New England Patriots rumored new-look monster offense could be the talk of the town and the toast of the NFL.
The New England Patriots will be on the clock in the NFL draft three weeks from tomorrow. Wow. It’s on the way.
That day, the Patriots will be faced with their greatest offensive challenge in nearly two decades, creating an offense that doesn’t include the greatest quarterback in NFL history. They now have 12 picks to try to rebuild the offense and retool the defense.
In previous posts, I have pinpointed certain offensive players in the draft who could be great additions to the 2020 New England Patriots squad.
Let’s start a New England Patriots’ rumor that they will all be acquired, put them together and see how they’d look in a dynamic and far-different and innovative Patriots’ offense than for the past 20 years. If so, the response should be, and will be, “wait ’til they (the rest of the NFL) get a load of them!”
To create such an offense, the Patriots personnel operation and offensive coordinator, Josh McDaniels who has been the Patriots’ OC for 11 years in two stints with the team would be on the hot seat.
Their personnel people, enabled by head man Bill Belichick will have to be bold to select players who don’t fit the Patriots’ model for the past 20 years. They would have to manipulate the draft board magnificently to get this done and possibly sacrifice 2021 picks to make it happen. But it would absolutely be worth the investment.
Creating an exciting rumored new “monster” of an offense
To create a new “monster” of an offense, the Patriots will have to get creative. They will need to think outside their usual box to fashion a new dynamic, exciting and multi-faceted offense for the 2020s. It’s time. Like Elvis, their great quarterback of the past two decades has left the house. It’s time to move on.
The key guy will be McDaniels. If enabled by Belichick and given the pieces suggested below by the personnel operation, McDaniels will have to fashion an offense that is almost a polar opposite of the new England offense he has overseen for 11 years in two different stints as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Rather than a static pass-oriented scheme, McDaniels will have to fashion an attack predicated on unpredictability, speed, deception, and versatility. This will tax all the talents he has. It will have to be a revolutionary new approach and scheme predicated on multi-faceted and talented young players who can adapt to different looks that NFL defenses throw at them and overcome them due to their ability to improvise.
This would be big undertaking for Josh McDaniels. It would be very interesting to see if he is up to the challenge.
The 2020 New England Patriots offensive line
The New England Patriots offensive line is one of the better aspects of the team right now, with a big qualifier, if healthy.
As I have asserted previously, it is my opinion that the offensive line of any football team, especially an NFL team, is the engine that makes the team go and be successful. 2020 will be no different.
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I’m going to assume that their terrific center, James Andrews is healthy and ready to start the season at center. That’s a huge upgrade over 2109. A big plus.
At guard, the Patriots are stacked with talent. This assumes that offensive left guard Joe Thuney, their best offensive lineman who was franchised remains with the team.
Add Shaq Mason one of the absolute best run-blocking guards in the NFL to Thuney, and you have a tandem as good as any in the NFL. Center and guards, manned by great talent. Can’t get much better.
At tackle, we will assume that the starting tandem at the end of the season will be back. Absent a cataclysmic event in the draft or subsequently, that’s a given. At the second most important position on the team you have offensive left tackle Isaiah Wynn.
Wynn is anything but the prototypical OLT, size-wise. But talent-wise, Wynn is a colossus. His footwork is a thing of beauty. Playing at the size of a small offensive center, Wynn’s ability to mirror any defender is likely as good as any tackle in the league. He has Pro-Bowl potential.
At tackle on the right side, is the ever-dependable Marcus Cannon. This will be Cannon’s 10th season in New England. While no Pro-Bowler, he is steady and competent and rounds out an offensive line that is superb.
So the foundation of the offense is there. The new-look looks a lot like the old look on the offensive line. But if healthy and intact, that’s not a bad thing.
Quite the contrary.
Depth still needs to be added to the tackle position and inside so it will be incumbent on the Patriots seem to be able to find good players on the inside of the offensive line in places no one expects.
Conclusion, the starting 5, solid as a rock.
Depth, to be determined.
The 2020 New England Patriots quarterbacks
WIth No. 12 gone, the New England Patriots are thin at the most important position on the team.
They have Jarrett Stidham inexperienced 2nd-year player and Brian Hoyer, a career back-up. Neither fits the modernized offense that the Patriots should employ in 2002 and beyond to bring the team’s offensive capabilities into the 2020s.
The former regime should be scrapped. The driver of that well-oiled machine for nearly 20 years has moved on, taking the vehicle to Tampa Bay. It’s time for the patriots to move on as well. That can be accomplished in the person of Jalen Hurts the quarterback, multi-purpose weapon from Oklahoma who should be given the keys and allowed to drive from Day 1.
Since I have written extensively about Hurts as has colleague William Hyland, I won’t belabor this point. The prime message here is that Hurts is a dual-threat guy who can pass it very well and run it like a running back with big back size. I find it interesting that some national pundits have rapped Hurts as not being an accurate passer. Huh?
Hurts according to NFL.com completed 69.7 percent of his passes at Oklahoma last season with 32 TD’s and only 8 interceptions.
