Look it’s hard to be as excited as I was last year when we had the best corner in the game on the roster, but that said, there are always things to be excited about and it will be even more so after the draft.
The aspects I’m most curious about is how the front evolves with Wilfork no longer in the fold and how the coverage in the secondary changes. They’ve got an entire offseason to process how they want to do things without Wilfork. It’s something not really being talked about because Wilfork gave them so much flexibility. Now, even if they take someone like Eddie Goldman, it will have to be done with more of a rotation. Can they still play a mix of two-gapping and single-gapping?
It seems a safe assumption that there will be less Cover 1 Robber, last year’s early down coverage of choice, and a shift to more Cover 2 (man and zone) and Cover 3.
How will that play out at safety? Will it be Harmon in Cover 2 and Chung in Cover 3? That’s a little too predictable for the Patriots.
Ultimately the most important thing is the front seven taking a big step forward and I hope that guys like Easley, Chandler and Sheard, along with Hightower playing with more flexibility because Mayo is back, lead the way.