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What Will 2018 Pats Unveil Sunday?

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-q7OC4su4Y

With the roster set and the first week of the regular season upon us, it’s time to find out who the 2018 Patriots are. Or at least get the first chapter of what will be a long book, with ups and downs. But this one counts and that means it’s time to see how the team has evolved for the new season.

Some pieces are obvious. Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and James White will make the offense go. Dont’a Hightower and Stephon Gilmore will be the playmakers for the defense. But who else will need to chip in? What are the options and what will they ride on both sides of the ball?

Let’s break out the crystal football and predict what we’re going to see from the Pats on Sunday.

Offense

Down Julian Edelman, it would make sense to lean on the power run and passing games. Hogan and Dorsett with Gronk and some combinations of Dwayne Allen/Jacob Hollister/James Develin with Rex Burkhead/Jeremy Hill. Going out there forcing three-receiver sets with James White leaves you nowhere to go on third down. It shouldn’t be a secret that a team without a ton of receiver depth is going to lean on their backs and tight ends. Luckily they’ve got a good array to play with.

The 12, 22, and 23 personnel groupings should vastly outnumber the 11 grouping which they ran 44 percent of the time last season.

The unique twists are going to come from Cordarrelle Patterson who is going to be a spot weapon that defenses will have to take into account. He won’t play every down, but he’ll be a third down feature of the offense. The threat of end-arounds and just his size and speed will cause problems for the defense. With the athleticism of Shaq Mason expect there to be plenty of unique features of the offense that get the ball to Patterson in space.

Defense

Things get a little more interesting on the defensive side of the ball because there’s a lot to play with. What will the regular defense look like?

Wise could rotate plenty with Clayborn, perhaps even start over him. I’ve got Malcom Brown back over Lawrence Guy for the start of the season, I’m thinking his slow start might’ve been mostly due to injury recovery. Guy is still a capable rotational piece.

The first subpackage is pulling Roberts for FS Duron Harmon. They’ll play a lot of three-safety/two-corner. The pass rush front:

  • LDE Dietrich Wise
  • DT Adam Butler
  • DT Trey Flowers
  • RDE Adrian Clayborn

Hightower and Van Noy will be moved around behind this front, doing a variety of disguise. Derek Rivers will be given a chance as an outside sub-rusher.

The big question is who the third cornerback is right now. Jonathan Jones hasn’t played since coming off injury and rookie Duke Dawson‘s been hurt himself. Both the other rookies lined up primarily on the outside in preseason. Where Jason McCourty actually plays is another big question.

How will Ju’whaun Bentley fit in? Will Brian Flores be more aggressive in his playcalling than Matt Patricia? It’s an exciting time for the Patriots’ defense. There’s fresh blood and a lot of promise. You never know when a Rob Ninkovich or Malcolm Butler is going to pop up out of nowhere.

The offense might be a bit restricted until they get Edelman back or are able to develop one of the new receivers, but they’ve got the pieces to overcome it. As always, staying healthy is all that matters. Depth is thinner in some spots than others, that’s always the case.  Sometimes, like 2013, the only top two players at an important position are lost and the entire defense was neutered by mid-season. Or sometimes, like 2014, the only two top players at an important position play the entire season at a high level and don’t get hurt.

If the Pats stay healthy, they’ll be right back in the thick of it once again. They’ve got a lot of new potential to make this another unique season after nearly two decades of them.

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Comments

  1. Looks solid. Who are the playmakers on D? Can KVN and High replicate the Collins/High days? Will 3rd corner position solidify – top offenses will be able to exploit that earlier until BB figures it out.