PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

The 2017 PatsPropaganda Season Preview Book is Here!!

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2017 New England Patriots Season Preview

Excited to announce the 2017 PatsPropaganda season preview book is now available for digital download for $5! This is the third year that I’ve put together a full season preview book. They’re a throwback to the days when I couldn’t wait to pick up an NFL preview magazine only to find that the sparse information was out-of-date and lacking much true insight.

I’ve tried to change that with my preview book, which touches on every player currently on the roster, is packed with a ton of informative long-range stats and has the kind of up-to-date insight you won’t find in any of those national magazines. I’ve tried to pack every bit of Patriots knowledge I can in here so that when training camp opens you’ll have some easy reference material on everything that has happened this offseason and who could be in position to make an impact in 2017.

This will also likely be on of the last posts here on the blog for the next couple weeks. In case you missed the announcement, I am moving back to Boston and will be driving cross country over the first two weeks of June. Once there all the activity on the site will be back through the roof with expanded access but until then, the preview book will have to suffice.

I will plan on periodic updates to the book, especially if there are any major moves. You can always re-download the book for free after an update. Feel free to reach out if you have any problems or questions.

To kick things off use the code MEMORIAL for 20% through the weekend!

Tweets of Note from Thursday’s Patriots OTA Practice

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We’re getting a few glimpses of football as the Patriots take the field this week for OTAs. It’s a refreshing reminder that training camp opens in just a little over two months. Most of that time will be spent in a football void, but for now, there’s actually some tidbits to digest, even if this was a no-pads light session.

Remember, it’s important to never read too much into all the practice reports at this stage. This is a teaching phase, about getting everyone on the same page, and less about competition.

Still, it’s hard not to speculate, especially after reading some of the tweets you’ll find below which might give us some clues about how things will look once things get real.

rob gronkowski gronk spike

Here’s the tweets that stood out.

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Three Patriots Undrafted Rookies Most Likely To Make It

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It’s an annual right of passage. Some rookie who managed to slip through all seven rounds of the draft without a team selecting him manages to make a stacked, Super Bowl-contending Patriots team and find a way to contribute against the odds.

It’s a testament to New England truly being a level playing field once players arrive. Play better than someone who the team spent a draft pick on? You’re on the team, regardless of how it makes Bill Belichick’s “draft grade” look to the pundits. That’s why undrafted players are excited to come to Foxborough every summer, because one or two of them is almost certainly going to make the team.

Here’s a quick look back at the last nine years of UDFAs that have made the roster, and which three I think are most likely to continue the trend in 2017.

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Blount Signs With Eagles

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After much uproar about the Patriots using the seldom-used May 9th tag on LeGarrette Blount, the bruising running back signed with the Eagles today on a deal that could be worth up to $2.6 million. I felt earlier this offseason that it was time to move on from Blount. Nothing personal against the player, I just felt the Patriots got all that they were going to get out of him and it was better to turn the page to some younger backs to fill his early down/goal line role.

It was fun while it lasted. Blount had some of the most fun runs in Patriots’ history and broke the single-season rushing touchdown record in 2016. He’d bowl over players, he’d leap over them and more often than not, he’d carry would-be tacklers multiple yards before going down. His touchdown celebrations with the Patriots musket militia were some of my favorite moments.

But Blount also was completely invisible in some of the biggest games of the last few seasons. We can still appreciate a player despite some of his shortcomings, so let’s take a look back at some of his best and worst games as a Patriot.

Legarrette blount

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Pick Your Patriots Poison – Offense Edition

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Mike Reiss did a good job of laying out the projected starting players today, but I wanted to take it a step further and really dive into how diverse and deadly the Patriots’ offense can be this year.

If you thought they could play any kind of game last year, well this year it looks even easier to dictate matchups and attack weaknesses. They should also be able to mitigate injury risk, meaning on any given Sunday any given Patriots weapon could go off. Bad for fantasy football, but good for real football (which is all I really care about anyway tbh)

Let’s lay out just a few of the personnel packages they could roll out and they kind of issues they could cause for a defense.

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying About Tom Brady

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For the second year in a row a New England Patriot will appear on the cover of Madden, after Rob Gronkowski’s appearance last season which lived up to the “curse” of ending the appearing player’s season early. So it’s no surprise that most of us got dry heaves when it was announced that Tom Brady would be featured this year.

Brady responded with a Facebook video that seemed to tempt fate, making things even worse.

The implications of the Madden Curse are a little overrated. Eight-and-a-half times the cover boy had the kind of season the folks at EA expected, including four All Pros and four Pro Bowls, and eight-and-a-half other times their seasons were bad or resulted in injury. That’s right, 50-50 right on the nose, which in reality is just about every NFL’s players chances of having a bad or injury-marred year.

Still, it’s just another thing for Patriots fans to worry about when in reality, they shouldn’t have all the much to worry about. Or should they?

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Pats Posits: New Numbers, Butler to Slot? Lewis and more…

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Things might start to get a little slow here on the blog in the next few weeks due to my impending move back to Boston, especially in the first two weeks of June. Between packing up my entire house to be shipped across the country and this quiet portion of the NFL offseason, I just can’t bring myself to concoct fluff pieces just in the name of posting new content.

You know, random nebulous rankings, or barely-Patriots-related off field stuff like “Guess what Tom Brady posted on Instagram? (Don’t just go to his Instagram, read my post with his Instagram post embedded in it for maximum insight!)” or the like.

As I always say, this is a football blog and there’s not a whole lot of real football stuff going on so I’m not going to force it. I will drop my third annual season preview book with blurbs about all 90 Patriots training camp players, depth charts, statistical analysis and game-by-game breakdown plus plenty more by June 1st, when I’m due to hit the road and drive across this wonderful country, including a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Until then here’s some Pats Posits on things I’ve been kicking around.

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