The New England Patriots are officially back in the playoffs, but eyes are now on the regular season finale as the No. 1 seed may still be on the line with some help.
With that, let’s get into this week’s
#PostPulpit Mailbag.
How should the offense go about replacing Mack hollins ? – Evan G.
It will not be a straightforward 1-for-1 swap as the Patriots don’t have another wide receiver with his size on the roster. They’ll miss that as Drake has developed a strong chemistry throwing to Hollins over the middle of the field and downfield as a larger target.
In the receiver room against the Jets, most of Hollins’ opportunities went to Efton Chism III who played a career-high 41 offensive snaps mixing in all over the formation. While the 5-foot-10 Chism certainly is not built physically like Hollins, the rookie makes up for it with his effort — which flashed throughout last Sunday’s game in the run game — and knowledge.
“Efton has just shown an aptitude to understand — that’s not as easy as it sounds,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. “Like people say, ‘Well, I just go in there and block the guy.’ Well, first of all is, who am I blocking? When am I blocking him? What shoulder am I blocking him on? Where’s the ball going? When do I fit here? When do I fit there? Do I motion to get him? Do I not? There’s a lot of little things that go into this.
“He’s just shown a strong aptitude and understanding and desire to learn it even though he hasn’t had a million reps at it since training camp. Getting him the work last week, I thought he showed us that he was going to be dependable to do his job in that regard.”
Moving forward, Chism should continue to be counted on in that role while fellow rookie Kyle Williams, who also shows great effort in the run game, could mix in in Hollins’ role now that Kayshon Boutte is back from a concussion.
“It wasn’t just Efton who picked up the slack for Mack,” wide receivers coach Todd Downing said. “It was also Kyle. It was also Stef in some ways, and Pop as well. I’m just proud of how the group came together and played a little bit short-handed and did everything they could to pick up the slack.”
Do you think if Diggs gets put on the exempt list, could we just elevate Jiles/Webb and feel comfortable? Or would it make more sense to sign a Lazard/Tyler Boyd type vet for the playoffs as insurance? Any other names out there on practice squads who could step in relatively quickly that we could snag if needed for the run? – jordsmith87
With the Diggs drama currently working through the league what are the chances that the NFL suspends Diggs during the playoffs? – ShaynaandDanny
It’s always tough to predict how these things can unfold from both a league and legal perspective, but Diggs suiting up this weekend would leave me feeling positively about his playoff status.
If they are without him, I think rolling with John Jiles or Jeremiah Webb makes the most sense at this point in the season. With Kyle Williams, Efton Chism, and DeMario Douglas on the roster, New England shouldn’t need any more than a depth option if they were forced to continue without Diggs.
If we get a healthy team and people are back in team from IR, do we have a chance to make it to the Super Bowl? – sumeetw
As we’ve said throughout the year, if you have a quarterback playing at a MVP level anything is possible. The Patriots have that in Drake Maye.
The reinforcements will only help especially when it comes to Milton Williams and Robert Spillane on the defensive side of the football as the Patriots have struggled generating a pass rush and stopping the run.
If “cleared” how much if any would you play Williams and Campbell? – ghosthaus
I’d give them a half and then make a decision based on how the game is playing out. Milton Williams acknowledged he hoped to play this week in order to shake off some rust before the playoffs. Letting those guys get some action before playoffs seems ideal.
Is the pony backfield still a gadget or might we see it more and more going forward? – ed.liebfried
The Patriots have ran 57 plays this season with two running backs on the field together (just over five percent). It will likely never be their most used group in a game, but they will have no issue relying on it in a specific game plan — especially as they’ve been highly efficient on the ground out of those looks.
I’m not sure there are any budding superstars, but the Patriots have an exceptional rookie class. By my count there are 7 or 8 rookies contributing to their success this year (Campbell,Henderson, Williams, Woodson, Wilson, Borregales, even Chism and Ponder). Is this their best rookie class ever? – Depotfox
In recent memory it is definitely one of their better drafts with contributors from all three days and their first five picks making significant impacts.
Without going too far back, the Patriots had a good stretch of draft classes that help pave way towards the second run of Super Bowls. Around the 2012 draft which produced Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower (benefit of two first-round picks) that included:
- 2009: Patrick Chung, Sebastian Vollmer, Julian Edelman
- 2010: Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Spikes, Zoltan Mesko
- 2011: Nate Solder, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley, Marcus Cannon
- 2013: Jamie Collins, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon
Additionally, the 2000 draft class deserves a shoutout just for producing the greatest player of all-time. Maybe even some love for the 2023 class that still features Christian Gonzalez, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Marte Mapu, and Bryce Baringer.
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.
