20 Questions About 2018 Patriots

We’re a mere 10 days away from the opening of Patriots training camp, one of the most exciting times of the football season, when hope springs eternal, no one has gotten severely injured yet and every team has a shot at the Super Bowl. For the Patriots it’s another bonus chance getting to watch Bill Belichick and Tom Brady add to their unprecedented run.

These seasons are fleeting, we’re already on borrowed time, so it’s best to savor every moment.

The 2018 Patriots should be a big switch from the 2017 team. Just as the 2015 team was decimated by injuries and the 2016 team bounced back, this will be another opportunity for the team to put a bunch of injuries and a disappointing ending behind them.

There will be new faces, returning faces and hopefully, unexpected faces emerging. As we continue to count down, here are 20 questions that are facing this edition of the Pats.

1. Will Tom Brady start to look old yet? – If he continues the pace he’s been on and stay healthy, Brady will only continue to rewrite the record books and set a new standard for elite athletes playing into their 40s.
2. Can Sony Michel replace Dion Lewis‘ playmaking? – Lewis made tacklers miss and often jumpstarted the offense. That kind of contribution will need to be replaced, with home run hitter Michel being the top candidate.
3. Is Julian Edelman still Julian Edelman?  – They’ll be without him for the first four games and players often need a full two years to recover from an ACL, but time isn’t on Edelman’s side. If he’s the same guy we last saw in a meaningful game way back in Super Bowl 51, the Pats’ offense will be just fine.
4. Who Replaces Cooks and Amendola? – The Pats will turn over two significant receiver roles this season, and while Chris Hogan can ably replace Cooks on the outside, finding a clutch receiver like Amendola, who almost singlehandedly won plenty of games with huge catches, is less certain. There are tons of receiver options and no telling who emerges.
5. Will Malcolm Mitchell ever be healthy? – The promising receiver burst onto the scene as a rookie but has battled numerous injuries, including a lingering knee issue. The Pats need Mitchell, but the depth chart is stacked and he won’t be handed anything.
6. Can Jordan Matthews catch 80 balls? – Matthews has been my go-to guy this summer and I’ll be watching him every time he’s on the field. The opportunity is there for him to be a player Tom Brady leans on.
7. Who Starts at Left Tackle? – Maybe the biggest question facing the team, Nate Solder is gone and now either Trent Brown or rookie Isaiah Wynn is in line to protect the blind side.
8. Will TB12 Keep Gronk Upright? – Gronk played 14 games in 2017 after being limited to just eight in 2016. Is this a sign that the Alex Guerrero method can save and extend the ultimate tight end’s career?
9. Can Dont’a Hightower stay healthy? – The Pats’ defense needed just one more play to win back-to-back Super Bowls but couldn’t get it, in large part because Hightower was introducing the team instead of playing. If Hightower can play 16 games, the entire team will be a full step better.
10. Who Replaces Malcolm Butler? – There’s a SB52 joke in here somewhere, but the obvious candidate is veteran Jason McCourty. Still, cornerback is a hard position to predict and the team has great depth. Maybe a rookie like Keion Crossen of JC Jackson emerges.
11. Can Danny Shelton be 2016 Alan Branch? – Alan Branch’s play fell of a cliff from 2016 to 2017, a big reason the Pats’ run defense fell near the bottom of the league. If Shelton can be as disruptive as ’16 Branch was, the Pats defense will be on their way to erasing last year’s performance.
12. Is Elandon Roberts just a guy? – The Pats likely won’t play much three linebacker regular defense, but when they do Roberts is a key piece in the middle who was often exposed in pass coverage. Can the Pats get more athletic in the middle of the field? It’s critical and starts with Roberts’ improving or perhaps getting dethroned by someone else.
13. Will veteran safeties get off to a better start? – No one was more disappointing than the McCourty-Chung-Harmon trio early last season as they were torched for big plays over and over. That is unacceptable considering the experience (and contracts) of those three. They must get out of the gate better this season.
14. What is Van Noy’s ceiling? – Kyle Van Noy has made a lot of strides in the defense, especially having to be the de facto leader post-Hightower last season. How good can he be now with Hightower back and more freedom on the field? In his third year with the team he might break out as a star.
15. What 2nd Year Players Make the Leap? – The Pats have a bunch of really interesting second-year players, including those returning from injury — Derek Rivers, Harvey Langi — and those who got a lot of unexpected experience in 2017 — Dietrich Wise, Adam Butler, Eric Lee. Who makes strides this season could determine the ceiling of the defense.
16. Any rookies ready to step in? – On the defensive side of the ball there are a number of rookies who could step in, like Duke Dawson, Crossen, Jackson, Ja’whaun Bentley and Christian Sam. The Pats don’t absolutely need any of them immediately, but that doesn’t mean they won’t step up and take a job.
17. Can Ryan Allen hold of Cory Bojorquez? – Yes, a lefty punter battle, what could be better?
18. Is Stephen Gostkowski Coming to the End? — Gost has emerged as a more and more polarizing kicker to Patriots fans, thanks to some consistent misses in big spots in reent years. Still, he’s great on kickoffs and about as reliable as kickers come. Never easy to transition at the position, and as Gost enters the last year of his deal, it looks like we’ll have to wait and see if the Pats should’ve moved on sooner.
19. Will Brian Flores add his own touch to the defense? — I have a hard time knowing where Bill Belichick ended and Matt Patricia began. I still expect the defense to be conservative, to take away big plays and focus on tackling rather than complex blitz schemes and packages, but will there be some unique new flares thanks to Flores? It will take time to see them develop.
20. Will the Pats Get Another Super Bowl? — With five rings already, the rest is gravy, but the Patriots will go after this year’s prize just like they have every other year, and with the sting of last season’s Super Bowl loss in their mouths they should get off to a better start than last year’s Super Bowl 51-winning team did.