Patriots 2022 Season

[Goldstar88]

Not much going on with the Celtics these days, so I'm curious how people are feeling about this years Patriots team. First preseason game is on Thursday at 7pm. Should be interesting...

[Moranis]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

[Goldstar88]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

I’m hearing the same thing. Guess we will find out soon enough…Going into season 3 post Brady. It’s going to be an important year for Bill.

[Neurotic Guy]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

I’m hearing the same thing. Guess we will find out soon enough…Going into season 3 post Brady. It’s going to be an important year for Bill.

That’s the word - offense out of synch, far behind the defense.  From a personnel and experience standpoint it sure looks to me like a better offensive unit this year than last, but I guess if they aren’t clicking they aren’t clicking.  Looking forward to the game tomorrow.

[Moranis]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

I’m hearing the same thing. Guess we will find out soon enough…Going into season 3 post Brady. It’s going to be an important year for Bill.

That’s the word - offense out of synch, far behind the defense.  From a personnel and experience standpoint it sure looks to me like a better offensive unit this year than last, but I guess if they aren’t clicking they aren’t clicking.  Looking forward to the game tomorrow.

Are they a better unit?  I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.  I've said this before on here, but Bill the GM is just terrible.  The talent on the Patriots has been going down for years.  Brady masked a whole lot of that because he was so good, but without him the flaws in the roster are apparent.  Bill is a great defensive coach, but he has been messing with the roster too much and not hiring an offensive coordinator was a terrible mistake. 

[Roy H.]

I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.

Really?  Is this factual?  That sounds crazy to me.

In terms of worst collective group, don't overlook my Bears.  It's going to be ugly in Chicago this year.  Mooney is okay.  The rest of the passing attack is God-awful, and N'Keal Harry  is already severely injured.

[A Future of Stevens]

Not much going on with the Celtics these days, so I'm curious how people are feeling about this years Patriots team. First preseason game is on Thursday at 7pm. Should be interesting...

As echoed above, offense looks out of synch. I still believe that Mac is going to be a very good QB for us for years, but I think they are asking alot of a 2nd year guy. Losing a long term offensive coordinator AND switching the system dramatically is not a recipe for immediate success. Makes me nervous because the secondary gives me pause this year as well.

I am excited long term for Barmore. He genuinely looks like he could be a disruptive franchise interior defensive lineman.

I am also excited for Stevenson. I think Rhamondre is going to be the primary back for us long term (well long term in terms of RB.) He is strong, quick, good at reading the holes, and can catch. Sign me up

Edit: I don't think we have the WORST pass catcher group in the league. We just have like 5 guys who are C+ to B+. The issue is we pay them a TON. Hunter Henry is a good TE. I like Kendrick Bourne, but he's like a third option on good offense.

[Donoghus]

Let's wait until some actual games are played before making silly proclamations about how good or bad a particular unit is.  Heck, based on prior history, even the preseason games aren't going to provide you much insight.  What the media is reporting right now isn't necessarily reality.

[Goldstar88]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

I’m hearing the same thing. Guess we will find out soon enough…Going into season 3 post Brady. It’s going to be an important year for Bill.

That’s the word - offense out of synch, far behind the defense.  From a personnel and experience standpoint it sure looks to me like a better offensive unit this year than last, but I guess if they aren’t clicking they aren’t clicking.  Looking forward to the game tomorrow.

Are they a better unit?  I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.  I've said this before on here, but Bill the GM is just terrible.  The talent on the Patriots has been going down for years.  Brady masked a whole lot of that because he was so good, but without him the flaws in the roster are apparent.  Bill is a great defensive coach, but he has been messing with the roster too much and not hiring an offensive coordinator was a terrible mistake.

When you add a WR in Devante Parker who had a 1200 yard/9TD season with Ryan Fitzpartrick throwing him the ball, you are a better unit, at least on paper. He's injury prone, but Is clearly more talented than any of the other WR's the Pats had last season. People are really sleeping on how good Parker can be.

The Pats WR/TE corps isn't great,  but they are definitely not the worst in league when you look at teams like the Ravens, Bears, Titans, Packers, Lions, Texans.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Not a Patriots fan, but the reports out of camp aren't good as it pertains to the offense.  Seems entirely predictable when there is no one in charge and the person most in charge is a defensive coach.  But BB is a such a genius he must know what he is doing, right?

I’m hearing the same thing. Guess we will find out soon enough…Going into season 3 post Brady. It’s going to be an important year for Bill.

