Patriots 2023 Season

[Donoghus]

I enjoyed watching Garrett Wilson v. Christian Gonzalez. I think we may have a true blue chip 20 year old CB prospect. He is awesome.

He's the real deal.  I know people wanted more offensive "wEapOnZ" in this past draft but it sure looks like the Pats have a special player on their hands with Gonzalez.

[Goldstar88]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

[BitterJim]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we hadn't signed Juju, and kept that cap space around until Hopkins was available instead. The offense would look so much better (though we'd still be having problems with the offensive line)

[Goldstar88]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we hadn't signed Juju, and kept that cap space around until Hopkins was available instead. The offense would look so much better (though we'd still be having problems with the offensive line)

Pats couldn’t wait around hoping that at some point Hopkins would be released. I’m fine with with them passing on DeAndre. He’s lost a step and Tennessee overpaid for him. What I’m not OK with is them rolling the dice on Juju Instead if retaining Myers who was a sure thing. 

[BitterJim]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we hadn't signed Juju, and kept that cap space around until Hopkins was available instead. The offense would look so much better (though we'd still be having problems with the offensive line)

Pats couldn’t wait around hoping that at some point Hopkins would be released. I’m fine with with them passing on DeAndre. He’s lost a step and Tennessee overpaid for him. What I’m not OK with is them rolling the dice on Juju Instead if retaining Myers who was a sure thing.

It didn't have to be Hopkins, a wet paper bag could fill Juju's current role. Meyers would be better, but between Bourne and the TEs I don't think he would have made a huge difference. He'd get a lot more targets than Juju, but they'd mostly be ones that we're already converting.

[Phantom255x]

They were better off keeping Meyers instead of signing JuJu, but honestly the biggest mistake IMO was not signing Hopkins. All you had to do was give him around 14M and he's here. But for some reason Belichick and the Pats said no and he went TEN. Meanwhile going into the season, we had like 16M in cap space. For what??

This team lacks a WR1 and it shows. Even bad/mediocre teams around the league have playmakers at receiver and an alpha. We don't. Mac Jones with an alpha like Hopkins/Diggs/Adams, etc. would help Mac Jones and the Pats a ton. Tua has made great strides and is an MVP candidate but again, they added Hill and Waddle in recent years so obviously that helped him immensely.

[Goldstar88]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we hadn't signed Juju, and kept that cap space around until Hopkins was available instead. The offense would look so much better (though we'd still be having problems with the offensive line)

Pats couldn’t wait around hoping that at some point Hopkins would be released. I’m fine with with them passing on DeAndre. He’s lost a step and Tennessee overpaid for him. What I’m not OK with is them rolling the dice on Juju Instead if retaining Myers who was a sure thing.

It didn't have to be Hopkins, a wet paper bag could fill Juju's current role. Meyers would be better, but between Bourne and the TEs I don't think he would have made a huge difference. He'd get a lot more targets than Juju, but they'd mostly be ones that we're already converting.[/b][/b]

I’m not sure about that one. Myers Is a averaging 80 yards and 1TD per game for LV. He looks quite a bit better than anything the Pats have right now.

[Goldstar88]

They were better off keeping Meyers instead of signing JuJu, but honestly the biggest mistake IMO was not signing Hopkins. All you had to do was give him around 14M and he's here. But for some reason Belichick and the Pats said no and he went TEN. Meanwhile going into the season, we had like 16M in cap space. For what??

This team lacks a WR1 and it shows. Even bad/mediocre teams around the league have playmakers at receiver and an alpha. We don't. Mac Jones with an alpha like Hopkins/Diggs/Adams, etc. would help Mac Jones and the Pats a ton. Tua has made great strides and is an MVP candidate but again, they added Hill and Waddle in recent years so obviously that helped him immensely.

Have you seen Hopkins play this year? He doesn’t look very good. 50 yards per game. No TD’s…

[Neurotic Guy]

Looks like Juju is going to be Agholor 2.0… 

I can't help but wonder what could have been if we hadn't signed Juju, and kept that cap space around until Hopkins was available instead. The offense would look so much better (though we'd still be having problems with the offensive line)

Pats couldn’t wait around hoping that at some point Hopkins would be released. I’m fine with with them passing on DeAndre. He’s lost a step and Tennessee overpaid for him. What I’m not OK with is them rolling the dice on Juju Instead if retaining Myers who was a sure thing.

It didn't have to be Hopkins, a wet paper bag could fill Juju's current role. Meyers would be better, but between Bourne and the TEs I don't think he would have made a huge difference. He'd get a lot more targets than Juju, but they'd mostly be ones that we're already converting.[/b][/b]

I’m not sure about that one. Myers Is a averaging 80 yards and 1TD per game for LV. He looks quite a bit better than anything the Pats have right now.

I loved Meyers and wish they kept him. But… not convinced we’ve seen what JSS can/will do.  Obviously not a good start but we’ll see if anything changes in the next stretch.

[Moranis]

As I've said all along, Meyers was better and knew the system. JuJu has long been done as a top tier receiver. He would have been fine if they added a top tier receiver, but even then they always should have kept Meyers over him.

[celticsclay]

As I've said all along, Meyers was better and knew the system. JuJu has long been done as a top tier receiver. He would have been fine if they added a top tier receiver, but even then they always should have kept Meyers over him.

This has been marked as an official mo patting himself on the back post.

[Moranis]

They were better off keeping Meyers instead of signing JuJu, but honestly the biggest mistake IMO was not signing Hopkins. All you had to do was give him around 14M and he's here. But for some reason Belichick and the Pats said no and he went TEN. Meanwhile going into the season, we had like 16M in cap space. For what??

