Before the 2025 season, the Nnew England Patriots were given odds of anywhere from +8,000 to +10,000 to get to Super Bowl LX. Certainly understandable for a franchise that was coming off matching 4-13 seasons under Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo. New head coach Mike Vrabel was generally seen as an upgrade over Mayo, but to what degree? When defensive coordinator Terrell Williams was diagnosed with prostate cancer in September, to be replaced by inside linebackers coach Zak Kuhr, those odds probably
looked pretty good in comparison to reality.
Of course, we know what actually happened. Drake Maye became the quarterback the team dreamed of in 2025 after a very tough rookie season in 2024. The offense came together in ways nobody imagined. And the defense under Kuhr (now the full-time DC, while Williams remains with the team as an Assistant Head coach) started dominating as the season progressed in ways that, frankly, blew my mind.
Yes, the 29-13 loss in SBLX was a disappointment. But now, these Pats expect, and are expected to, contend for a return trip to the NFL’s biggest game. Which is a rather large glow-up from where things had been. Going from what seemed like a from-the-studs rebuild to the top tier of one’s conference usually takes longer, but here we are.
“I think expectations should always be high,” Vrabel said at the scouting combine back in February. “They were high when we started this thing just a little over a year ago. Everything’s a different challenge, but that’s a little far out. I think right now it’s about, from a coaching standpoint, what we did well, how we can enhance it, the new ideas. We have to have fresh ideas to what we’re doing in all three phases. That’s been my direction to the staff is to go through and focus on what we can do to enhance the core concepts, but also, I need to see some new ideas that maybe force us to push ourselves in a different direction.
“Not a wholesale change, but things that we feel like can help us, but that are also new.”
The Patriots have all kinds of talent — both old and new — to help them realize those visions. And here are three players who are flying under the radar on the 2026 roster who deserve more praise. One veteran, one free agent, and one draft pick.
Here are your Patriots Hidden Gems for the new season.
Underrated veteran: S Craig Woodson
Safety Jaylinn Hawkins was another Secret Superstar in this defense last season, but the Patriots lost him to the Baltimore Ravens in free agency. That turned out to be not a problem, as the team responded by signing veteran Kevin Byard to a one-year, $7 million contract. If Byard stays healthy and plays at his peak, this may give New England one of the best safety duos in the NFL, because we already know that second-year man Craig Woodson is up for whatever the NFL throws at him.
Overall in 2025, the fourth-round rookie from Cal allowed 30 catches on 47 targets for 257 yards, 85 yards after the catch, six touchdowns, one interception, eight pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 108.8. But the real story here is how much better Woodson became in coverage as the season went along. This was especially true in the postseason, when Woodson gave up four catches on 14 targets for 28 yards, four yards after the catch, no touchdowns, that one pick, three pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 9.8.
Basically, if you threw the ball in Woodson’s area in the playoffs, you did so at your peril.
During Super Bowl week, I asked Woodson for his favorite play(s) of his rookie season. It didn’t take him long to detail his greatest hits.
“One play I would say is versus the Chargers, when I got the tackle for loss,” Woodson said. “Just busting through the line, and getting through the tight end. He was coming over to block me, and me then getting the TFL. That was just showing that I can get in the backfield and make a play.”
This play came with 13:27 left in the first half of the Patriots’ 16-3 wild-card win. Woodson blasted through tight end Tucker Fisk and fullback Scott Matlock for the one-yard loss.
But wait… there’s more!
“And then, I would say another play was versus the Texans, when I almost got the interception the first time on the dig route. Coming in, just reading the quarterback’s eyes, pacing with my feet, and then coming up and driving on it. Just trusting it.”
This happened with 3:04 left in the first quarter of New England’s 28-16 divisional round win over Houston. Receiver Jayden Higgins was running that dig route (a quick in-cut), and Woodson came down perfectly as the deep safety in Cover-3 to end that threat.
Now, Woodson doesn’t just have his own improvement to bank on; he has the benefit of Byard, one of the smartest defensive players you’ll ever talk to, as an on-field advisor. That should push his ceiling even higher.
Underrated free agent: WR Romeo Doubs
For a brief moment, the Patriots’ decision to sign former Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs to a four-year, $68 million contract with $39 million guaranteed was Really Big News. Through his first four NFL seasons, the 2022 fourth-round pick out of Nevada totaled 222 catches on 335 targets for 2,795 yards, and 23 touchdowns. Doubs did that in a series of Matt LaFleur offenses that weren’t defined by a No. 1 receiver, as the Davante Adams trade happened before the 2022 season. But over and over, Doubs proved to be fast, smart, elusive, and ready for any responsibility.
