New England Patriots 2024 Season Preview | PFF

I have them going 4 and 13 on the year obviously missing the Playoffs you had them going 2 and 15 obviously missing the Playoffs as well uh overall thoughts on just New England's situation and then give me your offensive MVP as we start this combo on that yeah I can see them in that four five win range obviously just the way it shook out when I was going through this schedule I was like man they're an underdog maybe in every single game they're playing right and they're really young team with a really young offense and and I think it it's going to be tough for them especially with this offensive line in front of either jacobe brassette or Drake May right and I I think they can compete on defense their defense could get a couple more wins than I have them down for obviously it the problem is it just feels like every Patriots win is going to feel like an upset this year right they are just in that rebuilding stage bich leaves still recovering from Tom Brady leaving and M Jones kind of not panning out the way they wanted but no I I I think they they they need to figure a lot of things out especially offensively to me this is a year that is so about the development however they do it of Drake May right and surrounding getting Drake May reps surrounding him with you know and developing weapons around him right and and hopefully this offensive line stays in shape but I'm going to go with an offensive MVP up front an offensive lineman I'm going to go with Michael wenu who it looks like he's going to play Right Guard this year full-time and he had a career low 71.5 overall grade last season but two years ago as their full-time Right Guard because they're always switching them between guard and Tackle this year he's going to stay at guard stayed at guard two years ago at a 79.3 overall grade in 2022 so I'm going to go Mich wenu they need this offensive line to show up if nothing else just to keep Drake May healthy we already saw jacobe brassette suffer an injury last night we'll see if he can play week one or if May is going to be forced to start week one but that that's what it's about it's about protecting Drake May hopefully getting this run game going but Mich wenu is the one guy in their offensive line they can really really count on yeah I think it is a really good shout out um Jordan Reed of ESPN friend of the show uh tweeted out last night uh first round selection for the New England Patriots it's going to be an offensive tackle uh and you know I kind of jumped in on the uh on the fun and said Will Campbell from LSU you are New England Patriot and I think that that could very well be in their cards a year from now but uh somebody's got to step up for the 2024 season and you mentioned I think that Mike on wayu is is probably their top candidate to be able to do it but they're obviously going to need much more than him the guys that they drafted um in the middle parts of of the of draft weekend I'm a little skeptical of their ability to come in and play right away I I don't know exactly what that's going to look like for Kaden Wallace you know with him stepping in I know they drafted leaden Robinson too but I think it's going to be a little bit of time for those guys before they um are really cracking that starting lineup at least that's what I thought of them on their Scouting Report my MVP is Drake May because I think that obviously the team is going to go as far as Drake May does and you know I think it was interesting jod Mayo on the Greg Hill show this morning which is a Boston radio station said quote Drake has outplayed jacobe but he also went on to say now in saying that we have to take the full body of work going all the way back to the spring in the beginning of Camp uh and we'll see where we end up those conversations are the ones that'll be happening here over the next couple of days you he also talked about sort of when you start that rookie QB you don't want to start them too early and so I think that they're they're trying to play with a lot of that I I really do feel as though despite Drake playing really well I think Gerard Mayo in New England knows where they are with the offensive line and I think that they were probably hoping to get about anywhere from four to eight weeks out of jacobe Brett before they then were able to throw Drake May out there for the second half of the season if you will and they were hoping that the offensive line was going to be playing better at that point the offense was just going to be in a better place at that point and they were going to be able to to protect their franchise investment I don't know if they're going to have that luxury now especially with jacobe hurting his shoulder which early reports it doesn't seem like it's you know too bad of an injury but again like are you going to throw that guy out there it looked like he was throwing shoulder that was hurt so Drake May is the offensive MVP whether he starts in week four whether he starts in week one whether he starts in week eight it's it's all Drake May for me but what about uh defensive MVP who do you guys defensive MVP for this go with the guy who's really become a reliable Force for them