This team lacks a WR1 and it shows. Even bad/mediocre teams around the league have playmakers at receiver and an alpha. We don't. Mac Jones with an alpha like Hopkins/Diggs/Adams, etc. would help Mac Jones and the Pats a ton. Tua has made great strides and is an MVP candidate but again, they added Hill and Waddle in recent years so obviously that helped him immensely.

Have you seen Hopkins play this year? He doesn’t look very good. 50 yards per game. No TD’s…

He is playing on a heavy run team that doesn't run very many plays.  I mean the Titans have passed just 83 times with 49 completions and 548 yards.  Hopkins has 14 for 153.  No other Titan has more than 7 catches or even 100 yards.  The Patriots on the other hand have thrown the ball 125 times with 81 completions and 748 yards, and yet Hopkins has more yards than any Patriot and the same amount of receptions as Bourne.  He'd have significantly better numbers on the Patriots just because they run so many more plays (especially passing). 

[Goldstar88]

They were better off keeping Meyers instead of signing JuJu, but honestly the biggest mistake IMO was not signing Hopkins. All you had to do was give him around 14M and he's here. But for some reason Belichick and the Pats said no and he went TEN. Meanwhile going into the season, we had like 16M in cap space. For what??

This team lacks a WR1 and it shows. Even bad/mediocre teams around the league have playmakers at receiver and an alpha. We don't. Mac Jones with an alpha like Hopkins/Diggs/Adams, etc. would help Mac Jones and the Pats a ton. Tua has made great strides and is an MVP candidate but again, they added Hill and Waddle in recent years so obviously that helped him immensely.

Have you seen Hopkins play this year? He doesn’t look very good. 50 yards per game. No TD’s…

He is playing on a heavy run team that doesn't run very many plays.  I mean the Titans have passed just 83 times with 49 completions and 548 yards.  Hopkins has 14 for 153.  No other Titan has more than 7 catches or even 100 yards.  The Patriots on the other hand have thrown the ball 125 times with 81 completions and 748 yards, and yet Hopkins has more yards than any Patriot and the same amount of receptions as Bourne.  He'd have significantly better numbers on the Patriots just because they run so many more plays (especially passing).

Hopkins is averaging over 8 targets per game. AJ Brown played in the same offense and had 1000+ yards receiving and 8TD’s as a rookie. Second year he had just under 1100 yards and 11 TD’s. DeAndre just isn’t a great player anymore.

[Moranis]

They were better off keeping Meyers instead of signing JuJu, but honestly the biggest mistake IMO was not signing Hopkins. All you had to do was give him around 14M and he's here. But for some reason Belichick and the Pats said no and he went TEN. Meanwhile going into the season, we had like 16M in cap space. For what??

This team lacks a WR1 and it shows. Even bad/mediocre teams around the league have playmakers at receiver and an alpha. We don't. Mac Jones with an alpha like Hopkins/Diggs/Adams, etc. would help Mac Jones and the Pats a ton. Tua has made great strides and is an MVP candidate but again, they added Hill and Waddle in recent years so obviously that helped him immensely.

Have you seen Hopkins play this year? He doesn’t look very good. 50 yards per game. No TD’s…

He is playing on a heavy run team that doesn't run very many plays.  I mean the Titans have passed just 83 times with 49 completions and 548 yards.  Hopkins has 14 for 153.  No other Titan has more than 7 catches or even 100 yards.  The Patriots on the other hand have thrown the ball 125 times with 81 completions and 748 yards, and yet Hopkins has more yards than any Patriot and the same amount of receptions as Bourne.  He'd have significantly better numbers on the Patriots just because they run so many more plays (especially passing).

Hopkins is averaging over 8 targets per game. AJ Brown played in the same offense and had 1000+ yards receiving and 8TD’s as a rookie. Second year he had just under 1100 yards and 11 TD’s. DeAndre just isn’t a great player anymore.

Brown went from 67 yards a game his last year in Tennessee to 88 yards a gam his first year in Philly also. And look at Woods, 63 yards a game in LA, down to 31 last year in Tennessee and back up to 55 this year with a rookie QB in Houston.  Tennessee is not an offense conducive to big WR numbers, especially as Tannehill ages. Now I don't think Hopkins is a top 3 WR like he once was, but he is still pretty clearly a #1 type receiver.  He'd have done wonders for the entire Patriots offense, but Bill got cheap like he always does.

[Vermont Green]

I am not upset about Hopkins.  There is no way to know that he would be any better than JuJu.  It always seems to take a while for new players to learn the Pats offense.  We have played some pretty good defenses so far, at at least on paper.  NYJ and PHI are supposed to be good defenses.  I admit though that JuJu has looked lost out there but still too soon to give up on him.

Overall, I feel the Pats defense has lived up to the hype.  Both MIA and PHI are good offenses, top 10 so far in both points and yards. The defense gave up 24 and 25 points but that has turned out to look pretty good.  I expect the defense to get better (getting injured CBs back) and there is a lot of depth to overcome injuries down the road.  The defense should be good enough to keep us in most games.

The offense has been inconsistent.  The NYJ and PHI defenses are supposed to be good, MIA decent.  We moved the ball in all the games at times but had trouble scoring points, for all sorts of reasons.  In terms of yards, we are 14th in rushing and 11th in passing.    That isn't bad but we are 26th in points.  I would like to think that once the OL settles in, that we will be able to run the ball better.  I think that is going to be important. 

I am less optimistic on the passing game.  Mac on a team with a good running game and a decent OL, can be a decent QB I feel.  You can't really call our receivers "weapons" but I think they are good enough to make plays and move the ball if Mac is playing well.  So it is all connected, not just one thing.

Bottom line, the Pats have looked like a 0.500 team so far.  There is plenty of opportunity to be better than that but nothing is certain.