The New England Patriots had a solid showing in their second preseason game of the 2014 summer as the roster battles continue to take shape. Here are some quick-hit thoughts on what stuck out to me.
– Brady is still Brady.
– Hard for a rookie quarterback to be much more impressive than Garoppolo has been in his first two starts. Yes, there’s still a ways for him to go, but his quick release and good decision making continue to shine. He’s an excellent fit for the Patriots’ offensive philosophy.
– All of the Pats’ running backs had their moments, and while I could see them using primarily a three-man rotation of Ridley-Vereen-White, Bolden, Finch and even Jonas Grey made cases for a roster spot with their skillsets.
– The offensive line was actually better than I expected and they weren’t even that consistent. But as we saw with Jordan Devey getting a long look at right guard that the mix-and-matching is still very much in effect. Connolly looks to be in the lead at center so that’s why they’re really trying to find out what they have at right guard. Josh Kline might be the favorite, but once Stork returns could he put Connolly back to guard?
– The advantage of having three really good versatile tackles is the ability to rotate them and use them as tight ends as we saw with Solder. I still think Solder catches a touchdown at some point in his career and if the Pats can’t find tight end depth it might be this season.
– Really like the progress out of LaFell and it will be interesting to see how his and Thompkins snaps get divided up next week, when we can expect to see starters for the first half at least. Dobson better not suffer a setback or it’s just going to get tougher for him to get on the field.
– Defensively it’s hard not to be thrilled that Wilfork and Tommy Kelly look like they haven’t missed a beat. This is incredibly impressive and, with the injuries to Chris Jones and Siliga, incredibly necessary.
– What a summer by Malcolm Butler, who continues to make plays all over the place. Practice, games, it doesn’t matter, Butler is around the ball, picking off passes and forcing fumbles. Will be interesting to see the competition between him and Dennard in the coming weeks. One will likely start the seasons at RCB in place of Browner.
– I’m not reading too much into the safety rotation that featured a number of cornerbacks getting a look on the back end. I think it’s a way to build depth, but it will ultimately be McCourty and a rotating combination of Harmon and Chung depending on the gameplan. Tavon Wilson should still be in the mix as well when he returns, he’s one of the hardest hitters in the secondary. Still, this shows how the game has evolved and it’s more about covering than coming downhill for safeties now.
– There was major concern about tight end and safety coming into camp and the Pats still don’t have an answer in either spot yet.
– I think Will Smith is the top DPR and he’s been underrated by many pundits. Need to focus closer on him in the rewatch. Buchanan and Bequette haven’t impressed me enough to think they’re going to be impact players yet.
– Still not sure how the depth plays out at linebacker. After the starting three I have my concerns. Anderson needs to get healthy, but Fleming and the rest didn’t really stand out to me.
– The starting defense, even with the unknowns at safety, looks imposing. I can’t wait to see them with an actual game plan.
– Again, the 3-4 defense they’re running most of the time is vanilla ice cream. It’s all very straightforward, putting the focus on the player winning a physical battle, without the aid of disguise and misinformation that comes when there’s actually a game plan. If you see a 3-4 defense more than 10% of the snaps this year I’ll be surprised.
– Overall, a good effort with a lot of promising elements and no major concerns. There’s still some questions for sure, but that’s what the preseason is for, to answer them. Next week should be a great test and a prolonged look at the top units.