Patriots 2026-27 Off Season

[Vermont Green]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

Patriots didn?t play many good teams until the playoffs, so it?s hard to completely evaluate Campbell. He didn?t do well against the better defenses before or after the injury, though. Against Atlanta, Maye was sacked 6 times. Next game against Cleveland Maye was sacked 6 times. Those were before the week 12 injury. Playoffs were obviously a disaster for him. We don?t know if he can be an effective LT in the NFL.

The O-line is the biggest area of weakness by far. Moses Brown is 35 years old. His days are numbered in the NFL. Depending on how camp/preseason goes, Lomu could be a starter. Lineman also get injured, which we saw last season. Lomu can likely play both right and left tackle. If you don?t have a strong O-line in the NFL, it?s not going to go well. Especially with a difficult schedule. Pats made the right move.

Don't disagree with any of this.  OL is where it all starts.  Maye was sacked way too much last season.  What I said is that Campbell was fine before the injury and he dropped off and was worse after the injury.  Fine would be OK if the rest of the line was good but the whole line was not good.  Campbell in my view was not "the" problem, he could have been better, and I expect him to be better as he gains experience, but I felt he did OK as a rookie.  If he does not show improvement, then he may need to be moved to another position.  Maybe I am just optimistic, but assuming there is nothing lingering with his injury and he shows up to camp ready, I feel he can be a solid LT.

[Csfan1984]

I don't believe in Campbell being a LT so sooner we move him to LG the better. I'd go

Lomu, Campbell, Wilson, Onwenu, Moses

with Tucker being eased back in as a rotation OL by week seven.

[Neurotic Guy]

I don't believe in Campbell being a LT so sooner we move him to LG the better. I'd go

Lomu, Campbell, Wilson, Onwenu, Moses

with Tucker being eased back in as a rotation OL by week seven.

You know that Lomu is a better LT than Campbell?  I thought Campbell looked OK for much of the season.  It fell apart later - but there were injuries and guy is young and works hard.  No doubt if Lomu projects better, you get him there ASAP, but not sure anyone knows that yet.

[Vermont Green]

I would say that the leaders in the clubhouse for the starting OL are as follows:

Campbell - Vera-Tucker - Wilson - Onwenu - Moses

I don't think they signed Vera-Tucker to that kind of money planning on him to sit out chunks of the season.  I guess Lomu provides more depth knowing Vera-Tucker and others have some injury history, which is a good thing.  Also some insurance if Campbell does not at least get back to where he was pre-injury or better.

I had not thought about this until now but I wonder if the decision to draft a OT in the first round was in any way an indication that they do have some doubt about Campbell, injury related doubt or doubt in general.

[Csfan1984]

I don't believe in Campbell being a LT so sooner we move him to LG the better. I'd go

Lomu, Campbell, Wilson, Onwenu, Moses

with Tucker being eased back in as a rotation OL by week seven.

You know that Lomu is a better LT than Campbell?  I thought Campbell looked OK for much of the season.  It fell apart later - but there were injuries and guy is young and works hard.  No doubt if Lomu projects better, you get him there ASAP, but not sure anyone knows that yet.

Lomu was on some people's board as the 2nd best OT. And this class for OT is way better than Campbell's so we can't say because he was a pick 28 he can't be better. Lomu's biggest knock was arm length which is still better than Campbell's. So for me I don't waste time and make the move. The move helps Campbells knees too (been off and on with braces since college). They can fight it out in camp to be sure but everything is a projection.

[Vermont Green]

I am trying to understand what the Patriots' plan may be for their base scheme on defense.  I am reading that last season, they played in the nickel package (an extra CB) 76% of the snaps.  I don't know how to confirm this but I am further seeing that their most common package while in the nickel was a 4-2-5 line up.

