While they do have some pieces in place, the New England Patriots are in the middle of a rebuild under first-year head coach Mike Vrabel. One major part of it is making the overall roster younger, a process that included adding several rookies during the offseason.
During Sunday’s 42-13 win over the Carolina Panthers, eight of those first-year players saw the field. While not all of them had the same impact, the game as a whole was another step up for the group.
Let’s break it down in greater detail.
Game day roster
LT Will Campbell: Starting his fourth straight game as New England’s left tackle, Campbell was part of an offensive line that surrendered only five quarterback pressures and no sacks against the Panthers. The fourth overall pick in this year’s draft himself, meanwhile, had a clean slate while also performing at a high level as a run blocker. While, yes, the Panthers front is not necessarily one of the NFL’s elite units, the youngest player on the Patriots’ roster — let’s not forget he is still only 21 years old — did what you would want him to do in such a scenario: dominate.
RB TreVeyon Henderson: His fourth career game was a mixed bag for Henderson. Playing 15 snaps for a season-low playing time share of 30.6%, the second-round running back was flagged for his fourth holding call already this season. However, he also scored his first career touchdown on a 5-yard carry in the second quarter, and continued to showcase good ball security a week after the team’s veteran backs — Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson — combined to put the ball on the ground three times. In total, Henderson finished with seven carries for 32 yards (4.6/run) and his TD, plus two catches for 14 and a 20-yard kickoff return.
WR Kyle Williams: The pecking order at the top of the wide receiver depth chart seems established, with Williams finding himself in the tier below together with — at least for this week — DeMario Douglas. The third-round rookie actually out-performed the former starting slot both in terms of snaps and touches, making him New England’s WR4 for the day: Williams was on the field for a career-high 14 snaps (29%) and received a handoff that went for -2 yards. There is obvious room for growth.
S Craig Woodson: Four games, four starts for the fourth-round pick. Woodson led all Patriots defenders in playing time on Sunday, taking the field for all but one of the 69 available snaps. He had five tackles, including two for loss, as well as a pass breakup on a third down. However, he also was in coverage on both of Carolina’s touchdowns and both times got stuck in traffic to arrive at the intended targets late. Nonetheless, the coaching staff continues showing confidence in the UCLA product. That said, he will have to step up his game in case Jaylinn Hawkins misses any time following the hamstring injury he suffered in the second quarter.
DT Joshua Farmer: With the game very much decided by the early third quarter, the Patriots were able to give their backup players some more quality reps. That included Farmer, who played a career-best 20 snaps (29%) versus the Panthers, with most coming in the second half. He registered a tackle but also found himself unable to keep his position against the run at times. Overall, he will continue to serve as a rotational depth piece along the interior line who clearly sits behind the top three of Christian Barmore, Milton Williams and Khyiris Tonga.
K Andy Borregales: The Patriots finishing the game with six touchdowns left no room for Borregales to kick any field goals, but the sixth-rounder still had a busy day in the extra point department. He looked good doing so, splitting the uprights all six times and looking like the more reliable of the two rookie kickers on the field on Sunday (his Carolina counterpart, Ryan Fitzgerald, went a combined 1-for-3). In addition, he looked good on kickoffs: only two of his seven kickoffs went out to the touchback line or beyond, with the other five placed well and not returned beyond the 35.
RT Marcus Bryant: For starting tackles Will Campbell and Morgan Moses, the day ended with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter: both were pulled alongside quarterback Drake Maye and with the Patriots up 42-6. Taking their places in the lineup were veteran Vederian Lowe and, for the first time in his career, seventh-round pick Marcus Bryant. He ended up playing three competitive snaps at right tackle — two runs for 8 yards plus an incomplete pass — as well as three more on the end-of-game kneel-downs. It was a “getting the feet wet” type of game for the 23-year-old.
LS Julian Ashby: The Patriots’ kicking operation was on point on Sunday, and that included the seventh-round long snapper. Ashby seemed comfortable snapping the ball and also looked good as a protector on punts and field goals. In total, he was on the field 10 times: he snapped on six extra points and four punts.
Inactive
The rest of the Patriots’ rookie class was not active for game day against the Panthers. This included third-round G Jared Wilson, who was ruled out because of ankle and knee injuries that forced him to miss the entire week of practice. The undrafted rookies on the roster, WR Efton Chism III, DT Eric Gregory and ED Elijah Ponder, remain among the healthy scratches and continue serving primarily as emergency depth at their respective positions.
In addition to those four players, seven other rookies did not suit up for Sunday’s game: WR Jeremiah Webb, TE C.J. Dippre, TE Gee Scott Jr., OL Jack Conley, ED Bradyn Swinson, CB Kobee Minor and CB Tyron Herring remain on the practice squad. All of them are eligible to be elevated, even though none of them got the call on Sunday.
Two more rookies, UDFA RB Lan Larison and UDFA FB Brock Lampe, are on injured reserve and out for the remainder of the season.
