Patriots: 3 players who’ve impressed us most at training camp

Here are three Patriots players who have impressed us the most at camp.

As we inch closer to the start of the regular season, the New England Patriots are one of the NFL’s most intriguing teams as they’ll deploy a new starting quarterback to begin and hopefully finish the year for the first time in two decades.

The departure of Tom Brady took the league by storm for several weeks (it still doesn’t feel real), and the Patriots, after a longer than expected delay, responded in a BIG way by signing Cam Newton following his release from the Carolina Panthers. This has prompted debates of whether Brady or head coach Bill Belichick was more integral to the team’s dynasty, across which they won six championships.

As if that wasn’t enough to make New England the center of attention, the organization watched a handful of other starters from 2019 leave in free agency and projected starters for this campaign opt out amid the ongoing pandemic.

These circumstances will provide a number of recent draft picks with the opportunity to earn significant playing time. Training camp is often a gold mine in terms of producing unexpected contributors, and the canceled preseason has only amplified its importance.

The Patriots are fortunate enough to have a slew of players step up so far, but who have been the most impressive performers up until this point? For anybody wondering, no, Newton (a former MVP) didn’t qualify. This list honestly could’ve gone six deep, but we managed to narrow it down to three.

3. Joejuan Williams

The Patriots are using Joejuan Williams as a hybrid defensive back.

New England is absolutely loaded at cornerback, but there are a ton of question marks concerning the safety position with the start of the regular season just three weeks away. As we know, veteran Patrick Chung opted out to prioritize the health and safety of his family, which leaves a gaping hole at a crucial position in the secondary.

Amazingly enough, the Patriots might have found his replacement in cornerback Joejuan Williams, who’s been playing heavy snaps at safety in the latest installment of practices.

The 2019 second-round pick has showed promise at CB, but there’s simply too much talent at the position — Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson, Jason McCourty and Jonathan Jones — for him to earn a significant playing time there.

Williams’ imposing physique (6-foot-4, 212 pounds) has reportedly caught the eye of the Patriots coaching staff at camp, and rightfully so as he’s been breaking up passes on a regular basis.

We didn’t think twice about including the Vanderbilt product on this list. It seems harsh that he didn’t land higher, but that just speaks to how many players have been impressing for New England.