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Mike – with all the additions along the defensive line, especially through the draft, I’m wondering how you see the trench’s depth chart stacking up and who might be the odd men out.

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Hard to say definitely right now because it always seems to be a position where at least minor injuries are a factor. But I’ve seen quite a few roster projections with Chris Jones getting cut. I’d prefer to keep him because I think he’s a pretty solid rotational guy.

Easley and Brown are obviously locks, then I’d pencil in Siliga and Branch as near-locks (though you can never be sure a vet like Branch will stick out of camp since it would guarantee his salary). Still, I think he’s the only true veteran and a needed presence.

Chris Jones might actually be in competition with Zach Moore, who’s been working as an interior rusher.

Overall it’s a good mix of size and quickness and I am so curious to see how the rotation breaks down without Wilfork this season. We could be in for a bit of a schematic tweak without him.

As for the ends Chandler Jones, Ninkovich and Jabaal Sheard are locks and you’d think Grissom and Flowers should be as well. With Moore’s flexibility that should help pad the defensive end spot as well.

Do you think the plan offensively is to get back to the multiple TE offense

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I think it’s always the preference to be able to run a healthy dose of multiple tight end sets. We’ve already heard plenty about the extra red zone work that Brady, Gronk and Chandler are putting in.

The simple truth is with teams playing more and more subpackages with smaller defensive backs, playing more 12 and 13 personnel enables the offense to dictate the terms. Gronk and Chandler are so ideal for this because they’re both huge and can also can also catch.

If the defense plays four DBs and stacks the box they’ll send Gronk and Chandler out and make linebackers/safeties cover them. If the defense plays with a light box, they’ll run. That’s the essence of the Patriots philosophy – attack the weakness and that’s what multiple tight ends allows them to do on offense.

While I like Blount, I would like to see gray get more snaps this year

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I agree, Gray has good quickness while Blount seems to take a couple strides to really get going. There’s no question they’re going to have to rely on Gray or Gaffney as a primary early down back against the Steelers, although the offensive gameplan vs. Pittsburgh is often a pass-heavy one so we might get a better sense of Cadet/White in that first game. Though I’m not sure any of the backs are ready to just step in and carry the bulk of the load in week one. 

Which guys are you most keeping your eye on with the upcoming mini-camp? Conversely, any guys you think are overrated and either won’t be a starter or will be cut?

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I think we’ll get a little more insight into the positional battles in mini-camp since they’ll move a bit away from teaching, but it’s still hard to make any hard determinations as to where things will be in September.

The three key spots are running back, left guard and cornerback, so let’s run through those spots because everywhere else should be a healthy rotation as it will be in camp.

Running back – Travaris Cadet has good size and moves like a wide receiver, I am very curious to see how he looks with live tackling, but that will have to wait. Hard to really get much here in mini-camp, but it will be interesting to see how the reps are being divvied up.

Left Guard – I’ve been hearing rumblings that Caylin Hauptmann is one to watch at left guard. Assuming they don’t bring in Evan Mathis. Still haven’t closed the book on Connolly but that LG spot as a lot of questions marks.

Cornerback – Seems like Logan Ryan is atop the depth chart, but after that it will be interesting to see who is where. Is it Fletcher or Butler starting on the outside? Is McClain the top slot guy? So many new faces, I wouldn’t rule anything out, especially rookies Jimmy Jean and Daryl Roberts.

Also curious how the safeties split reps amongst Harmon/Chung/Wilson/Richards.

One guy I’ll be keeping an eye on this summer is Ninkovich. Maybe it was just a smokescreen but when Mayo/Collins/Hightower were all healthy in the first game, Nink was coming off the field in passing situations. Now with Sheard in the mix as well, I think this is an area to monitor.

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Mandatory mini-camp next week, then the Brady appeal the week after before we hit any small football void we’re going to have this offseason. Lots of roster movement this week as well, what’s on your mind Pats pals?

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Brandon Bolden has looked very good catching the ball this spring and seems to draw a lot of praise from his coaches in the passing game. Known more for his special teams work he could certainly be a dark horse candidate to replace Shane Vereen, especially if James White and Travaris Cadet struggle to prove themselves at all.

Malcolm Butler returns; Patriots OTA blogservations | New England Patriots

https://www.patspropaganda.com/brandon-bolden-has-looked-very-good-catching-the/

PatsPosits: OTA Roundup

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There really has been no offseason this year. Between the off-the-field controversies and OTAs being spread out, the Pats have been in the new constantly since winning the Super Bowl. Some of that is good, some of it obviously is not.

The important thing is not to read too much into OTAs, like who’s playing where, who looks good, etc. This is a teaching phase. Guys are getting reps all over the place, sometimes they’re not even on the field. So I’m not pencilling anything in anywhere just yet.

With that in mind here are some things that I think are significant from the last few weeks of open access to OTAs.

– With Spikes getting cut, Mayo/Hightower and Fletcher all out, and Collins in and out of practice, the linebacking crew has some real issues right now. Getting healthy there, at least with Collins and Fletcher, is a big priority in the next seven weeks until camp opens.

– I was surprised by the release of Tim Wright. Really thought he could blossom with a full offseason in the playbook, but it appears he did not. Despite Chandler’s size, I do think he’s a little more of an “F” tight end and between him, Fred Davis and AJ Derby, the Pats had enough depth there to move on from Wright. I thought Wright’s lack of action in the post season was more due to the game-planning, but I guess it was more of an overall referendum.

– Everyone is so curious about how the running back situation will play out and I wish I had a crystal ball, but it’s going to be all about competition and injuries. For early down carries I think we’ll see a rotation between Blount and Gray with Gaffney being the wild card. Remember there’s no Blount in Week 1, so that could be a good chance to audition both Gaffney and Gray.

– As for the passing down back, James White’s size does concern me a bit, he’ll have to be Kevin Faulk-like with pass blocking and reliability to nail down the job. However Cadet has really good size and that would be an exciting new twist in the backfield. Mike Reiss thinks we shouldn’t dismiss Dion Lewis, but we’ll have to see how the journeyman looks in live action.

– The Brady-Gronk-Chandler trio have been seen working off by themselves plenty of times in OTAs, reminiscent of past private sessions with Brady-Gronk-Revis last year or Brady-Moss a while back. This new tight end duo has incredible size and should be quite the force in the red zone. Teams planning on focusing primarily on Gronk in the red zone are in for a surprise.

– The general sentiment out there seems to be that Brady’s appeal will convince the commissioner to reduce his suspension to two games, then it will be up to Brady whether he wants to take that or drag the fight out into possibly training camp. Let’s face it, Goodell won’t absolve Brady completely. It’s more likely (and certainly possible) he’ll uphold all four games.

So the question is, if Brady never implicitly said, nor implied he wanted the balls deflated to an illegal level, should he accept any punishment? I have a hard time believing he will if he truly never expected and was aware of anything nefarious going on with the balls before games.

Still, the time frame and attention this will continue to draw will go into August at least if Brady continues to fight the NFL on it and I think it’s a safe bet that if it goes to an independent arbitrator he’ll win. So I hope Brady ignores the distraction it may cause and fights down to the wire, because really it will be his lawyers doing the heavy lifting. All Brady and the Pats have to do is not answer the questions they’ll be asked every media session after every practice.