Is 2017 Most Balanced Patriots Passing Attack Ever?

The Patriots offense suffered a devastating blow in preseason when Julian Edelman tore his ACL. Edelman was the engine that made the offense go, the guy who made the tough catches in the biggest moments and without him there wouldn’t be two more banners hanging over Gillette Stadium

However this season the Patriots were uniquely prepared for such a loss. They added two very good running backs to go with two they already had, and gave up a first round pick for the explosive Brandin Cooks. Even after Malcolm Mitchell, a promising rookie from 2016, started the season on IR, the Patriots still had enough depth with Chris Hogan and in-season acquisition Phillip Dorsett to keep the passing offense going.

With their best receiver missing the Patriots have almost become harder to defend. We all remember the original Tom Brady motto — that his favorite receiver was the open one. Well in 2017 that might be truer than ever, as Brady has spread the ball around far more evenly than any recent season. This has made the Patriots offense even harder to stop because there’s no one to key on.

Let’s take a closer look this devastating balance that is making 2017 one of the most unique years of the Brady offense and how it stacks up historically.

When you look back through the years it almost always seems like there’s one, sometimes two guys who clearly make the offense go.

2007 was obviously the high water mark. Moss (98/1493) and Welker (112/1175) led the way,  while Ben Watson, Jabar Gaffney, Donte’ Stallworth and Kevin Faulk were the secondary cogs in the passing attack. 2007 is a great jumping off point because it was six guys making the passing offense go all season. After that group, Kyle Brady had the most catches with a whopping nine.

That was one of the best offenses ever, and while it was a little top heavy, it was still got contributions from the secondary weapons. It was a far cry from 2013 when Julian Edelman had 109 catches to lead the team and in second place Danny Amendola had just 54. Just last year Edelman had 98 catches and the second-highest was Martellus Bennett with 55.

In 2014 it was the Edelman-Gronk-LaFell show, with each breaking 70 catches. But behind them Shane Vereen had 52 and no one else had more than 26.

What makes 2017 so unique is the blend of receivers, backs and tight ends, five of whom are all within a range of 33-46 catches at this point. James White has the most catches (46) but is fourth in yards. And there’s no change on critical third downs where the same five receivers have all been targeted between 14-20 times. 2016 had pretty good balance but Edelman was still targeted more than double any one else on third down.

The offense should easily have six receivers over 30 catches this year, something that hasn’t happened since 2013, the year the offense transitioned away from Welker-Branch (and Hernandez) and threw a bunch of new guys, including Edelman and Amendola into the fire. But that was balance to survive, 2017 is balance to thrive.

Losing Edelman was a blow, but there was so much talent waiting in the wings that they’ve not only been able to overcome it, but the added unpredictability has given defenses fits. And the best news is that the Pats haven’t had to lean heavily on Rob Gronkowski, who shouldn’t have to shoulder that kind of added load.

2016 was the first time the Pats had five receivers over 500 yards, and if Rex Burkhead continues his pace from last week against Denver, they could make it six over 500 in 2017. Add in that they really haven’t even used Dion Lewis as a pass catcher this year (10 targets) and there’s still even more untapped potential should they need it.

That kind of balance is so hard to defend and it’s what makes the 2017 offense the most Brady-friendly of his career.