Our perception of how an NFL team should go through the internal checklist after a bad season is at the same time probably far too optimistic and not optimistic enough. There are some owners who absorb their organizations with satisfaction. Some who are more comfortable with family. Some who blew everything up because a former ESPN quarterback told them. Permanently good teams do not normally have this problem because they are good at self-analysis. Of course, some teams get good for a while and lose the ability to do that too.
That’s why we’re here. With each team giving up the playoffs, we will answer a 10-part questionnaire about where they are, where they are going and how to solve the holes along the way. Some projects will be bigger than others.
Which brings us to the Patriots, a team that missed the playoffs only three times in the Bill Belichick era. This is the earliest the Patriots have escaped from the dispute since 2000 – a time when the device you read was just a dream of a fever in the head of a futurist somewhere.
More out-of-season prospects: Bengali, Broncos, Loaders, falcons, 49ers Jaguare, Jete, lei, panthers Texans
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1. What went well this year?
If the Patriots had somehow clung to defeating the Dolphins last week, I was planning to argue why this was Bill Belichick’s best season yet. It looks like the team missed any defensive prospect they wanted in the 2020 draft and decided to place Cam Newton directly in the group after a non-existent off-season prevented them from developing Jarrett Stidham as they wanted to. That being said, New England was relevant for a majority of the season, despite a ton of high profile dropouts. My colleague Jenny Vrentas pointed out well on the weak Podcast that the second time we heard trade rumors around the world corner Stephon Gilmore, we should have taken this as an indication of what Belichick saw in 2020. However, four of his six victories came against teams with record victories and three of those victories came against teams currently in the playoff race.
2. What went wrong this year?
Cam Newton, although still an explosive talent, does not return to 100%, and the wide receiver core around him was either not healthy enough or talented enough to make a difference. The Patriots tried to bend in a fast-paced offense that could crush opponents, change possession, and hand over their defense games still strong and in many ways successful – no team was passed less than once. than New England this year. However, there was not enough offensive contraception to lift them over the hump in nearby games or to keep them afloat against McVay-Shanahan systems.
3. The Big Question this season
Will the Patriots reinvest in Cam Newton? I don’t hate the idea. There are much worse long-term solutions, especially with the direction the league is heading. Newton can certainly become the kind of player who can lead the scheme effectively if he has the right complementary talent around him, and his dominance as an internal rusher only serves to further love Belichick and Josh McDaniels. As I mentioned earlier, there is a really important part of this crime that works. Imagine if you had a full off-season and a free agency period to make the right changes.
4. Coach / GM perspective
When you have the greatest head coach in NFL history, who is also your GM, life is good in that department. The only interesting thing here: Matt Patricia, Bill O’Brien and a lot of other Patriots assistants will return to the market this season. What does this mean for a coaching staff that has gone a little to the bone after the desertions of Patricia and Brian Flores? Could Belichick rebuild his arsenal with some familiar faces from the golden years? Also noteworthy: Jedd Fisch, the quarterback coach, is now the head coach at the University of Arizona, so the important role of the QB coach needs to be filled.
5. Key free agents
• Joe Thuney, security guard
• JC Jackson, corner defender
• Cam Newton, defender
• James White, running back
• Deatrich Wise Jr., defensive end
• Brian Hoyer, defender
• Jermaine Eluemunor, striker / guard
• Damiere Byrd, wide receiver
• Jason McCourty, defensive back
• David Andrews, center
• Lawrence Guy, defensive forward
• Adam Butler, defensive forward
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6. Maximum priority
I would say that defender, but there is a reason why Belichick has a choice of top 15 and a lot of space for the cover, for the first time in a long time. This list has needs to be addressed up and down in the depth chart. On the one hand, he gets back a lot of reliable veterans who can charge his turbo defense. On the other hand, Belichick has some important decisions to make on the offensive line. And yes, there is a problem with the two best defenders on the list, both hitting the free agency.
7. Positions of need
Defender, wide receiver, defensive attack / edge, corner defender, offensive line.
8. Sensitive plan to remedy them
Enroll Ryan Fitzpatrick in this off-season and design Mac Jones of Alabama, allowing one of the best bridge defenders of all time to lead your offense for a year while developing a rookie rookie. There is a good chance that Belichick will have better information about Jones, who plays for one of his best friends and contemporaries (Nick Saban), than anyone else in the draft. If that bulletin comes back clean, it would be logical to see the coach recreating a little of what he had in 2000 – a well-established veteran who can win games now and a young project that holds his comb.
9. The idea outside the box to fix them
Sign Dak Prescott.
If there was a coach who could pull a rehabilitated Prescott away from the Cowboys, wouldn’t it be Bill Belichick? Prescott seems to fit everything Belichick wants in a pass and was on the pace of the best season before he got injured. It will cost a lot of money, which is entirely anti-Belichickian. But with the hat in hand, would it be worth the investment to catch Prescott or encourage him to ask for a sign and trade it after he was hit again with the franchise label?
10. Next time we will see them realistically in the playoffs
2021. Come on.