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Which New England Patriots newcomer will have the biggest impact? | masslive.com

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Patriots free agent impact

The New England Patriots acquired Martellus Bennett, Chris Long, Shea McClellin, Jonathan Cooper, Chris Hogan and Donald Brown. Who makes the biggest impact?

Source: Which New England Patriots newcomer will have the biggest impact? | masslive.com

Fun read from Kevin Duffy weighing who will make the biggest impact this season of the newly-added free agents. For me, I think Chris Hogan and Martellus Bennett have the best chance to play the most of the group.

Chris Long should slide into the third defensive end role and should get plenty of action as well. An injury to Jabaal Sheard or Rob Ninkovich would elevate him into starter’s status and I’m betting he’d be ready for that challenge.

Shea McClellin should be the base middle linebacker, which is a one-to-two down role, but as we’ve seen Dont’a Hightower and Jamie Collins both miss significant time last year, he’s also on a paper-thin verge of an almost every-down role.

Finally Jonathan Cooper will be fascinating to watch this year. He might be the most talented guard on the roster, but that’s no guarantee he beats out the promising second-year guards. Still, if he is able to finally put it all together he could have a huge impact in transforming the Pats’ offensive line from the disaster we saw at various times last year. Pair him with Shaq Mason and the athleticism at the guard position will be through the roof.

I expect Hogan to step into the role Brandon LaFell had in 2014, playing nearly every snap as the primary X/outside receiver. Hard to predict if he’ll earn Brady’s trust the way LaFell did in 2014, if not he’ll look like LaFell in 2015. But he checks every box the Pats look for and if he can get the nickname 7-11 for always being open with shitty QBs, we can only imagine how much Brady should like him.

Bennett should pair with Gronk to form the most unstoppable tight end duo in the league. Again, there’s an element of unknown with any free agent, but on paper that duo can and should play almost every snap. The Pats have never had two tight ends quite like this, with the equal ability to block or catch passes.

If everything clicks there might not be a bigger free agent impact signing in the NFL.

NFL Draft Needs: Patriots – Draft Analysis – Rotoworld.com

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NFL Draft Needs: Patriots – Rotoworld.com

1. Offensive Line

2. Running Back

3. Defensive Line

Source: NFL Draft Needs: Patriots – Draft Analysis – Rotoworld.com

You’re never going to get much complaining from me focusing on the offensive and defensive line. My extensive list of the Patriots needs can be found here, but the closer we get to the draft the less it’s about need and the more it’s about fit. So while this mock draft has the Pats going with an unpolished defensive end with their first pick, not something I’m really on board with, who can say it isn’t what they’ll do? That said, I don’t think Yannick Ngakoue is a great fit for the Pats.

However as for the rest of this mock draft, I have six of the nine picks on my big board, so there are quite a few good fits in this mock draft.

So many mock drafts are simply paint-by-numbers based on need, especially when they’re written by someone who doesn’t know the depth the team has. The Patriots rely on development as much as any team as we saw last year with the changing of the guard at cornerback. Those are always the kind of moves that make fans the most worried, handing the starter’s keys to the youngsters and hoping they can deliver. But that’s the only way to truly find out the potential of players like Malcolm Butler and Logan Ryan.

I think it’s less important to look at immediate needs in the draft and more important to look at the long-term health of the franchise. That’s why I agree that tackle is the priority in this draft. It’s a critical position that isn’t easy to rebuild in free agency without overpaying, unlike cornerback where I think it’s a lot easier to plug someone in and get by with them.

Peyton Manning retires from NFL; Tom Brady: ‘He set the standard’ | The MMQB with Peter King

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“What just happened, winning the Super Bowl in his last game, is a perfect way to end a career. But what he’s accomplished through all these years, what makes it so admirable, is the pressure he’s had on him his whole life. He was the highest-rated recruit in high school. He was the biggest quarterback in college football. He was the first pick in the draft. Who has lived up to the expectations year after year after year as well as Peyton? He’s done it so gracefully, so admirably. He set the standard for how to play the quarterback position.”

Source: Peyton Manning retires from NFL; Tom Brady: ‘He set the standard’ | The MMQB with Peter King

Nothing has been clearer in the last day how much mutual respect Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have for each other. From this piece from The MMQB with Brady praising Manning, to Manning specifically mentioning post-game handshakes with Brady in his final press conference, these two and their rivalry has defined the AFC for the last decade-plus.

Now, on the verge of Free Agency, you wonder how the Manning vacuum will be filled. No, he wasn’t the same threat anymore by the end, but the weight of Manning’s presence could always be felt even when his arm was toast. Now it’s hard to argue that Brady and the Pats stand alone in the AFC. Plenty of teams will make free agency splashes that will be spun as making a new contender or two in the AFC, but free agency rarely wins championships and a healthy Patriots team in 2016 is still easily the class of the conference.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS:  | 2015 Adjusted Games Lost – Patriots 29th in NFL

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New England and Washington were the only teams ranked 20th or worse in AGL to make the playoffs.

Source: FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | 2015 Adjusted Games Lost

Football Outsiders always does a good job at quantifying just how impactful injuries are to teams by specifically looking each player who was lost and what their true impact was.

Not surprisingly the Pats come in at 29th overall with only Ravens, Redskins and Giants being hit harder by injuries in 2015. The Pats were 12th overall in 2014.

