After starting to retool their offense, here is a look at what the New England Patriots offense will look like heading into the 2020 season.
The New England Patriots have been retooling their offense during the offseason in preparation of utilizing a new starting quarterback for the first time in 20 years.
Despite veteran quarterback Brian Hoyer being on the roster — and the signing of two undrafted rookie free agent quarterbacks after last week’s NFL Draft — Jarrett Stidham is still next in line to become the No. 1 quarterback option for the Patriots this season.
The return of David Andrews immediately improves and upgrades the offensive line. The struggles last season started with the offensive line and had a trickling effect that really hurt the overall running game.
To furthermore help the issue, it’s a true credit to the Patriots who have done a great job of acquiring talented offensive linemen and creating depth throughout the last three years.
In addition to the offensive line, the Patriots needed to address their tight end position, which is a position that they had zero production at last year in the first season without Rob Gronkowski. Gronk has since come out of retirement to play with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — in case you hadn’t heard.
The Patriots drafted two tight ends, Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene, in the third round of the draft this year.
There is no doubting that the Patriots have needed to upgrade their wide receiver group for what seems like years now, but due to Tom Brady and his preference for playing with veteran receivers, the Pats haven’t really had the opportunity to retool the position in recent years.
The Pats did use a first round pick last year to draft N’Keal Harry, who the team is hoping can become a premier wide receiver in the NFL.
All in all, the New England Patriots will be starting the season with a new quarterback, an upgraded offensive line, and talented weaponry in hopes of setting a new identity for themselves on offense this season.
Quarterback
Although it’s only the offseason, it’s quite rare to see four quarterbacks on the roster for the New England Patriots.
The Patriots have brought in some competition for second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham by signing veteran free agent Brian Hoyer, who is now in his third stint with the team, J’mar Smith, who just won the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year award last year at Louisiana Tech, and Brian Lewerke, who has won multiple MVP honors in bowl games while playing for Michigan State.
Even through all of this, Bill Belichick is taking the same approach as he typically does in regards to roster management and who he puts on the field for the Patriots — even if it is a high priority position such as the quarterback.
Here’s what he had to say about the QB position this upcoming season, per Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston:
"“Whoever the quarterback is, we’ll try to make things work smoothly and efficiently for that player and take advantage of his strengths and his skills. Each of us has different skills. Each quarterback has a different skill set, and whatever things that particular player does well, we’ll try to work towards and feature, or at least give him an opportunity to do those.”"
Running Backs
The New England Patriots have a great amount of depth at this position — and they haven’t had to even think about their running back rotation in recent years. The running back committee includes a versatile group of James White, Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel, Damien Harris, and Brandon Bolden.
The Patriots have a knack for utilizing their running backs to their full potential, whether it’s on the ground or through the air, and it has since added another key element to the offense that sets everything up for success.
In doing so, James White has the most receiving yards (2,809) and receiving touchdowns (24) in the NFL for a running back since he entered the league in 2014.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Pats drafted Harris in the third round in 2019. It’s still a surprise seeing as Harris was used in a limited capacity and only saw the field in two games against the New York Jets last season.
Harris is fast, strong, and in my opinion, the perfect blend of both White and Michel. After using a third round draft choice on Harris, he needs to be utilized more in 2020.
The Patriots running attack took a negative hit last year due to a series of unfortunate events that occurred to the offensive line and the team’s lead blocking fullback, James Develin — who has recently announced his retirement from the NFL after eight years with the Patriots.
The Pats have since signed Danny Vitale to help fill the void left by Develin, as well as keeping Jakob Johnson to play with after signing him through the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.
With an upgraded offensive line and added depth to the position, the running attack for the New England Patriots should be strong and solid in 2020.
Wide Receivers
The New England Patriots desperately needed to upgrade their wide receiver position after a dismal season last year.
Most of us thought the Pats would have addressed the need through the draft by acquiring one of the many receivers available this year. But before the draft even started, the Patriots signed veteran free agent wide receiver Marqise Lee to a one-year contract.
The Patriots will now start the season with Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu, Marqise Lee, N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Quincy Adeboyejo, and Devin Ross on their WR roster.
