20 Sans-Brady OTA Pats Posits

The doldrums of the offseason will be a bit alleviated this week as the Patriots host (optional) off-season team activities. Tom Brady has followed through on his commitment to spend more time with his family this offseason and won’t report until the mandatory mini-camp next month.

Of course, there will be plenty of interesting things to pick up for those who are paying attention to the football part of the thing. But expect most of the chatter and debate to continue to revolve around Brady’s absence and what it all means.

Aside from Brady (and Gronk) not being in attendance, are 20 things that will be interesting to me:

1. How does Brian Hoyer look as the starter? Okay I kid, but Brady’s absence can’t be just brushed under the rug. But it’s the new reality with lame-duck Brady, who has admittedly shifted to focusing on family and training the way he sees fit. Will his absence translate to problems for the offense? It will certainly be under scrutiny if the Pats O looks out of sync early.
2. Malcom Mitchell had a lost second season after becoming a Super-Bowl-reliable target for Brady as a rookie. If anything, I’m disappointed not to see how Brady-to-Mitchell looks now that the receiver is healthy. I’m surprised some people think he’s getting cut. Barring another injury, I think Mitchell is a big part of the offense this season.
3. How do the offense and defensive personnel packages look? It’s important not to overthink these, but often times there is a little insight to be gleaned, like when Jonathan Jones was the starting nickel corner last year. With plenty of players still rehabbing this isn’t a clear picture, but the early appearances of players like Duke Dawson, Damarius Travis, Eric Lee and Phillip Dorsett could be significant.
4. Travis is my wild card right now when it comes to the Jordan Richards second safety-linebacker hybrid role behind Patrick Chung. Travis is a player in the mold of Chung and spent all last offseason on the practice squad. Fellow second-year safety David Jones did the same, but he’ll be out with rehab this week.
5. Can Braxton Berrios get off the line? The biggest jump for receivers like Berrios is getting open against press man in the NFL. He has the toolset to be productive in the offense, but how well his physical and processing speeds translate to the NFL is a big unknown. Every year we fall in love with “the next slot receiver” and they almost always end up cut or sent to the practice squad. Berrios has a tough fight for a roster spot despite his draft status and a hot start could give him a leg up.
6. Is Eric Lee just a JAG? The Patriots plucked Lee off the Bills practice squad and played him a lot in the final six games of the season. But was that just due to there being no one else healthy? Or does Lee have legitimate promise? With other edge players like Derek Rivers and Harvey Langi returning, he’ll have to bring it to make the team again. If he does take a second-year leap the Patriots depth will be greatly improved in an area of need.
7. Hightower-Roberts-Van Noy? Yes the Pats play mostly sub-packages now but we’ll get a glimpse of their regular run-stopping defense as well. Does this top trio remain unchanged? Is Hightower back at SOLB where he can play on the end of the line?
8. Marquis Flowers? Flowers really started to come on as a nickel linebacker late last season, but again, was it just because of injury attrition? The Pats re-signed him this season but does he really have any potential to take some of the load off Hightower?
9. Who are the starting corners? With Malcolm Butler out and Jason McCourty in will it be a one-for-one swap on the left side of the defense? Or is Eric Rowe given the early opportunities at this stage? Could Rowe move back to more of a specialty role that includes slot duty? He was really effective there in 2016. Dawson gives them another option for smaller quicker receivers.
10. Not even sure if Cyrus Jones is healthy enough to participate but his time is running thin. He’ll have to be perfect on punt returns and bust one in the preseason to make a real case for a roster spot.
11. Where’s Ju’Whaun Bentley lining up? It will be a lot of fun to see Bentley and Sam, the rookie linebackers, play a lot of snaps this summer in late preseason games. How both look in coverage is. what’s most important to us all. Could Bentley push Roberts for the thumping MLB role? That might be asking a lot, but Roberts will have to show continued improvement in recognition and coverage himelf though.
12. How are Adrian Clayborn and Trey Flowers used? If all goes to plan I think Flowers and Clayborn will be similar to Ninkovich-Chandler in 2013/2014 where they played most of the snaps. Expect Dietrich Wise to make a push for rotational snaps, which he should get plenty of as the season progresses.
13. Is Edelman back? Probably not, but we didn’t think Welker would be back either after 2009 and he showed up at OTAs . 
14. Is Jordan Matthews the Amendola replacement? I think Matthews steps into the second slot role that Amendola ideally filled the last few seasons behind Edelman. It’s disappointing he won’t get this chance to develop with Brady. Their development will be a key focus point in camp at a critical area, especially with Edelman likely to be managed this season.
15. How fast is Cordarrelle Patterson? Excited to hear about the oohs and ahhs about how Patterson runs against no comeptition kickoff returns.
16. Does Danny Etling Impress? I’m not expecting ANYTHING from Etling. His head, like all rookies is spinning right now. To have any expectation that he’s going to walk out there and look great getting second-team reps is crazy. Still, it would only take a couple nice throws into tight windows to pique my interest.
17. Can Troy Niklas make Dwayne Allen expendable? Allen is expensive but he’ll do a good job setting the tone in Gronk’s absence. He knows the offense now and is a pro’s pro. But Niklas should be looking to take advantage of his inside track to a tight end job. If Niklas clicks, Allen could be easily cut any time before the season.
18. As excited as I am to see Sony Michel, you can’t really expect much out of running backs in these practices. At the very least we’ll just find out what number he picks and that will be enough for me.
19. That leads me to maybe what I’m most excited about this week — finally getting numbers and helmet looks for all the rookies and being able to do a full analysis.
20. Ultimately it will be nice to just see the 2018 Patriots for the first time. There was so much nonsense and pressure last season. Yes Brady won’t be there, but there are plenty of other players and developments to tide us over until next month.