Nate Solder has to be the most impactful injury of the year because of the trickle-down effect it had on the rest of the line. They just didn’t have another tackle athletic enough to fill in for him and were left with the up-and-down performances of Sebastian Vollmer, Marcus Cannon, Cameron Fleming and even a tackle cameo by Bryan Stork.

Dion Lewis was the biggest buzzkill injury of the year after coming out of nowhere to look like Barry Sanders in the first seven games of the season. It’s hard to fathom just what the Patriots would’ve looked like at the end of the season if Lewis was still in the mix even with the problems at tackle. Of course then losing LeGarrette Blount on top of Lewis only decimated the running back position even more and essentially made the Pats a pass-only team in the playoffs–never a good combination for a Super Bowl run.

Losing Julian Edelman for the last seven games of the regular season was certainly a big blow as well. He returned and was effective in the playoffs but would’ve still been a lot more dangerous without the plate in his foot.

Still, despite all these injuries the Pats still came within a missed field goal/failed two point conversion of taking the Super Bowl champs to overtime on their homefield. That’s a testament to just how tough Bill Belichick’s teams always seem to be.

Combine: Gil Brandt ‘This is a draft that’s a Patriot draft’ | Patriots.com

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“There’s not really many first rounders,” Brandt told Patriots.com Friday during the league’s annual Scouting Combine. “There’s a lot of guys that are in the category of 20 to 50. You don’t have 28 (true) first rounders, so the (teams) who do their homework are going to do pretty well, because all these (players) look the same.”

Source: Combine: Gil Brandt ‘This is a draft that’s a Patriot draft’ | New England Patriots

How often are there actually 32 players worthy of a first-round selection? I’d make the case that 2012 might be one of the only years when the Pats traded up and nabbed both Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower. Is it any coincidence that those two players (along with 2013 second-rounder Jamie Collins) were the big keys to taking the porous defense of 2010 & 2011 and making them into one of the better front sevens in the NFL?

Pats don’t often get much credit for the fact that they’ve pretty much always been drafting in the 20’s for the last 15 years. The only exceptions were Jerod Mayo and Nate Solder. Otherwise they’ve maintained their dominance without getting to pick where most of the dominant players are usually selected.

You’d still love to have that first round pick back, but I think they have enough ammo to move up a bit in the second round. Big question will be when the runs on offensive and defensive tackles start.

 

Patriots not yet engaged in offseason contract talks | Boston Herald

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INDIANAPOLIS — For the time being, the Patriots are in a complete holding pattern with their major financial decisions as they forge through the early stages of the offseason.

Source: Patriots not yet engaged in offseason contract talks | Boston Herald

Lots of good nuggets in here from Jeff Howe, breaking down the specifics of who should get extended, who needs to be re-worked, and how the Patriots haven’t reached out to anyone about anything yet. Things can get done pretty quickly though and there is a ticking clock to an extent as the Pats could want to have some more cap space to maneuver with when free agency opens on March 9th. Still, we can all agree that Hightower is the priority and whether he gets done in the next two weeks or the next two months it’s hard to see them no extending him at the very least.

I did like reading that there was mutual interest in a return for Tarrell Brown. He makes sense as a veteran cornerback addition to add some depth behind all the youth. Another previously unknown nugget was that Vollmer had approached the team about an extension last season but the team balked at the time. I think Vollmer plays this year out, but Marcus Cannon, Danny Amendola and Scott Chandler are all ones to watch in the next couple weeks for contract re-workings, or perhaps being let go outright.

In case you missed it, here’s my Patriots plan for free agency and for those of you glued to the combine this week, here are some early thoughts on the draft.

Julian Edelman’s foot recovering well, hasn’t required offseason surgery | Boston Herald

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Edelman is fully on track to participate in the offseason workout program. Because foot surgeries are so tricky, Pats receivers such as Aaron Dobson (2014) and Brandon LaFell (2015) missed huge chunks of the offseason workout program following their spring procedures. It’s important that Edelman won’t have to worry about the fallout of a second surgery.

Source: Julian Edelman’s foot recovering well, hasn’t required offseason surgery | Boston Herald

Certainly good news, especially after Edelman was seen limping and headed to the x-ray room after the season-ender. I think the bigger question is just how the Pats view the receiving corps after this year. LaFell couldn’t get healthy until mid-season and struggled to find a rhythm to the point where he was basically replaced by Keshawn Martin in the AFC Championship. Amendola battled injuries of his own, but 2015 made it clear that he can’t take the pounding Edelman takes. Edelman was once again all-everything, and his absence in the lineup severely limited what the Patriots could do.

So now what? Amendola is almost certain to at least have his deal re-worked, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him dismissed entirely – although that would open up the punt return duties and no one wants to put Edelman back into that role full time. I’m of the belief LaFell deserves to play out the last year of his deal. He’ll have plenty of motivation, and he’s a better player than he showed in 2015. At the very least, the Pats are not going to find a tougher outside receiver before 2016.

I’d like to see the Pats shift their slot role from someone like Amendola to a bigger body like free agent Mohamed Sanu. Amendola has made plenty of clutch catches but I’m worried his best (and healthiest) days are behind him.

Then of course there’s old friend Aaron Dobson, entering his fourth season having played just 24 games. No one is counting on him for much of anything as even last season he still exhibited the same issues (aside from injuries) he’s had all along — inability to make the tough catch or make anything happen after the catch.

Receiver should be an area to target both in free agency and the draft. I am okay keeping LaFell and Edelman in their roles, and Martin could develop into a nice fourth option, but the slot is an area it might be time to evolve a bit.