That’s the word - offense out of synch, far behind the defense.  From a personnel and experience standpoint it sure looks to me like a better offensive unit this year than last, but I guess if they aren’t clicking they aren’t clicking.  Looking forward to the game tomorrow.

Are they a better unit?  I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.  I've said this before on here, but Bill the GM is just terrible.  The talent on the Patriots has been going down for years.  Brady masked a whole lot of that because he was so good, but without him the flaws in the roster are apparent.  Bill is a great defensive coach, but he has been messing with the roster too much and not hiring an offensive coordinator was a terrible mistake.

I agree with your overall pessimism, as is reported by the media. The media has been down on the Patriots before, so there's nothing new to see here.

Your take about Bill the GM is tired. He's had a lot of criticism over the last two years, and people seem to forget all of his great draft picks that were contrary to the consensus "expert" picks.

Your point about their offensive targets is pretty far off. They are average on paper, definitely not one of the worst.

D. Parker- pretty good
K. Bourne- pretty good
J. Meyers- decent

H. Henry- pretty good
J. Smith- has been good, wasn't last year

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I haven't paid any attention to training camp—I've just heard, like everyone else, that the offense has struggled so far. Not surprising, given the new offensive scheme, no OC, and a second-year QB.

I think the TE group could be very good. Hunter Henry was good last year—the key with him is always health—and hopefully Jonnu Smith gets back on track; if those two are healthy and firing on all cylinders, that's actually a great TE group.

I like Stevenson and Harris at RB, and hopefully White/Taylor/Montgomery can get the dumpoff/short-passing game clicking again.

I think WR is the biggest question mark, since they (still) really don't have a true No. 1, though maybe Parker will surprise me. I do think Parker-Bourne-Meyers-Agholor is a decent grouping ... and maybe Thornton is finally a good WR draft pick?

At any rate, it seems that the personnel are at least slightly better than last year, and I think Jones will be really good eventually. I'm expecting no higher than second place in the division, but maybe a first-round playoff win?

[Moranis]

I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.

Really?  Is this factual?  That sounds crazy to me.

In terms of worst collective group, don't overlook my Bears.  It's going to be ugly in Chicago this year.  Mooney is okay.  The rest of the passing attack is God-awful, and N'Keal Harry  is already severely injured.

Yes by far.  They have the 3rd largest cap hit at WR at just under 39 million (the Giants and Chargers are between 41 and 42).  That is around 18.5% of the cap.  But at TE, the Patriots have the largest cap hit at just under 32 million (which is over 15% of the cap).  The Dolphins are 2nd at 19.5 million.  In fact, the Patriots have spent more on their TE's this year than all but 4 teams spent on their WR's (the Jags are 4th in WR spending).  The 5 TE's on the Patriots roster cost more than the 14 WR's on Tampa's roster (which includes Evans, Godwin, Gage) by about 80k.

So no question they are BY FAR the most expensive collective units.

Now how bad they are is certainly more arguable, which is why I said arguably.  pro football focus, for example, has the Patriots WR's ranked 20th, though that presupposes that DaVante Parker actually stays healthy. And Parker is probably the worst lead receiver in the sport (which is the real issue with the group).  I couldn't find PFF's TE rankings, but I suspect they are probably in the same general range as Hunter Henry is a quality TE, at least when healthy.

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.

Really?  Is this factual?  That sounds crazy to me.

In terms of worst collective group, don't overlook my Bears.  It's going to be ugly in Chicago this year.  Mooney is okay.  The rest of the passing attack is God-awful, and N'Keal Harry  is already severely injured.

Yes by far.  They have the 3rd largest cap hit at WR at just under 39 million (the Giants and Chargers are between 41 and 42).  That is around 18.5% of the cap.  But at TE, the Patriots have the largest cap hit at just under 32 million (which is over 15% of the cap).  The Dolphins are 2nd at 19.5 million.  In fact, the Patriots have spent more on their TE's this year than all but 4 teams spent on their WR's (the Jags are 4th in WR spending).  The 5 TE's on the Patriots roster cost more than the 14 WR's on Tampa's roster (which includes Evans, Godwin, Gage) by about 80k.

So no question they are BY FAR the most expensive collective units.

Now how bad they are is certainly more arguable, which is why I said arguably.  pro football focus, for example, has the Patriots WR's ranked 20th, though that presupposes that DaVante Parker actually stays healthy. And Parker is probably the worst lead receiver in the sport (which is the real issue with the group).  I couldn't find PFF's TE rankings, but I suspect they are probably in the same general range as Hunter Henry is a quality TE, at least when healthy.

