Patriots’ loaded injured reserve list puts Bill Belichick in tough position

With four key players already added to the Patriots’ injured reserve, Bill Belichick needs to make a tough decision on who he plans to bring back.

We are only a quarter of the way through the regular season and the New England Patriots already have four key players on the injured reserve list: James Develin (fullback), N’Keal Harry (receiver), Isaiah Wynn (left tackle), and Stephen Gostkowski (kicker).

Gostkowski was added to the IR earlier this week after a rough start to the season. Since then, the Patriots signed veteran kicker Mike Nugent to take over the kicking duties, but there is still a difficult decision to be made for head coach Bill Belichick down the road. Each team can only bring back two players from the injured reserve list once they are eligible, and with 12 weeks left in the season, there is a chance that more players will be added to this list.

Assuming that there are no more injuries that land any more active players on IR, Belichick needs to decide who brings back the most value to the team versus if the player should just sit out the rest of the year to recover.

With Mike Nugent being brought in as the new kicker, it seems highly unlikely that Belichick would bring back Gostkowski, so we can rule him out. The one player I believe is most important to bring back is Isaiah Wynn. Wynn is the team’s starting left tackle, but he has struggled to stay on the field due to injury. The Patriots’ offensive line has been depleted in a big way since the summer, and if Wynn is healthy enough to return, it would help the offense run more smoothly.

The second player that should return is a little bit more tricky. This depends on what direction the offense takes later on in the season.

Late last year, the Patriots transformed into a run-first offense after Josh Gordon was suspended. They followed this ground-and-pound blueprint throughout the playoffs and into the Super Bowl. Since then, they have had a chance to beef up the receiving corps, but even that has also lost some key pieces.

At one point, the Patriots had Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Josh Gordon, and Julian Edelman. Currently, their receiving corps consists of Josh Gordon, Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, and Jakobi Meyers.

The Patriots have had success in the past with limited talent at the receiver position, but they also had that success with a healthy offensive line. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and quarterback Tom Brady came into this season thinking they were going to be airing the ball out a lot more, and I do not believe they should abandon this strategy just yet.

N’Keal Harry was their first-round draft pick this year, and he can pose as a dominant outside receiver opposite of Josh Gordon. James Develin is a huge part of this offense, too; but while the running game has been stagnant, both Sony Michel and James White are versatile backs and can be used in multiple ways if they are unsuccessful in the run game. Develin suffered a neck injury – which can be very serious – so it is important for him to fully recover in order to come back next season at full strength.

I believe Harry and Wynn can add the most value to the offense without risking further injury to either player. The Patriots’ defense looks very solid, but the offense still has some questions to answer. Bringing back a starting left tackle and a wide receiver should help answer some of those questions.