at linebacker and that's gelani Tay at 86.8 overall grade last year was fourth best among NFL linebackers and he was one of just five linebackers in the league with an 80 plus Runde end coverage grade he's one of the most balanced players in football now and just he's developed into just a plus plus starter for them at linebacker and look New England Gerard Mayo is still going to try to win these games on defense right you've got guys on the back end you've got guys up front like Keon White tvi Josh uch came back uh it's really unfortunate that Christian barmore is now out and definitely with the blood clot issue he was becoming a star in the interior but Tay is really become a nice Force for them at linebacker a good leader for the defense a guy running pass who can produce we see a lot of linebackers who can either only play run defense and have to come out on passing Downs or vice versa Tay is a true three down linebacker who can play all throughout the game he's he's the leader of this defense this front seven is going to have to keep them in game so their offense can find ways to manufacture manufactur points excuse me and Tay is really the leader of that and he's going to be the driving force I I'm I'm going to go with uh and I think that's a really good shout out but I'm going to go with Christian Gonzalez because before Christian Gonzalez had the shoulder injury that sidelined him for most of last season he was playing really really well in those four games that he played I know he only played four games I understand people but 80.0 overall defensive grade 71.3 run defense grade 75.1 pass rush grade when they even sent this guy at the pocket and a 79.3 coverage grade Christian Gonzalez looked as advertised when he was out there he he got an interception himself he had a dropped interception as well so it could have even been two already had three forc in completions with which was 12% on the times that he was targeted I think with a fully healthy Year from Christian Gonzalez he is somebody who could absolutely take this next leap as well to be one of those top young Corners in the game so I'm going to go with Christian Gonzalez there uh oh I this is actually a very good transition because I was going to ask you who your breakout player is next but I could see it here on the list so uh go ahead and tell me why you think Christian Gonzalez is going to break out here buddy I I'm with you hit it all on the head he looked like he was going to be a star move moving into the lat parts of the season it's really a shame I believe he tore his labor him in that game against Dallas but no I I think to me look they they showed us early on what they think of him in their first game against Philadelphia they just went ahead and shattered him on AJ Brown and look where the results always great no but nobody's results are great against AJ Brown if you line up against him every snap right but the fact that they trusted him with that he competed really hard he's got long arms he's got good speed and that one interception against Miami you mentioned he was actually lined up as a free safety on that play and drifted back like a single high any single High free safety would and it just looks so natural for him this guy is super athletic he's got some of the best footwork of any young Corner in football the length is going to be an issue especially in press coverage he's got the whole package he's got all the athletic talent to be one of the best corners in the league I think he was on his way to being you know Deon Witherspoon really last year was the top rookie corner by far he was a superstar but I think Gonzalez had he played the whole season would have been something close to that on the outside he's going to be a star player I think he's going to be moving forward the best player in their secondary I'm with you on Gonzalez yeah so my breakout player I'm going to go with Keon white along the defensive line now I thought it was going to take a little bit of time for white you know coming out of Georgia Tech he was a big body defensive lineman who showed a ton of athleticism I mean the potential was through the roof for this guy the explosiveness that he had at his size and his weight I mean it was very alluring and I can understand why the Patriots were really in on drafting him but I felt like it was going to take a little bit of time for him to certainly be able to win as a true pass rusher instead of just being bigger stronger and more athletic than the guys that he was going up against at the college level we already saw flashes that of of that as the year went on last year you saw some more technique from him you actually saw some good pass rush moves and I think that you're seeing that in the preseason as well Keon white last year just a 52.6 pass rush grade with one sack this preseason though 74.5 pass rush win grade 6.3% passers win percentage last year 16.7% passers TN percentage in the preseason small sample size it's the preseason I get it all the caveats and contexts in the world I don't care stop riging on My Parade I'm getting hyped about Keon white I think he's a big time breakout player for uh for the Patriots and somebody that they're