Edelman is once again going to be the workhorse for the team, but he is aging and the Patriots need to start to prepare for who is going to replace him in a year or two. Alongside Edelman will be Sanu, who has shown glimpses of being great in this offense when he is physically healthy.
Edelman and Sanu, the veteran receivers on the team, are going to be the ones who feel the loss of Brady the most this season.
The current receivers on the roster have the possibility of becoming the next core group of wide receivers in New England, and are in the best position to learn and grow with their next young quarterback and can become the next wave of players to be Patriots: Harry (first round), Meyers (undrafted), Olszewski (undrafted), Adeboyejo (undrafted), Ross (undrafted).
Tight Ends
The New England Patriots never truly addressed their tight end position in 2019 after the somewhat shocking retirement of Rob Gronkowski. Gronk’s retirement has since then turned into a year-long hiatus where he rejoined the NFL and is now playing with Tom Brady for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Patriots have since signed veteran Matt LaCosse, drafted Ryan Izzo in 2018, and also drafted a pair of tight ends in the third round of this past year’s NFL Draft, Devin Asiasi and Dalton Keene. The plan this offseason was to upgrade the tight end position that produced little to no production just a season ago.
Overall, the Patriots needed a positive change to the tight end position and have since acknowledged the lack of production from the position. The Pats knew they couldn’t afford another season like they endured in 2019, and they are optimistic the position will revive again in 2020.
Asiasi (6’5, 280 lbs) and Keene (6’4, 251 lbs) are two young and versatile playmaking tight ends who will fit in perfectly with the other young receivers currently on the team. Asiasi adds a big athletic target who can help spread the field for Stidham, and Keene has the makings to be a productive gadget for the Patriots who can line up in multiple positions, including fullback.
LaCosse and Izzo displayed glimpses of being complementary and additional pieces to the team, but they both are not starting or traditional tight ends in the NFL.
Offensive Line
The offensive line was hit hard with injuries last season, and it ultimately had a negative impact on how the whole offense was run.
First, starting center David Andrews missed the entire 2019 season due to blood clots found in his lung. His absence had a huge impact on the team. Andrews has since recovered and is eager to get back on the field.
Going to the left side of the line…
Isaiah Wynn, who was drafted in the first round in 2018 to be the starting left tackle, has only played in eight games and has been on the injured reserve list in both seasons he’s been in the NFL. The Patriots have high expectations for Wynn and are relying on him to play in every game this season.
Joe Thuney, who received the franchise tag from the Patriots, is one of the top-three guards in the entire NFL. Due to the price of his tag and the current salary cap situation for the Patriots, there is a chance that the Pats trade Thuney, despite him being a necessity for this offensive line.
Moving to the right side of the line now…
Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon are the veterans of this offensive line unit. Both players have held starting duties since they’ve been drafted to the team and have blocked for some of the great Patriot teams over the last five years.
To prevent a similar scenario from last season, the New England Patriots have done an excellent job in retooling and stacking up on their depth along the offensive line:
LT: Justin Herron
RT: Korey Cunningham, Yodny Cajuste
C: Dustin Woodard (interchangeable between various positions)
LG: Hjalte Froholdt, Jermaine Eluemunor
RG: Najee Toran, Michael Onwenu
Starters & Bold Predictions
There is no doubt that this season is going to look a lot different than what the Patriots have been accustomed to over the last 20 years.
But when you really start to think about it, the Patriots have a solid foundation with their offensive line throughout the process of adjusting to a new quarterback — which is better than having it the other way around.
Here is what the starting offense will look like for the Patriots this season:
QB: Stidham
LT: Wynn
LG: Thuney
C: Andrews
RG: Mason
RT: Cannon
TE: Asiasi
RB: Michel
WR: Edelman
WR: Harry
WR: Sanu
Bold Predictions
- There will be a wide receiver to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards this season.
- There will be a running back to eclipse 1,000 rushing yards this season.
- There will be a running back who scores double digit rushing touchdowns this season.
- Stidham throws over 150 yards per game and throws 22 touchdown passes this season.
- Stidham does not start every game this season.
- Meyers and Olszewski score first career touchdowns this season.