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Pats Posits: The Preseason Is Over. Here We Go.

August 31, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots’ 2017 preseason is over. We can stop worrying about premature injuries (we actually got a couple of those this year) and focus on the real football campaign which the team is about to undertake.

Yes, it’s September and as Bill Belichick says “it’s football time.”

The preseason finale against the Giants, featuring a full 90-man Patriots roster, was actually a fun game, albeit one that we’ll all instantly forget. The Patriots fell into a big hole, clawed their way back only to give up a game-winning field goal in the final seconds, losing 40-38.

Though a meaningless loss, there were some real issues to come out of this one. Unfortunately an injury to Cyrus Jones could cause significant problems when the Pats open up against Kansas City in less than a week. Without Julian Edelman and very possibly Jones now, the Patriots are missing their top two punt returners.

The mostly-scrub defense turned in another gross performance early on, picking up where they left off last week. At this point at least it makes a good chunk of the cuts a little easier. Jacoby Brissett, who was treading water as a possible cut in some people’s minds, turned in a roster-locking performance. His touchdown throw to Devin Lucien was a thing of beauty and it was a reminder how much promise Brissett showed in 2016 when he was thrust into the fire.

Otherwise, we can pick out a few players to focus on, but chances are most of those who played against the Giants are on the outside looking in.

Let’s wrap up the preseason with a final look at those who showed up in finale.

.@JBrissett12 finds @D_Lucien15: pic.twitter.com/PpeOrTqnT4

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 1, 2017

Do or Die Patriots vs. Giants

August 30, 2017 by Mike Dussault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyg3JotQsfY

We’re in for a bit of a weird one Thursday night. With NFL rosters still at 90 players for week four (instead of 75 in previous years), teams have even more flexibility to play their scrubs who will be on the street within 48 hours of leaving the Gillette Stadium field turf.

Still, the Patriots’ depth players looked pretty atrocious against the Lions, leaving the door open for some roster battles that will likely play out against the Giants. On my recent 53-man roster I saw only 48 spots that looked like locks to me. That leaves five roster spots to be won, or to be filled with other team’s castoffs or trades over the long weekend.

Yes, things are still as fluid as they get in terms of NFL roster management.

Let’s take a closer look at where some of the final roster battles will be playing out, and five specific areas where roster spots could be won or lost.

6 Sunday Pats Posits

August 13, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Sorry for the slow couple of days here on the blog, especially after a preseason game. In case you missed it, I was helping launch our latest venture, Patshow. If you haven’t had a chance to check out episode 101 you can get it here in all its glory.

Follow @Patshow6 on Twitter for all kinds of show updates and giveaways. Things will keep ramping up over the next couple weeks.

With over 10K views in the first 24 hours, we’re thrilled with the response and can’t wait for episode 102, coming Monday 8/21. This was supposed to just be a soft launch to work out the kinks, but other than a couple audio glitches on Facebook’s end, things went about as smoothly as could be expected.

Thank you Nick Stevens and Ian and Erin at Mediaboss for their awesome work bringing Patshow to life. We’re all excited to share everything that we have planned, which will include two shows per week once the regular season starts.

Okay, enough about Patshow, let’s talk some actual Pats and get caught up on the fallout from the first preseason.

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Patriots to Watch vs. Jags in Practice

August 7, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Excited to be headed back to training camp practice with a press credential this morning. Well, the excitement now is really more to see some actual competition on the football field and to finally see the Patriots players take their camp frustrations out on another team.

There’s been plenty to be excited about through the first week-and-a-half of practices. Young players like Deatrich Wise, Adam Butler and Harvey Langi have gotten thrown right into the fire. New veterans like Stephon Gilmore and Brandin Cooks have brought new excitement on both sides of the ball.

But getting worked up over the first week of training camp can be foolish. The list of training camp players we thought would be lifelong legendary Patriots — like Zack Sudfeld, Kenbrell Thompkins and Anthony Johnson. Those guys all ended up doing nothing for the do nothing Jets. So yeah, let’s keep our heads on straight about a few good training camp practices.

Today things get a little more interesting though. We’ll see the rookies go against some new competition and try to apply what they’ve learned over the past couple months.

Here are the five Patriots I’ll be focusing my attention on this morning.

Three Patriots Undrafted Rookies Most Likely To Make It

May 18, 2017 by Mike Dussault

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.

2017 Patriots Rookie Eyeball Test

May 7, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The rookie eyeball test is one of the oldest continuing columns here at PatsProp, and probably the one I enjoy writing the most every year. It signifies that the crapshoot known as draft prep is over and that the Patriots have their collection of rookies and now it’s time to superficially judge them by their number and helmet choices.

Unfortunately the only place to get these pics is at Patriots.com and being the upstanding blogger that I am, I’ll link to the pictures we’re talking about instead of posting them so as to not disturb the mothership.

The Patriots had a small draft class but with some notable undrafted rookie signees there’s still quite a bit to digest here.

Let’s get after it with the five most interesting!

Quick Hits on Patriots Undrafted Free Agent Signees

April 30, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Every year, no matter how stacked the Patriots seem to be, an undrafted rookie makes the team and finds a way to contribute. None have been more famous than Malcolm Butler, who was making plays on the ball from his earliest days in training camp, and ended the season making then biggest play on the ball in Patriots history.

Who will be this year’s Malcolm Butler? With the Pats selecting just four players in the draft, there’s more opportunity than ever for an unknown to fill a significant role.

Here are a bunch of quick hits on the undrafted rookies the Patriots have reportedly signed so far.