I guess it depends on whether you call someone a DE or a OLB.  This season, we have (2) players listed as OLB that are both more DE size, Dre'Mont Jones at 268 lbs and Harold Landry at 252 lbs.  Call them edge, call them OLB or DE, I don't know, but I am wondering if they will go with a 4-down front more and then either 2-5 or 3-4 behind that.  I like it.  Let Barmore and Williams be your DTs.  I think this group could generate plenty of pressure on the QB, especially if you mixed in some blitzes. 

The CB and S positions seem pretty set, but I am not sure about the 2 or 3 linebackers that will be used in addition to Jones and Landry.  Ellis and Spillane are only about 225 lbs or so.  And if you were going to run in a 4-3, who would be the middle LB?  You could bring in Cory Durden at DT, move Williams to DE, and then one of Jones or Landry (probably Landry) to LB, I guess, but there is not a natural middle LB that I can see.

All this is getting to the point that I think/hope they draft a LB tonight.  It does not need to be an "edge" guy, just a good Linebacker who can captain a defense and has a good balance against both run and pass.  Someone with some size that could play in any scheme (2, 3, or 4 LB set).

[Goldstar88]

Caleb Lomu is not a sexy pick, that is for sure.  I don't know anything about him.  I thought Campbell was fine until he got injured.  He was not good after the injury.  Generally, you expect a first round pick, particularly one you trade up for, to be a starter or to at least have an impact.  For the OL, if you are not starting, you are not making all that much impact.  Not sure there is a need for a starting OT.  Seems like this is more of a depth pick.  I guess with Wilson switching to Center, there is an opening at OG.

As to Vrabel, yikes.  This keeps getting worse.  I think this will impact his credibility with players.  It is so contrary the coaching persona that he has created for himself.

Patriots didn?t play many good teams until the playoffs, so it?s hard to completely evaluate Campbell. He didn?t do well against the better defenses before or after the injury, though. Against Atlanta, Maye was sacked 6 times. Next game against Cleveland Maye was sacked 6 times. Those were before the week 12 injury. Playoffs were obviously a disaster for him. We don?t know if he can be an effective LT in the NFL.

The O-line is the biggest area of weakness by far. Moses Brown is 35 years old. His days are numbered in the NFL. Depending on how camp/preseason goes, Lomu could be a starter. Lineman also get injured, which we saw last season. Lomu can likely play both right and left tackle. If you don?t have a strong O-line in the NFL, it?s not going to go well. Especially with a difficult schedule. Pats made the right move.

Don't disagree with any of this.  OL is where it all starts.  Maye was sacked way too much last season.  What I said is that Campbell was fine before the injury and he dropped off and was worse after the injury.  Fine would be OK if the rest of the line was good but the whole line was not good.  Campbell in my view was not "the" problem, he could have been better, and I expect him to be better as he gains experience, but I felt he did OK as a rookie.  If he does not show improvement, then he may need to be moved to another position.  Maybe I am just optimistic, but assuming there is nothing lingering with his injury and he shows up to camp ready, I feel he can be a solid LT.

He wasn?t good against the better defenses they played prior to his injuries. Atlanta and Cleveland games especially. This year will be telling for him and everyone else as the schedule won?t be easy.

[Moranis]

Saw a meme said Patriots took.a marriage counselor in round 2. I chuckled. 

[Phantom255x]

Saw a meme said Patriots took.a marriage counselor in round 2. I chuckled.

This made me laugh (mods can delete if it's inappropriate for here)

[nickagneta]

I am trying to understand what the Patriots' plan may be for their base scheme on defense.  I am reading that last season, they played in the nickel package (an extra CB) 76% of the snaps.  I don't know how to confirm this but I am further seeing that their most common package while in the nickel was a 4-2-5 line up.

I wouldn't put a ton of stock on the volume with which the Pats played in a nickel, regardless of formation as, you need to remember, in a whole bunch of games they were up big in games and played nickel in response to the opponents needing to throw the ball.

[nickagneta]

Pats gave up a 4th rounder to move up three spots in the 1st but gave up a 4th and a 6th to move up 8 spots in the 2nd?

