The New England Patriots went into the 2022 NFL draft with needs galore, among them linebacker/edge, wide receiver, cornerback, tackle, guard, and others. Though it was another poor effort overall, they at least attempted to address all of their needs in some fashion, except for one glaring one. That would be a linebacker/edge rusher.
Pundits and fans alike can disagree with whom they picked and when from now until the season starts, but not selecting any linebackers whatsoever when they were fully expected to by just about every fan and observer is worth a closer look.
So let’s review who’s who in that linebacker room. The team feels they are in good shape … but the linebacker situation has us feeling a bit uneasy.
3. Patriots linebacker room is weak and got weaker in the offseason
To say the Patriots’ 2022 showing in free agency was lackluster is a gross understatement. It was virtually non-existent. Not much there to crow about at all there, though the signing of Jabrill Peppers, if he can stay healthy (remember that theme, it will be recurring), might be significant.
Instead of rectifying obvious weaknesses at the position, the Patriots severed ties with two starting linebackers. Gone are starters Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy, and Jamie Collins also wasn’t re-signed. They didn’t sign a major replacement for any of them. Then, to make matters worse, they completely, and bizarrely passed on top talents in the draft to go in other directions which were a lot less needy, such as running back and quarterback.
That’s the surface-level concern, and it’s certainly valid.
2. Patriots taking a risk with so many young linebackers
Re-signed was inside linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley, who is a solid player with 200 tackles over the past two seasons. However, he’s no playmaker and certainly not a game-changer. Nothing to get too excited about there. So who else is in the room now? Let’s just say there are a lot of question marks and few answers.
First, the Patriots received linebacker Mack Wilson from Cleveland in exchange for unproductive edge Chase Winovich. Wilson had a solid rookie season for the Browns in 2019 with 82 tackles, an interception, and a sack. Since then, his career has gone downhill to a great extent due to injury. He’s a big question mark due to that fact.
The team also seems to be relying on two other injury-riddled players who have never played a snap for the team. They would be Raekwon McMillan and Cameron McGrone. McMillan had a nice rookie season for Miami in 2018, but after being signed last offseason as a free agent he never saw the field for the team due to a torn ACL prior to Week 1. He’s an injury risk, yet the team is seemingly going to rely on him. That’s another big question mark.
McGrone was a fifth-round draft flyer last season. He had torn his ACL in 2020 at Michigan. He was a decent player for Michigan, though he only played in 16 total games, which is not much of a sample there. He was solid if not spectacular.
Yet as expected, he never played a down for the team last season. If you detect a pattern here, you’re right on target. The Patriots’ personnel operation is placing high hopes on a largely untested college player who has never seen a down in the NFL. It’s risky business.
1. Patriots have one edge star and not much else
The team‘s defensive edge is also full of questions. One certainty is Matt Judon, who was terrific last season before being hit with COVID-19. His play tailed off almost certainly due to that. Hopefully, fully healthy, the team can expect good things again from this terrific player, person, and leader. But after Judon, there’s not much edge to the team’s edge players at all.
High draft picks Josh Uche, a second-rounder in 2020, and Anfernee Jennings, a third-rounder in 2020, haven’t played much and contributed little when they did. Those picks were part of an overall terrible 2020 draft class.
Last year, the Pats did add another edge player in Ronnie Perkins, and he could hardly get on the field. That was another one of those ubiquitous Patriots’ third-round draft pick debacles. Yet, even in light of those clear miscues, the Patriots didn’t even bother addressing the edge or linebacker whatsoever with any of their 10 picks last month.
No solid edge players means no containing the run or running quarterbacks (hello, Josh Allen) and no pass rush. There’s Judon, and no one else who can actually get to the passer. Take the pressures and hits stats and throw them in the garbage. Sacks are what matters, and the Pats don’t get enough of them. Tom Brady isn’t here to bail out the defense when it falters, either.
The Patriots’ personnel operation is clearly looking at this group through those proverbial rose-colored glasses. There’s Judon and loads of question marks. To grade this offseason’s effort to try to bolster an overall terrible linebacker and edge group last season is easy, it’s a solid, unquestionable F.
And the worst part of the whole situation is that they didn’t even attempt to. No wonder other NFL teams are having a good laugh at New England’s draft and probably their whole offseason. It’s been a non-entity. Owner Robert Kraft cannot be happy with his team being a draft laughingstock.
That must be especially true after he dropped a bombshell comment prior to the draft. Mr. Kraft not only lamented that the team had not won a playoff game in three years, but he also quite publicly trashed the team’s four drafts prior to 2021 (an outlier as a rare good one for a change).
The hope engendered by the aggressive offseason prior to 2021 (admittedly with hits and misses) and by the terrific draft of three top players in Mac Jones, Christian Barmore, and Rhamondre Stevenson, has faded away. It’s been replaced once again by the odd and, at times, incomprehensibly head-scratching Patriots’ personnel decision-making.
The team did far too little this offseason to improve. This offseason could and should have been one where they closed the gap with the Bills. Instead, they’ve widened it and fell further behind through their own self-inflicted personnel missteps. Additionally, the Patriots have very possibly even fallen behind Miami, with the Jets racing to overtake them as well.
Just don’t be shocked if the offseason brings on a long cold fall and winter at Gillette Stadium. After all, you are what you do in the offseason. And the Patriots haven’t done nearly enough.
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