Couple notable nuggets:

• Tom Brady spent a majority of his first-team reps with Danny Amendola as his slot receiver, as expected, but continued the day with a rotating cast as his other options, including free agent signees Donald Jones and Michael Jenkins, as well as rookies Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce.
• Rookie Aaron Dobson snatched a Brady pass out of the air between two defenders, making his mark on the field. He followed up with another dazzling sliding catch later on.
• The highlight of the practice was second-year linebacker Dont’a Hightower picking off backup quarterback Ryan Mallett. Mallett appeared to be rusty through the day’s drills.

And so it begins…

It’s getting harder and harder to pull this “Best of” post together, because let’s face it, there’s just not a whole lot to analyze these days. It’s the dog days of the offseason, when we spin our wheels and ponder training camp battles. 

We’ll bring you a “Gronk injury-free” version today, because as long as the infection doesn’t come back, and the back thing is minor as Shefter said, he should be good to go on opening day. 

New England Patriots Offseason Review - The Pats have really hit on everything I think they needed to hit on this offseason. The only question is what new holes will pop up and which fixes will be insufficient.

Best and Worst Case Scenarios for Mallett

More to Pats’ release of Love than meets the eye | Comcast SportsNet - CSNNE.com

Tackling the Patriots defensive line depth

Rotoworld Offensive Line Rankings (Pats #1)

Happy Monday everyone. We’re starting this week off with a look back at some of the more interesting nuggets to come out of rookie mini camp. The dead of the offseason continues to drag on…

There were rumblings that Amendola was going to don 80, and they appear to be true. I really like it.

And Kyle Arrington has relented, giving 24 to Adrian Wilson, and changing his number for the third time with the Patriots to 25. Hopefully the 25 version of Arrington never leaves the slot and becomes a dominant player there like he’s capable of.

Here’s a crack at a post-draft 53-man roster. The most interesting spot? Defensive end, where we have a bit of a log jam with Justin Francis, Jake Bequette, Michael Buchanan, Brandon Deaderick and Jermaine Cunningham all battling for maybe two spots. 

Want.

(via New England Patriots Navy NFL Retro Tube Sock)

Join Frenz and I as we breakdown the draft and discuss our favorite prospects and the most popular ones in various mock drafts. 

The only drawback with that for this year is they only have five total picks, perhaps the byproduct of so many previous draft-day deals, so there ability to manipulate the draft board might not be as great as it’s been in the past. Either way, the Patriots will be among the major players as they look to fill a variety of needs. Often, their best picks have come in the later rounds, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do in the second and third.