PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

My Bruins Diary: These Bruins Don’t Blink

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Every once in a while my urge to write about the Bruins overtakes my edict to keep this a Patriots football-only blog. Now, with the Bruins taking game one of the Stanley Cup finals, it’s time for another edition of My Bruins Diary.

Your regularly scheduled Patriots programming, featuring me white-knuckling it thinking about the tight end situation will return tomorrow. Today, it’s Bruins.

In truth, since moving back to Boston I’ve been more heavily involved in the Bruins (and hockey in general) than the Patriots. I’ve enjoyed producing videos for CLNS last season and Bruins Daily this season. The Bruins give access to blogs that the Patriots don’t and I’ve been lucky to be in the press conferences and locker room soaking it all up. It’s hard not to feel especially close to this team and it’s been a joy to see how well they’re playing.

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Return of the Patriots Rookie Eyeball Test: 2019 Edition

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An annual fixture on the blog, for some reason I missed last year’s rookie eyeball test so we’ve got to bounce back this year and there’s plenty of guys to critique with an entirely superficial judgment of them solely on their helmet/facemask choices.

We used to be able to also include number selection but that’s on the backburner once again this year as Bill Belichick has repeated what he did last year — giving rookies numbers in the 50s based on their draft order.

Let’s run it down in order of pick/50’s number, click on the player’s name link to see a pic of them.

Elite Linebacker Look Forever
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Tweets of Note from Patriots 2019 OTA #1

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The media were given their first glimpse of the 2019 Patriots today, leaving bloggers like me to hang on their every tweet and report. Here are the tweets that stood out.

Pretty good list of absentees, the most notable of which would be Seferian-Jenkins and Ryan Allen. The team could really use Seferian-Jenkins to get out there asap, while Allen could be facing competition for his job (see below). The rest are mostly vets, some coming off injuries. Cajuste has a shot at a roster spot if he can get on the field. Michel’s absence makes me further happy about drafting Damien Harris. Nick Brossette is an undrafted rookie running back who’s also out.

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Pats Extend Edelman Through 2021

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In one of the most well-deserved contracts of the offseason, the Patriots extended Julian Edelman for two more years. Usually, this is about the point where the Pats rip the bandaid off for slot receivers.

At 32 the Pats let Wes Welker go to Denver. At 33 they let Danny Amendola get paid in Miami. Edelman, 33, will now be under contract until he’s 35 and Tom Brady’s (gasp) 44. What this of course means is that it’s Tommy and Jules till the end, which is how it should be.

If anyone’s earned a hefty post-32 payday it’s Jules, who will now be a Patriot for life. And do we really need to strip Brady of his safety blanket, he already lost Gronk.

Edelman looks like he can prove slot receiver critics wrong when it comes to longevity. The guy still works like a maniac and spends plenty of offseason time with Brady, so this move is a slamdunk and one that gives Brady’s final years a good layer of stability.

Edelman has gone from a 7th-round quarterback to an all-time Patriot and NFLer, and it’s great to see he’ll never play anywhere but here.

Fun taking a quick look back at what I’ve had to say about Edelman over the years here on the blog. There are a whopping 36 pages of Edelman-tagged posts…What a career!

Can Pats Replicate 2018’s Ground Success?

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Just as I was feeling pretty great about the team-building of the 2019 offseason, Jared Veldheer threw us all a curve ball and abruptly retired just a couple weeks after signing.

I was penciling in Veldheer to start the season at left tackle, so this thrusts Isaiah Wynn back into the spotlight. Dante Scarnecchia was recently complimentary of Wynn, but coming off a torn Achilles and stepping right into a starting left tackle spot is a monumental leap no matter how great his potential.

What this ultimately feeds into though is my biggest storyline of this season: the ground game. Can they reproduce the success they had in critical games without Brown, Gronk and Allen?

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Shelton and Collins Re-Signings Take Pats Defense Over the Top

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The Patriots brought back another veteran at a spot of need by signing Danny Shelton. Shelton was a healthy scratch for a few games last season but came on at the end, playing his best football of the year in the playoffs, recording two tackles with a tackle-for-loss in the Super Bowl.

I don’t think there’s any hope that he’s going to ever reach his first-round pick status, but even as a rotational defensive tackle, especially against good running teams, Shelton reinforces the defensive interior.

Essentially the Patriots swapped Mike Pennel for Malcom Brown, a possible upgrade.

Combine this signing with the Jamie Collins signing (along with Jared Veldheer, Ben Watson and Austin-Seferian Jenkins on the offensive side), and the Patriots have put together one of the deepest groups they’ve ever brought into training camp. The defense won’t have Trey Flowers but they look well-equipped to find his replacement.

Young hard chargers like JC Jackson and Ja’Whaun Bentley will push vets like Jason McCourty and Collins as the D is deep at every spot.

They’ve lost some significant players this offseason, particularly at tight end and defensive end, as well as left tackle and receiver. But for every loss they’ve added two players who could potentially replace it.

Injuries are going to take 10 percent of the 90-man roster no matter what, but once again the Patriots have quality depth and potential at almost every position as OTAs get rolling this week.

Pats Bring Back Jamie Collins

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The Patriots trade of Jamie Collins was one of the most shocking moves of Bill Belichick’s storied tenure. At that point in the 2016 season the Patriots defense was pretty bad.

No one ever thought they’d trade someone like Collins who after 2014 and 2015 was one of the most well-respected young linebackers in the league. In tandem with Dont’a Hightower they were a lethal duo leading the team to Super Bowl 49’s title.

Collins seemed like the perfect athletic linebacker for today’s game. Still he was exposed in coverage more than we’d like to admit. The 2015 AFC Championship was a low point for him and it carried over into the 2016 season.

He was a dynamic player, but prone to mental lapses that eventually caught up with him. So what’s different now that they’re bringing him back?

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