Patriots 2020 player profile and outlook: C David Andrews

After sitting out the entire 2019 season due to a blood clot found in his lungs, Patriots center David Andrews has been medically cleared to return in 2020.

While the absence of center David Andrews certainly wasn’t the only explanation as to why the New England Patriots run game suffered in 2019, it definitely was a contributing factor.

Andrews is another feel-good story on a Pats roster that has plenty of them.

Just like other formerly undrafted New England players projected to start in 2020 — including cornerbacks J.C. Jackson and Jonathan Jones along with defensive tackle Adam Butler and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers — Andrews went undrafted coming out of Georgia in 2015.

He had a strong training camp and preseason, eventually going on to become the Week 1 starter for the Pats that year. While he later gave way to Bryan Stork, Andrews was able to beat out Stork for the starting role at the beginning of the 2016 season.

Andrews never looked back. He started all 16 games for the Pats that year and all three of their playoff games, winning a Super Bowl ring in the process. He then started 17 of the 19 games New England played in 2017 and 19 of the 19 games the Patriots played in 2018.

Then, disaster struck.

Andrews was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism just weeks out from the start of the 2019 season. He was forced to miss the entire year, with backup center Ted Karras taking his place instead (and doing a great job, by the way, all things considered).

Karras is gone now (playing for Brian Flores down in Miami), but the good news is that Andrews has been cleared by his doctors to return to play. He’s excited and chomping at the bit to get back into action for what will be the final year of his contract.

Best-case scenario projection for 2020

The best-case scenario for Andrews would essentially result in him having a Pro Bowl-caliber season. He almost earned the nod as a rookie, but since then, he’s been overlooked in favor of bigger names around the league.

Andrews probably also just wants to get back to playing football this season. Never say never, but it’d be extremely surprising to say the least to see the Patriots go on a magical run in their first year sans Tom Brady and challenge for a Super Bowl ring.

No, the more realistic “ceiling” for Andrews to aspire to this season is just playing all 16 games and any New England playoff games the team might qualify for. Any additional individual recognition or awards would just be icing on the cake.

Worst-case scenario projection for 2020

The Patriots drafted Dustin Woodard in the seventh round this year. While Woodard is widely viewed to be versatile enough to play multiple positions along the offensive line, he’s listed as a center — and that’s certainly where he has the most experience.

While Andrews shouldn’t necessarily feel threatened by New England drafting Woodard, it’s safe to say he probably took note. As a formerly undrafted player himself, he can’t afford to look down at a seventh-round draft pick and just assume his job is safe this year and beyond — especially not after missing an entire season, and especially not in the final year of a contract himself.

Should Andrews display signs of rust beyond just the first couple weeks of the season, it could pave the way for an eventual changing of the guard at the position. While that’s extremely unlikely to happen, it still represents the worst-case scenario for him in 2020.