They must not think highly of the talent later in this draft

[Goldstar88]

Pats select Eli Raridon, TE from Notre Dame with their 3rd round pick. 6?7/250lbs. Played in 10 games and had 32 receptions for 482 yards. No TDs.

TE is a position of need, but this pick seems like a reach. I would have gone with Zxavian Harris.
He?s a massive DT at 6?8 330lbs.

[Vermont Green]

I don't know much about draft prospects and I honestly knew nothing about any of the guys the Pats picked until researching them in the last couple of days.  I say that to make clear that I am in no position to judge them in terms of their ability or ceiling or whatever, I can only go on generalities and how they appear to address needs.  I posted about Lomu above.  Seems like a bit of a stretch to use a 1st round pick on what will likely be a swing tackle in Year 1, but I am all for fortifying the OL.

Gabe Jacas (pronounced ja-KISS, not JACK-as, thankfully), seems like exactly what I was pining for.  I like the size, 6'-4", 260 lbs.  Gives him the versatility to play LB or Edge/DE.  The analyses say he is more pass rusher and edge setter than coverage guy.  Seems more in the mold of Dre'Mont Jones or Harold Landry.  People underrate the importance of setting the edge.  It is all about pass rush these days.  As it stands, I see the weakest link in the defense being who covers RB and TE, but assuming this guy is good, I like the pick.

Then we get Eli Raridon at TE.  I understand he was a basketball player before switching to or focusing on football.  I see TE as an important position.  This guy may have some unrealized ceiling, we'll see.  I like the strategy, try to get an undervalued asset that may turn into something, at an important position.  I have no idea how good this guy can be but he seems to have plenty of athleticism.

Eli Raridon ran an official 4.62-second 40-yard dash at the 2026 NFL Combine. The 6-foot-6, 245-pound Notre Dame tight end demonstrated elite athleticism for his size, with his time ranking in the 81st percentile among tight ends.

40-Time:          4.62 seconds
10-Yard Split:   1.60 seconds
Vertical Jump:   36 inches
Broad Jump:     10 feet 3 inches

I like that they used late picks to move up, get as much value out of these first three rounds as you can, giving up (2) 4th rounders and a 6th rounder, all picks they don't really need.  Now they don't pick for a while but still have (5) more picks to take some chances with, to add some depth with.

[Vermont Green]

I found some additional stats on the incidences of various defensive schemes the Pat ran last season.  It seems to be kind of conventional wisdom that their base scheme is a 3-4-4 which would be:

               DT       NT       DT
 ED/OLB        IL        IL         ED/OLB
     CB           S         S            CB

But in reality, they only lined up this way something like 18% of the time.  The most commonly used scheme (near 70%) was a 4-2-5 that would look like this:


ED/DE      DT            DT         ED/DE
              ILB            ILB
   CB       S      CB      S         CB

I think a lot of this is semantics because the ED/OLB and the ED/DE are probably the same player, this season it will be Jones or Landry (last season Chaisson was one of them).  The change is taking the NT out and putting in a CB, then shift around the remaining players.    I see the team building the roster more for the 4-2-5 scheme with guys like Dre'Mont Jones who are more DE/ED than OLB/ED.  In either case, these guys have to set the edge in runs plays as well as rush the passer.  In the 4-2-5 scheme, there is less need for pass coverage from the edge guy.  In the 3-4-4 scheme, someone has to take the TE and/or RB in pass plays.

I like it.  I think it suits our roster, Williams and Barmore are perfect for the DT roles.  Plus I like Jones and Landry as more of the DE/ED type to focus more on run stopping and less on pass coverage.  The important thing is for the 4 man front to generate enough pass rush and it seems this group should be able to.  Plus it is a more natural fit for the modern offensive schemes, often 3 receivers, a RB and a TE.  You are better off with an extra CB.  You still need your ILB to provide pass coverage, and that is why this position seems to be getting manned by smaller players, often more oversized safeties than traditional middle linebackers.

[Goldstar88]

Well, it looks like this is why Vrabs wasn?t available today.

https://m.youtube.com/shorts/TQO3NAZxALA