absolutely going to need depending on Christian Barm More's availability obviously um that being up in the air just makes White's role more pivotal for them to really be able to stand out and they've utilized him everywhere from like a two ey as an interior interior defensive lineman all the way out to again like a five technique handin theed dirt 4-3 defensive end so they're not afraid to use this guy in a lot of different ways and be a true amoeba front as we have seen the Patriots be in years past so last one best rookie on the team who you got I have to go with the obvious here I don't know when he's going to start but he should start very soon and that's Drake may look I think he's he's shown Us in the preseason he he can make all the throws he showed us at North Carolina he can make all the throws he led college football in Big Time throws over the last two seasons by a pretty wide margin right and I think the questions for May's success early on is going to be two things that really don't have a whole lot to do with him one is pass protection right we've got a hole at left tackle got a 32-year-old center we finally got a Right Guard who I think we're just leaving there they had a lot of injuries last year that caused it you know City so now as a guy left guard who's going to start who they never expected to start last year but played pretty well better in the Run game than the pass game but pass protection so may can throw the ball vertically and weapons who can get down the field so may can throw the ball vertically I look at Drake may as a passer as something like Ben rothberger this guy's a classic dropback vertical passer he wants to throw the ball down the field into that intermediate middle of the field chucking it over the top to post routes things like that I you know if Javon Baker can be that guy if Jaylen P can be that guy if Demario Douglas can be that guy whoever it is that can win vertically and then whoever it is up front that that can allow May to throw the ball vertically give him enough time to do so that's where May is going to succeed he's not going to be a quick quick game 5 yard out passer I think we really need to start thinking about him more as a Justin Herbert Ben rothberger type of passer where we want to rip the ball downfield but I need time to do it I need guys to get open downfield to do it maybe I need a little play action scheme to open things up there for him but it's it's a lot of variables around May that I question more than May's Talent itself he's super talented I we can see it the arm Talent he can move we saw the throw rolling to his left yesterday for a touchdown that got negated by a penalty he can do all of those things like this is the level of difference in armed talent and I'm not saying M Jones is is a necessarily a bad football player he's just different right it's quick game it's winning with accuracy and smarts and doing all the West Coast things T May is a little bit different we're trying to get down the field the Patriots had no explosiveness downfield last year right Drake May is the first piece of that now they need to develop everything around him to allow him to do it yep I'm I'm with you I love Drake may he was so much fun to watch you North Carolina I think he's going to be a I think he's gonna be a stud in this league I really do Javon Baker is my rookie breakout player and you know I kind of you know what d i I feel bad for Jaylen PK because I think everybody's trying to be really trendy and pick Javon Baker and I'm sticking with Javon Baker because I like him a lot as the fourth round pick and not the second round pick but I do kind of feel bad for pul because P's probably sitting here like well hold on wait a second I'm also good wide receiver but you know the fantasy football mindset and I got to find my sleeper type of a guy a lot of people were talking about Baker but he Jaylen p is going to be fantastic as well but I think what they are going to get out of Baker as a fourth round pick is going to be a fantastic return on investment I legitimately believe that this is going to be they have their wide receiver one and two for the future if they were to ever get like a superstar wide receiver for example if the Brandon iuk trade would have happened and their top three wide receivers would have been Brandon iuk jayen PK is your two Javon Baker is your three holy cow man like now all of a sudden we're we're cooking with gas in New England and obviously throwing in um pop Davis as well I don't mean to to to disregard him because he's a fantastic Talent too but you've got a really really nice young receiver group in New England I think Javon Baker is one of those players who he just plays he is so competitive at all times former Alabama four-star recruit before he went to UCF he's got good vertical speed he's got really great body control and footwork to be able to run the entire route tree he is somebody who is going to give you way more than a normal fourth round pick would uh when it comes to that early return on investment so I'm excited to see uh Javon Baker with New England and Drake May whenever Drake May ends up getting that full-time starting quarterback role [Music]