brady.

Schematically they’re right on track on defense. Their sub package (which is really the base defense) just needs that third defensive end. They can play man or zone and have good versatility in their secondary to match up. Even without an addition at strong safety, which I also think is possible.

Their offensive scheme also has good versatility. They can pound it and with the progress of the receivers who will be in their second season with the team, they should be able to pick up the pace a bit and not have so much inconsistency.

If you’re trying to rebuild the Gronk/Hernando offense there’s no question Amaro is the guy you want. My thing with Amaro is that I just don’t think the Pats value the kind of player he is as a first round pick. I also don’t believe that it’s imperative that the Pats return to that kind of two TE offense, nor that that is their goal this offseason.

Look at Hernandez, he was a fourth round flyer with character issues. Even without the character issues I don’t think the Pats would’ve valued him higher than a third round pick. 

Amaro is not going to be an every down tight end right off the bat. He’s going to play primarily on passing downs or when the gameplan calls for a lot of spread offense. Personally I view that kind of player as a second level priority and would rather have a trench player with that first round pick. Games are won or lost in the trenches.

There’s no question, the Pats need to have more threats on offense than they did in 2013, but just a year of experience and some additional help will help that without any personnel additions. 

Drafting a potential like Amaro is certainly sexy to a lot of fans, especially those who were enamored with the 2011 Pats offense, but I think the most direct way to improve the team in the first round is taking a player who will make an impact on every down and maybe even special teams. Give me a DT/DE/OL and take some flyers on potential F tight ends down the line.