Ok. Saying that they are a bad value is different than saying that they are perhaps the worst receiving unit. They are an average (or below average if you want) receiving unit paid as if they were a top unit. I agree, that's an issue.

Two things: 1) recent signings (Agholor, Bourne, Hunter and Smith) will generally make more than previous signings. 2) Bill generally doesn't pay players at the top of the market, so last year's Free Agency isn't indicative of Bill's moves as a whole over 20 years. It is the exception.

[Moranis]

I mean they have perhaps the worst WR and TE collective group in the sport, and they are the most expensive such group in the sport.  That is a lot of money for a terrible pass catching unit.

Really?  Is this factual?  That sounds crazy to me.

In terms of worst collective group, don't overlook my Bears.  It's going to be ugly in Chicago this year.  Mooney is okay.  The rest of the passing attack is God-awful, and N'Keal Harry  is already severely injured.

Yes by far.  They have the 3rd largest cap hit at WR at just under 39 million (the Giants and Chargers are between 41 and 42).  That is around 18.5% of the cap.  But at TE, the Patriots have the largest cap hit at just under 32 million (which is over 15% of the cap).  The Dolphins are 2nd at 19.5 million.  In fact, the Patriots have spent more on their TE's this year than all but 4 teams spent on their WR's (the Jags are 4th in WR spending).  The 5 TE's on the Patriots roster cost more than the 14 WR's on Tampa's roster (which includes Evans, Godwin, Gage) by about 80k.

So no question they are BY FAR the most expensive collective units.

Now how bad they are is certainly more arguable, which is why I said arguably.  pro football focus, for example, has the Patriots WR's ranked 20th, though that presupposes that DaVante Parker actually stays healthy. And Parker is probably the worst lead receiver in the sport (which is the real issue with the group).  I couldn't find PFF's TE rankings, but I suspect they are probably in the same general range as Hunter Henry is a quality TE, at least when healthy.

Ok. Saying that they are a bad value is different than saying that they are perhaps the worst receiving unit. They are an average (or below average if you want) receiving unit paid as if they were a top unit. I agree, that's an issue.

Two things: 1) recent signings (Agholor, Bourne, Hunter and Smith) will generally make more than previous signings. 2) Bill generally doesn't pay players at the top of the market, so last year's Free Agency isn't indicative of Bill's moves as a whole over 20 years. It is the exception.

I think the fact that DeVante Parker is their best WR is a real problem and absolutely puts them in the mix as the worst receiving group in the NFL.  I mean Parker, Agholor, Bourne, Meyers, Thornton, Wilkerson are bad.  Clearly they don't have a #1 WR and frankly, I'm not even sure if they have a #2.  Henry is a quality TE and Smith has obvious talent, which may be the only saving grace from the pass catchers and is why they had to be ranked at 20 (I looked more closely and it is a combined WR and TE ranking). 

That said, basically every team behind them has a much better top option.  The Browns were ranked 24th, as an example, and they have an excellent WR in Amari Cooper and a quality TE in David Njoku.  Donovan Peoples-Jones might be better than anyone on the Patriots.   The Patriots do have a lot of 3rd option type WR's.  More than most teams, which may give them a boost, but without a top tier target, the whole unit suffers.  The Patriots needed to get a legit #1 option.  Even if that guy is a TE, it would have helped immensely (a team like the Ravens for example has one of the best TE's in the game, which helps make up for a weaker WR group).

[MarcusSmartFanClub]

Haven't the Patriots demonstrated that they can win without a #1? This is Belichick's philosophy, and it's tough to argue with the results.

I agree that I'd like to see a better roster. Patriots fans have been on such a great ride that it hurts when we aren't considered to be a contender. On paper, this team is whatever. I think it's fair to say that Bill is the greatest coach of all time and a less stellar GM.

I think Mac will continue to improve. Kendrick Bourne showed flashes, and I think he has a better year. I also think Jonnu Smith will revert to previous production.

I went through the schedule with the following predictions:


@ MIA: Loss
@ PITT: Win
vs BAL: Win
@ GB: Loss
vs DET: Win
@ CLE: Win
vs CHI: Win
@ NYJ: Win
vs IND: Loss
vs NYJ: Win
@ MINN: Win
vs BUFF: Loss
@ AZ: Win
@ LV: Loss
vs CIN: Loss
vs MIA: Win
@ BUFF: Win (Buff will have locked up #1 in AFC)

11-6, second in AFC East

This is a somewhat optimistic view that they get it done against all lesser opponents and split with teams of equal or better stature.