The 2025 NFL season is here, and all the preliminaries are complete. You basically are what you are at this point in the season when the real games kick off. Good and great teams are built or rebuilt in the offseason. The season is then usually just a reflection of what came beforehand.
Fortunately for the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel arrived in January and set out to rebuild his roster into a competitive NFL team once more. Owner Robert Kraft finally made a good decision and brought in not only a former NFL Coach of the Year (2021) but also a top personnel evaluator.
The latter talent was evident throughout the entire offseason. Solid if unspectacular, free agent upgrades were brought in all over the field. He then masterminded arguably the best Patriots' draft in fifty years, and he even landed two players in undrafted free agency. It was a masterclass and set up the Patriots and their second-year quarterback, Drake Maye, to take the top off the NFL this season.
Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye will transform the Patriots' fortunes
While talk radio drivel abounds in questioning second-year quarterback Drake Maye, one needs to look no further than his 2024 most important statistic. With a bottom-of-the-NFL offensive line and a similar receiving corps, he still somehow miraculously managed to rack up a 66 percent completion rate. It was an almost other-worldly performance under the circumstances.
Now, Maye is finally getting the recognition he deserves in the national media. CBS Sports' Mike Renner has tapped him to be a breakout star for the Patriots in 2025.
"Not many quarterbacks in NFL history have been poised for a big leap in year two than Drake Maye. That's because the Patriots have seemingly put a brand new team around him over the course of the offseason. The Patriots' final 53-man roster features four new starting offensive linemen, four new receivers and a new running back. Maye already showed an uncanny ability to create something out of nothing as a rookie; now he hopefully will have some help."
CBS Sports' Renner clearly "gets it", unlike some Boston sports talk radio types who haven't a clue. It's hard to fathom how a player who achieved great things with nothing is expected to flop, now that he has a lot more accompaniment around him.
Expect the Patriots' offense to be miles ahead of 2024, and it will result in wins
The Patriots' defense will be a far better unit than 2024's lackluster one, especially if they get their best player, Christian Gonzalez, back from injury. Regardless, they'll still make far more plays than last season, be way more aggressive, and challenge any NFL offense.
On offense, things will be even better. Sophomore quarterback Maye is poised to take a massive second-year leap. Not only does he have an NFL-ready offensive line this year, anchored by first-round pick, talented rookie left tackle Will Campbell, but Vrabel also improved the receiving corps dramatically.
There will be four new receivers to deploy, each of whom is better than their 2024 counterparts. They will actually get open, and Maye will have more time to find them. The expectation is for Maye to up his completion percentage to over 70 percent in 2025. Helping to do that will be an explosive rookie running back, TreVeyon Henderson.
Henderson introduced himself to the NFL in his first NFL play in the preseason with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He's a take-it-to-the-house threat every time he touches the ball, and he should get a lot of them from Maye. Vrabel also drafted another explosive player in the third round, wide receiver Kyle Williams. He has blazing speed and, similar to Henderson, is a touchdown waiting to happen on any given reception.
All this will add up to the Patriots doing what Vrabel clearly indicated they have to do - score more touchdowns. They'll do just that. For a team that, even with the dreadful personnel they fielded in 2024, lost six games by only one score, it portends well for many more wins, and maybe even a playoff berth.