The New England Patriots will look to keep their winning streak alive as they welcome the Atlanta Falcons to Gillette Stadium on Sunday. It will mark the first of two matchups in a row against the NFC
South, as eyes also look forward to the trade deadline next Tuesday.
So before the action continues, let’s get right into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
The Patriots team looks a lot better than many expected. How close are they really to being a bonefide contender? What would be your trade deadline approach with the Patriots? – Sportzballer
I would not expect any big-time moves. Mike Vrabel has made it clear they will continue to operate with a long-term approach. My preference would then be to add depth on the defensive side of the football. That ideally starts along the edge, as the Patriots could use a third rusher to work-in with Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson.
With Keion White now traded, New England is left with just Anfernee Jennings, who has been in-and-out of the lineup, UDFA Elijah Ponder, and the newly acquired Caleb Murphy. There is not much depth there, and while we were also fans of Bradyn Swinson in the draft and the rookie still resides on the practices, the 6-2 Patriots might not want to rely on a rookie if they don’t need too.
My top choice would be Jaelan Phillips, a talented former first-round pick who has missed time due to injuries in recent years. But, the 26-year old currently resides in the AFC East on the Dolphins which could complicate the matter. Perhaps that leads to a veteran addition elsewhere like Arden Key (Tennessee).
New England could also look for depth at safety and linebacker (reunion with Mack Wilson?), but running back is the other interesting position. To me, this one depends on Rhamondre Stevenson’s outlook after the back missed the first two days of practice this week with a toe injury.
If Stevenson is forced to miss significant time, New England may need to acquire a more experienced back like Tony Pollard, who has been a popular name in trade rumors. If Stevenson will be back soon, they should be set with TreVeyon Henderson and Terrell Jennings — or perhaps make a smaller addition like Jerome Ford or Dameon Pierce.
Someone with kick return experience would also be a boost, as the Patriots have struggled generating explosive returns since losing Antonio Gibson.
With Dugger being traded we are quite thin at safety. Who would be some realistic trade candidates for us to add some depth? – jpd985
If healthy, Craig Woodson and Jaylinn Hawkins will rarely come off the field for New England. That could leave them comfortable with Dell Pettus and newly signed John Saunders Jr. behind them. Arizona’s Jalen Thompson would be an intriguing name if they’re looking for upgrades, while additional depth options could include Jason Pinnock (49ers) and Xavier Woods (Titans) are versatile options.
Although his coverage numbers have not been good this season, the big name could be Amani Hooker in Tennessee who overlapped with Vrabel throughout his Titans tenure.
White however is a head scratcher. Still on a rookie contract, I think they should have done more to take advantage of his freakish athleticism, and high motor. Trading him for a 6th rounder is like trading for banana peel. Did they need his spot so badly that they want to get rid of a former 2nd rounder with such a high potential? Less than two years ago he was touted as potentially the biggest steal of that draft. Even if that was not going to happen, he seemed like he had the potential to be a great player. Still does… And it is not like our pass rush depth is huge!! – Imsilveira
Keion White will be 27 at the end of this season and was not showing any signs of growth as an edge rusher. He was much more disruptive as an interior rusher, but with Christian Barmore and Milton Williams leading that room and Khyiris Tonga, Joshua Farmer, and Cory Durden serving as strong depth behind them, snaps were tough to find there. With his role diminishing it was worth moving on from.
Many people thought the team would have another top 10 draft pick in the upcoming draft. If they keep playing at this level, they’ll end of having a pick in the mid 20’s. With the trade deadline approaching, how much of a factor is having a later pick when they consider making trades. (I wouldn’t want to trade a top 10 pick, but would be more inclined to make a trade if the pick is #25. The same can be said about later rounds. Pick 38 vs pick 54) – SoDak605PatsFan
It could be a factor moving forward, but as we mentioned up top Mike Vrabel has noted the team will continue to take a long-term approaching to building their team and program. I would not anticipate them moving off an early-round draft pick at this deadline.
I’ve seen different articles/rumors about Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr. being available for trade. If he were available, would he be someone the Patriots should go after and what would be the cost of obtaining him? – SoDak605PatsFan
Doesn’t sound like Jacksonville will actually trade Thomas. But if there was a reality they would then I’d be all over it for the Patriots. Thomas was a 1,000-yard receiver his rookie season and has had difficulties adjusting to a new offensive scheme in year two. He was an elite deep ball receiver at LSU, and getting him back on that route tree with Drake Maye under center could be dynamite.
Loads of questions here. Feel free to answer all, some, or none and edit or attribute them to whomever: – fdsafdsa
Loading us up with questions! Much appreciated. Let’s quickly hit on a few here:
- Thrilled about the Marcus Jones extension. Are there any other players who might get extended soon or you think should be?
New England’s top internal free agents remaining are Khyiris Tonga and K’Lavon Chaisson. I’d work to get both extended but especially Tonga. He’s been awesome and clearly a favorite of the coaching staff.
- What’s the deal with struggling in man coverage? Isn’t that a strength of Gonzalez and Davis?
We went over this in a bit more detail in last week’s mailbag. Short story short is it seems to be a scheme thing of valuing pressure over middle of the field instead of help in coverage which forces their corners to truly play on islands — hard ask.
- Lots of WRs are getting receptions and each week it seems a different WR is getting the most targets. This reminds me of the Brady years. Is this because of Josh McDaniels’ influence, a result of not having an exceptional WR, or inherent in Maye’s play style?
A bit of both. We’ve seen McDaniels offense spread the wealth before and both coordinator and head coach have stressed that Maye just needs to throw it to the open receiver in the progression. But, this is something Maye has done for a while as well. He use to check stats in high school during games to make sure all his receivers were getting involved.
- Diggs has a history of going to a new team, having a wonderful honeymoon period, then becoming a problem. While he’s said all the right things so far (as he always does when he’s on a new team), given his relatively low yardage and TD totals, could he become disgruntled and cause issues in the not so distant future?
No reason to believe this at this point. Diggs’ leadership has been awesome for the Patriots wide receiver room and whole team. He’s also noted himself his level of buy-in under Vrabel.
Its been nice not to have to talk about draft this year, but as a draft nerd any early crushes? – BillM.
It has been nice. Most of my draft work to date has come through watching games live on TV. Watching the LSU-A&M game last week led me to edge rusher Cashius Howell. Could not take my eye off of him and it’s clear how he leads the SEC in sacks.
Also excited to dive deeper into Texas Tech’s David Bailey, as edge rusher could be an early need this year.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
