3 reasons to be nervous about the 2023 New England Patriots

2. The offensive line looks scary

The tackle situation really, really worries me. Trent Brown and Riley Reiff seemed to be the two projected starting tackles for the Patriots to open up the 2023 NFL season. However, Reiff was recently placed on injured reserve and is out for at least four games. Right now, there really isn't a clear player to start at RT in Reiff's absence.

Their best option honestly might be to plug a young player in at right guard and move Mike Onwenu out to right tackle, where he's played before. We may not even know what this offensive line looks like until gameday. Calvin Anderson, a free agent addition from the Denver Broncos, is also a candidate to slide in at RT. Between the unknown at RT and Trent Brown not having a great time at LT in 2022, I worry that opposing EDGE rushers are going to feast on Mac Jones.

And the Patriots have a crazy tough test in week one, as they have to face the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive line.

3. The playmakers on offense, are they good enough?

I truly don't have a huge concern on defense that is actively making me nervous for the season. The team got their CB1 in Christian Gonzalez, added a young pass rusher in Keion White, and got a nice utility player who has Patriot written all over him in Marte Mapu. The Patriots' defense is again going to rank among the top in the NFL and is a playoff-caliber unit.

What does worry me though is the offense. Who is going to step up for Mac Jones? And me even having to ask that is bad. Every elite team in the NFL has a "go-to" player on offense. The Patriots don't appear to have that, nor do they have a truly elite player besides Mike Onwenu and maybe David Andrews.

My hope is that someone steps up, and I don't really care who it is. Perhaps it's one of the young rookies in Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte. Maybe it's Kendrick Bourne. I don't know, but the lack of high-end playmakers makes me nervous.