Even the best defenses have had issues containing Doubs over time.
Then, the A.J. Brown trade happened, and Doubs was less of a factor in the public eye. But he should not be discounted in this offense. The Brown/Doubs duo now at the top of the team’s depth chart at underwhelming positions in 2025 should bring Maye even more opportunities to shine. With Brown as the X-iso alpha dog in charge of the downfield contested catch, Doubs can do what he does best — get slippery against all kinds of coverage, both outside and in the slot.
The new guy is already happy about how Josh McDaniels’ offense will showcase his skills.
“Just being around him, being in the system, understanding the system so far, I can already see just how he thinks offensively,” Doubs recently said of his new offensive coordinator. “And it’s a completely different mindset. And obviously, that’s something that you need as a player.
“Just different game plans, different perspectives, different concepts, different ways how to learn about this — it’s just something to see.“
The quarterback also likes the new guy.
“I think it’s working,” Maye said in May of his connection with Doubs. “I think it’s building. He’s eager. That’s the best thing you see in a new receiver, in a new offense like Romeo. It’s different terminology. He’s been in an offense for a couple of years with the same quarterback. I kind of have to learn how he likes to do things, and how I like to see it when he’s running routes. I think it’s just going to be better and better. He’s a great player. He’s already been a great player in this league. So, looking forward to building that connection and [Doubs] finding his role in this offense.”
Maye played at an MVP level until the playoffs came around. Maybe Doubs is a key to extending the dream.
Underrated draft pick: CB Karon Prunty
When the Patriots took Wake Forest cornerback Karon Prunty with the 171st overall pick in the fifth round of the 2026 draft, you could say that this was the next step in Justin Hamilton’s vision.
Hamilton is currently the Patriots’ cornerbacks coach, but back in 2020, he was Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator, and he had his eye on Prouty from the kid’s work at I.C. Norcom High School in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Prunty ultimately committed to Kansas, played there for one season, transferred to North Carolina A&T for the next three seasons, and then wound up with the Demon Deacons for the 2025 campaign. He never played for Hamilton, who moved to the NFL in 2023 as a defensive quality control coach in Tennessee under Mike Vrabel, and then the assistant defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts in 2024 before taking his current gig in 2025, but Hamilton never forgot about the tall, aggressive Prunty.
Especially when it came to Prunty’s ability to play tough man coverage.
“Man-to-man is hard to teach,” Hamilton said in May of his newest cornerback. “When you see guys who have the natural ability to play man-to-man, he can do that, which goes back to the raw tools that he has. He puts time into studying his craft, and that’s encouraging.
“Corner is probably the least communicative spot in the defense I’ve been a part of. But when a guy understands where everyone is supposed to be and can speak on that, they’re probably going to be able to learn whatever it is we’re teaching them.”
Over his five seasons, Prunty showed enough to prove his NFL potential. In 2025, he allowed 25 catches on 50 targets for 330 yards, 93 yards after the catch, three touchdowns, one interception, six pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 79.8.
Yes, there were times when Prunty looked a bit out of place, but that could have had something to do with the fact that in 2025, he had just four press targets, and 46 in off coverage…which is not really his best thing. Prunty is at his peak when he’s able to press the receiver from first step to route stem, and it sounds like he’ll have more opportunities to do that with his new team.
“He’s a physical player; he challenges people,” Vice President of Player Personnel Ryan Crowden said of Prunty. “I think he plays with a confidence on the football field that is paramount for the corner position. He’s kind of put himself back on the map at Wake Forest.”
For a Patriots team that had at least one cornerback in press coverage on 28% of its snaps in 2025 — down from 34% in 2024, per Pro Football Focus — this could indicate a return to the later Bill Belichick days, when it seemed that every Patriots cornerback was a press coverage maniac.
Prunty knows that no matter the coverage, he needs to up his game for the next level. He already has one role model in Christian Gonzalez, and he brought that up at his post-draft press conference.
“The main thing I like about him is he plays with a good pad level,” Prunty said of Gonzalez. “Very consistent, very disciplined. He also has fluid hips. As far as movement, he’s kind of my favorite because I feel like everything he does is pretty smooth. Even when he was at Oregon, everything just seemed pretty smooth.”
With Gonzalez and Carlton Davis as the established outside cornerbacks, Prunty may have to wait a minute to show what he can do when the games begin. But we do know that the rookie has at least one of his coaches very much in his corner over time.
