State of the New England Patriots: Spotlight shines on Drake Maye at dawn of new era
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Where does your squad stand ahead of the 2024 NFL season? Adam Rank sets the table by providing a State of the Franchise look at all 32 teams, zeroing in on the new faces to know, one significant fantasy spin and the stakes at play in the campaign to come.
Members of the Patriots organization, Patriots fans around the world and those true Patriots fans who just celebrated a Boston Celtics NBA championship …
Well, for those of you who cheer for the Patriots, Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Dodgers, the NBA Finals weren’t so good for you. Here’s the thing: The Patriots are starting from the ground up again. Tom Brady’s No. 12 jersey has been retired. Bill Belichick is out of the league, at least for now. And while the Patriot Way could still linger on with new head coach Jerod Mayo, things are certainly different. What can we expect from the Patriots this season? Let’s take a look.
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2024 brain trust
| POSITION | NAME |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Jerod Mayo |
| Executive VP of player personnel | Eliot Wolf |
| Offensive coordinator | Alex Van Pelt |
| Defensive coordinator | DeMarcus Covington |
| Special teams coordinator | Jeremy Springer |
Roster reshuffling
Below is a rundown of the Patriots’ most notable roster developments for the 2024 season, including this year’s draft class, as well as key acquisitions and departures via free agency and trade.
| Draft class (round-pick) | Key additions | Key departures |
|---|---|---|
| Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina (1-3) | Jacoby Brissett, QB | Mac Jones, QB |
| Ja'Lynn Polk, WR, Washington (2-37) | Antonio Gibson, RB | Ezekiel Elliott, RB |
| Caedan Wallace, OT, Penn State (3-68) | K.J. Osborn, WR | DeVante Parker, WR |
| Layden Robinson, OG, Texas A&M (4-103) | Austin Hooper, TE | Mike Gesicki, TE |
| Javon Baker, WR, UCF (4-110) | Chukwuma Okorafor, OT | Trent Brown, OT |
| Marcellas Dial Jr., CB, South Carolina (6-180) | Sione Takitaki, LB | Lawrence Guy, DL |
| Joe Milton III, QB, Tennessee (6-193) | Myles Bryant, CB | |
| Jaheim Bell, TE, Florida State (7-231) | Jalen Mills, CB | |
| Matthew Slater, ST |
New faces to know
I know a lot of times when you promote from within to replace a Hall of Fame head coach, the team is coming off unprecedented highs and you are hoping the new guy can keep the ball rolling. The Patriots’ situation with Mayo is different given the team’s struggles toward the end of Bill Belichick’s run. This feels like a new guy taking over as lead singer of Oasis, but Liam and Noel Gallagher aren’t going to be a part of it. And the guy who originally bankrolled the whole thing is sure they will be able to recapture the magic of (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Maybe the Patriots dynasty can live forever. I don’t know.
Van Pelt served as the Browns’ offensive coordinator for the past four seasons. Head coach Kevin Stefanski was the play-caller in Cleveland, but Van Pelt did handle those duties when Stefanski missed the team’s 48-37 playoff win over the Steelers during the 2020 season.
The Patriots drafted Polk 37th overall out of Washington, where he had a pretty nice career. He averaged 17.1 yards per reception over the past three seasons, fourth-most in the FBS during that span (min. 100 receptions). He had 12 catches of 30-plus yards in 2023, which ranked sixth among players in the Power Five conferences. I truly believe that Polk and fellow draftee Javon Baker could grow into a solid foundation for the Patriots’ receiver room.
State of the QB room
The Patriots used the third overall pick in the draft to select Drake Maye as the quarterback of the future. I’m a Bears fan. So, if you try to sell me on a promising QB prospect out of North Carolina, I’m going to need some convincing. Maye made 26 college starts, though. That’s twice as many as Mitchell Trubisky made with the Tar Heels. Maye led the ACC with 3,608 passing yards in 2023 and threw 24 touchdown passes. He was better the previous season, as he led the FBS with 5,019 offensive yards. He won ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year in 2022. Jacoby Brissett is back in New England and took reps with the first-team offense during minicamp, so it certainly seems like the veteran is the favorite to open the season as the starter while Maye continues to acclimate. Brissett would be the fifth quarterback to start for the Patriots since Tom Brady left the team a few years ago. A prize to you if you can name the four other guys without reading the next sentence. OK, it’s Mac Jones, Cam Newton, Bailey Zappe and Brian Hoyer. The Patriots also tied for last in points per game last season (13.9).
Most important non-QB
Judon, who made four straight Pro Bowls prior to last season, led the Patriots with four sacks and nine quarterback hits through the first four weeks of the 2023 campaign, but he suffered a season-ending biceps injury in Week 4. Christian Barmore ended up leading the team with 8.5 sacks and 16 quarterback hits. Judon is healthy again, but he and the Patriots are reportedly not on the same page when it comes to contract talks. This situation bears monitoring, although Judon indicated last month, prior to mandatory minicamp, that holding out was not something he had much interest in. The Patriots had a top-10 scoring defense in 18 of Bill Belichick’s 24 seasons as head coach, and they have allowed 19.2 points per game (third in the NFL) since Jerod Mayo joined the staff in 2019. The defense is going to be needed to carry the team this year and Judon is a critical piece.
My HOTTEST Patriots fantasy take:
Rhamondre Stevenson will have a bounce-back season.
I’m expecting Alex Van Pelt to bring a run-first offense to New England. I wouldn’t expect Stevenson to put up peak Nick Chubb numbers, but he’s going to get back to the numbers we saw from him in 2022 (210 carries for 1,040 yards, five rushing TDs) with a chance to be even better. And no, the addition of Antonio Gibson doesn’t concern me when it comes to that projection.
2024 roadmap
Three key dates:
- Week 2: vs. Seattle Seahawks. The Patriots open on the road in Cincinnati. Oh, man. Mayo should drop an “on to Cincinnati.” You know he will. But it’s the home opener against the Seahawks that will be the true early-season barometer game.
- Week 3 (Thursday night): at New York Jets. After the home opener, the Patriots embark on a brutal stretch, starting with a visit to the Jets. They then face the 49ers on the road before hosting the Dolphins and Texans, traveling to London to play the Jaguars and returning home to battle the Jets again.
- Week 16: at Buffalo Bills. The Patriots play the Bills in two of the last three weeks of the regular season. You know Bills head coach Sean McDermott is going to be primed for these games, assuming he still has Buffalo in the playoff race.
For 2024 to be a success, the Patriots MUST:
A) Win the Super Bowl
B) Make a playoff run
C) Earn a playoff berth
D) Finish above .500
E) Show progress
My answer: E) Show progress. The expectations for the Patriots haven’t been this low in decades. The best-case scenario for New England is to surprise teams with some upset wins. Maybe they can play spoiler in the AFC East. Ultimately, you’d like to see Drake Maye show that he can be a good NFL quarterback when he gets his opportunity. He has the talent. Can he make it translate? That’s really the only thing that matters.
- AFC East
- AFC North
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- NFC East
- NFC North
- NFC South
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