The New England Patriots are looking to build off of their big win against the Buffalo Bills, and now return home for a matchup against the surprising 3-1 Las Vegas Raiders.
So, let’s get into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Hey Brian. Do you think there’s a move made at wide receiver if the team gets grim news on Hollins, or do you think they just elevate one of the practice squad guys? – Pat in Agawam
With Hollins’ injury not considered long term and the return of A.J. Brown looming, I don’t think
an outside addition is needed. If they believed otherwise, that addition would have been in the building early this week. The Patriots can continue to primarily run Romeo Doubs at the X, Efton Chism at the Z in place of Mack Hollins, and DeMario Douglas in the slot with Kyle Williams working in at multiple spots as well.
That should be enough to get by in the mean time, with Cameron Dorner or Kyle Dixon potential practice squad elevation options if spots are available.
Via chats with other Pulpiteers, I’m curious, what’s up with Kyle Williams lack of “production?” Is he seeing the field? Is he being used primarily as a “Sacrificial X” WR to clear out safety help and open the field for others? Is he doing his job in respects beyond catching the ball?—running good routes, blocking etc. Or, does he just suck? I believe Vrabel and McD have said in the past that doing your job doesn’t always mean you are the guy who gets targeted with the ball, and I’m wondering if that might be the case with Kyle. – Maye The Force Be With You
Is there a future for our WR Williams ? With now Chism emerging, Doubs starting to catch and Douglas established in the slot we can imagine Brown and Hollins will come back so Williams could be the odd man Non active on game day …. – 7i165
The effort is not an issue for Kyle Williams. He’s running hard routes, blocking in the run, and continuing to earn praise from the coaching staff behind the scenes. His role simply leads to volatile production, as he’s mainly playing outside in a sacrificial X role, where he’s often running clear-out routes.
I did think his third-down catch against Pittsburgh over the middle of the field was a big play, as he fought through contact to convert. At the same time, it’s been disappointing that Drake Maye has not been able to get him the football on two specific instances when he won deep along the outside: the blood-fumble play and a second-down incompletion late against Buffalo.
The skill set is still valuable in this wide receiver room, and I would still be in favor of Williams working at different positions and running a more diverse route tree like he did in college. But with the veterans ahead of him, those opportunities simply haven’t presented themselves. He should get more of them this Sunday, however.
Why did it take so long to get around to Efton Chism? All we’ve been hearing about is how good this guy is how hard he plays he could become the next Julian Edelman,who wasn’t used much his first couple of years.. he needs to be out there going forward. What’s your take? – PatriotsWay
We’re not comparing him to Julian Edelman or any other former Patriots slot receiver, but frequent readers here know we’ve been a fan of Chism since before the draft. While he’s dominated virtually every practice we’ve watched since his arrival, he was an undrafted free agent joining a depth chart that included veterans such as Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, and DeMario Douglas.
Like Williams, Chism needed an opportunity. He got one late last season and then again Sunday, and he impressed both times. Now, we’d expect to see more of him moving forward.
The Right Guard position continues to be a mess. Brown was bad against Buffalo. I believe between Lomu, Bryant, and Crownover one of those could be a better RG than they have on the roster. Will those guys get a shot at that position or does the team view them strictly as Tackles. – Elderly Lothario
Ben Brown will be “slated to start at right guard” this week, according to Mike Vrabel. Brown did allow three pressures, failing to pickup a stunt and got pushed back on the strip sack (in part due to an uncalled hands to the face penalty) but was certainly not a train wreck in his first meaningful NFL reps at right guard. I’d continue to roll with Brown.
Mike Vrabel has not ruled out Lomu potentially factoring into he mix at some point, but the rookie appears to be behind newly signed Matt Pryor and Walter Rouse at the position.
Moses shocked me by having a pretty good pass protection grade but his run blockjng grade is horrible. Do you think he gets replaced at some point by Lomu? – XGhost-PepperX
It was definitely a bounce back game for Moses in Buffalo, who allowed one tackle for loss in the run game and just one pressure while drawing the most matchups against Gregory Rousseau. The veteran is battling through a painful foot injury, but don’t think the team has any immediate plans to pull the plug for Caleb Lomu, who did not look ready in a limited sample size against the Jaguars.
When is our 2025 Sack Leader Harold Landry expected to make his return? Getting him back as a Pass Rusher and Run Stuffer will help this Defense. – For Pats Sake
I haven’t had any expectations for Harold Landry this season after what he played through last season. Anything they get from him would be a bonus in my book, and I’m not sure how impactful he would even be following that knee injury.
Considering that the Pats no longer have a 2028 1st round pick, would you target the OL again in the next draft or look at other potentially weak areas like TE, LB? – Arschloch
Certainly can never have enough offensive lineman, but with two straight first-round picks invested in Will Campbell and Caleb Lomu I would not use another first on an offensive tackle. I’m also largely against using that capital on an interior offensive lineman.
I would still look at some position in the defensive front seven.
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 on the Feed. Make sure to follow @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.
