The New England Patriots have had a season to remember so far, and that wouldn't be possible without the players and coaching staff being on the same page. We've seen some really fun storylines this year: the emergence of Kayshon Boutte, the resurrection of Stefon Diggs, and, of course, Drake Maye's MVP case. Defensively, Christian Gonzalez's continued dominance and the elite run defense have been notable.
Recently, Tom Curran and Phil Perry listed their superlatives for the Patriots through eight weeks, starting with their offensive MVP. Drake Maye was each of theirs, to little surprise. He's totaled 17 touchdowns to just three interceptions and leads the league in completion rate.
He's also the team's second leading rusher, just 29 yards off Rhamondre Stevenson. In second came Diggs, followed by Will Campbell for Perry, while Curran listed Hunter Henry and Kayshon Boutte as his next two. Putting Campbell in the top three seems a bit overzealous, and Boutte has been secondary to Diggs despite his emergence. Slotting Diggs second and Henry third seems fair.
Defensively, Marcus Jones grabbed Perry's top slot while Milton Williams earned the nod from Curran. Jones made Curran's No. 3 spot, and both lists featured Robert Spillane. While he hasn't played the entire season, Gonzalez has been the team's best defender, though it's understandable he's been excluded given that he's played only five games.
Excluding the Oregon product, putting Jones, Williams, and Spillane on the list seems fair. Christian Barmore made Perry's second-place spot, too.
Midseason superlatives feature major surprises for the Patriots
Maye is listed as Perry's biggest surprise, while Diggs is Curran's choice. While fans were hopeful that Maye could bloom into the player he is today, no one expected it would be this soon. Diggs has been a revelation since his ten-catch performance against the Bills, and the impact from his ACL injury has proved to be minimal.
While Diggs' production has been sound, he's on pace for 998 yards through the first eight games. Good, but not earth-shattering. Maye is the far more obvious choice, and even Kayshon Boutte's performances warrant more surprise than Diggs'.
The ineffectiveness in the run game has been one of the more obvious issues, and it's listed as one of the bigger surprises as a team trend. Given Derrick Henry's success in Tennessee and the focus on the run game, a Rhamondre resurgence seemed like a given. Instead, it was the exact opposite, as he's had his worst career season, and the fumbling issues have remained.
Curran's pick, McDaniels' reworking of the traditional offense for Maye's benefit, shouldn't be much of a shock: after all, that's the job of an offensive coordinator. The lack of effectiveness in the run game is the most troubling thing we've seen thus far.
The bad habit of allowing early deficits has been a trend, and that continued against the Browns. While the inevitable mid-game comeback always seems to happen, avoiding this as much as possible is preferable. Furthermore, Boutte and kicker Andy Borregales are listed as the most improved players.
The former is on pace for over 900 yards after totaling 608 through his first two years, and the latter is perfect since Week 3. He also had a game-winner against the Bills after starting the year 6/9 across all kicks in the first two games. Keion White and Kyle Dugger were crowned "regression kings," but both have since been traded.
While some of the duo's picks were off the beaten path, they were stock for the most part. Here's to hoping Maye isn't just the team's MVP, but the league MVP too in a few months time.