Welcome to 10 Patriots coaching camp questions!
Each day main as much as the beginning of camp, the Herald will discover one of many largest questions dealing with the Pats this summer time. Several pertain to the protection, which misplaced longtime starters J.C. Jackson, Kyle Van Noy and Dont’a Hightower this offseason. Other questions cowl the offense and training workers, which underwent a serious makeover after Josh McDaniels left for Las Vegas.
Once the Patriots hit the apply discipline, right here’s what they need to study earlier than the season kicks off at Miami Sept. 11.
No. 10: Who are the highest breakout candidates?
Think of the place the Patriots would’ve been final season with out Kendrick Bourne.
Mac Jones would’ve surveyed the sector and noticed the solid-but-unspectacular Jakobi Meyers, an invisible Nelson Agholor and regular Hunter Henry. Instead of a dependable third choice, Jones would’ve been all the way down to N’Keal Harry or a checkdown swallowed up by the point he completed scrolling by means of his reads. Do the Pats even make the playoffs final season?
Thankfully, they don’t need to reply that query. Bourne broke out over a profession marketing campaign, rating second on the crew in receiving yards (800) and receiving touchdowns (5). He scored two touchdowns to assist knock out Tennessee, the long run No. 1 seed within the AFC. Bourne additionally rushed 125 yards at 10.4 yards a pop and generated seven first downs, extra profession highs.
He was indisputably the Patriots’ offensive breakout star final season. If the Pats are to exceed expectations in 2022, they’ll want a minimum of one on either side of the ball.
Start with veteran security Jabrill Peppers. The former first-round decide signed a free-agent deal this spring after a ruptured ACL ended his 2021 season after simply six video games. Peppers is acquainted with Bill Belichick’s system, having performed underneath former Pats assistant Patrick Graham in New York, the place Joe Judge was the top man. He understands not solely the playbook, however how a Patriots-style program operates, prepares and practices.
Peppers can also be among the many most bodily gifted gamers on the roster. He nabbed a minimum of one interception in his first 4 NFL seasons, owns 4 profession compelled fumbles and blitzes successfully. Peppers will want one in every of Adrian Phillips or Kyle Dugger to cede some snaps to see the sector, except Belichick incorporates a new four-safety bundle.
Speaking of Dugger, the Pats’ prime decide in 2020 made an enormous leap final season, particularly along with his playmaking. Playmaking is what may vault second-year gamers Christian Barmore and Ronnie Perkins into breakout standing. Barmore is a straightforward decide, given his bodily profile and rookie flashes (see: 9 QB hits). Perkins is an unknown, somebody the Patriots would ideally use as an early-down complement to one-time breakout candidate and third-down specialist Josh Uche.
Fellow 2021 draft decide and linebacker Cameron McGrone is one other query mark. He’s has but to take an NFL snap and drilled with the second-team protection all through minicamp, however the Patriots appear nearly titillated by his potential contemplating the hype prepare staffers constructed for him with every passing month this offseason. The 6-foot-1, 236-pounder ought to be the Pats’ most athletic inside linebacker by a wholesome margin.
Offensively, the Patriots would love one in every of their rookies apart from offensive lineman Cole Strange – be it second-rounder wideout Tyquan Thornton or working backs Pierre Strong and Kevin Harris – to push for enjoying time. The safer wager for a breakout participant is one other rusher, Rhamondre Stevenson, who broke tackles at the next price than Damien Harris final season. Stevenson ought to a minimum of see elevated alternative on passing downs and will begin a number of weeks, contemplating Harris has missed seven video games mixed the previous two seasons.
If Stevenson maximizes these snaps, it’s conceivable he may usurp Harris because the starter midseason, simply as Harris did to Sony Michel two summers in the past. And whereas second-year rookie wideout Tre Nixon faces a steep and slippery climb up a veteran-laden depth chart, the darling of the Patriots’ offseason practices shouldn’t be forgotten, particularly within the wake of N’Keal Harry’s commerce to Chicago.
Source: www.bostonherald.com