That ranked second only to the other-worldly season by Joe Burrow of LSU who was the Heisman Trophy winner and who by-the-way will be the first overall pick in the draft later this month. But I’ll still take my chances with Hurts and his ability both pass extremely effectively and run the ball like a running back.
After all, this is the creation of a new monster offense in New England, not a replica of the old.
Jalen Hurts is drafted in the first round and given the keys to the offense in this new monster offense in New England.
The 2020 New England Patriots running backs
The New England Patriots running back corps is OK. Just, OK. One member who is much more than that, however, is the incomparable James White. Pro Football Reference points out this excellence pointing out that White caught 87 in 2018 and 72 in the poor offensive Patriots’ performance last season when he was targeted far fewer times.
In short, James White is a Pro Bowl level player whether he has been selected or not. He’s one of the best if not the best pass-catching backs in the league.
Running back is not the same story. The Patriots need at least one addition here. Their complement of Sony Michel, Rex Burkhead and Brandon Bolden is not Super Bowl-caliber absent the presence of an all-time quarterback.
Patriots’ third-round pick in 2019 Damien Harris was a complete non-factor and wasted pick, at least as far as last season was concerned.
In fairness, however, Harris never got a chance to show what he could do. I suppose we can read into that what we will. A major addition or additions need to be made.
Battering ram fullback James Develin if healthy makes the team as does recent addition Danny Vitale who will also make a solid addition to the running back squad.
One draft addition that fits the bill is Mike Warren II of Cincinnati. A short, powerful back, Warren is the key to obtaining the short-yardage gains the team needed in 2019.
Warren will be a two-down back challenging defensive teams on every carry with his power. He will also be called upon to get the one or two yards to keep a drive alive or to get into the end zone when they need it.
Warren added to bolster the New England Patriots backfield.
The 2020 New England Patriots tight ends
New England Patriots’ tight end situation in 2019 was dismal, to say the least. Less than 40 catches among all in the group.
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This is clearly unacceptable. Having no receiving threat from a tight end in an offense allows the defense to tee off on the wide receivers. Not a great situation. The tight end position on the New England Patriots is in need of a complete makeover, top to bottom.
To bolster this group I have previously suggested two additions in the draft. The first is a pass -catcher, Harrison Bryant from Florida Atlantic. Bryant is a good-sized pass-catcher, productive and should be an immediate starter. Alone, he will instantly upgrade the Patriots tight end group and should present a far greater threat as an offensive weapon than any one of the 2019 squad.
Or frankly, all of them combined.
To complement Bryant, the Patriots need a top blocking tight end. After losing Dwayne Allen after their last Super Bowl-winning season in 2018, their running game suffered dramatically.
To fill in this gaping hole, I’m sticking with my suggestion of Kyle Markway from South Carolina. He’s a crunching blocker and also managed to snag 31 passes in 2019 at SC according to sports-reference.com.
A likely late-round selection, Markway will provide the thump at tight end the New England Patriots need and lacked last season.
Harrison Bryant and Kyle Markway added at tight end.
2020 New England Patriots wide receivers
A major rebuild needs to take place at wide receiver for the New England Patriots to implement this revolutionary break with the past on offense.
To develop a new monster to challenge and overwhelm NFL defenses, changes must be made, Big changes.
The wide receiver corps basically begins and ends at present with the inimitable, insuperable and incomparable Julian Edelman.
I suppose (but hope not) that Julian could be traded to Tampa Bay for a boatload of draft picks to play the rest of his illustrious career with old No. 12. But let’s hope he remains. Losing one all-time Patriot is enough for me, thank you. Julian should retire as a Patriot (as his colleague should have).
Edelman is not just good, but in my opinion, he is far, far better than that. He’s truly outstanding and a no-brainer Patriot Hall-of-Famer (welcome to the Red Jacket Club, Julian).
I feel that he should also be a Pro Football Hall-of-Famer, as well. (Welcome to the Yellow Jacket, club, Julian.) He’s that good. And I personally think he made the absolute best catch in the history of the National Football League in the Patriots’ winning Super Bowl vs. Atlanta.
You start with Julian Edelman and you start with an all-time great. Next, you add youthful pass catchers. As previously noted, I have not been impressed by the young receivers on the Patriots. I think the team needs to improve. I have two suggestions to revolutionize that position.
First, you draft James Proche the prolific wide receiver from SMU. Hundreds of catches (209 to be exact according to NFL.com) over the past two years.
Add Proche, and you’ve just added a really dynamic player who can just flat out catch the ball from whoever will be serving it up (preferably Jalen Hurts). A great start to the wide receiver rebuild.
The second wide receiver drafted might take a bit of finagling, including into next year’s draft picks to secure. But he’d be worth the investment.
He’s Lynn Bowden of Kentucky. Bowden is another multi-threat guy. Likely a slot receiver ultimately, he has also played quarterback and adds that dimension to the Patriots’ new offensive monster for 2020. Have to love the versatility and exciting playmaking.
And lastly, in a later round, adding a tall, rangy target like wide receiver Binjimen Victor of Ohio State makes perfect sense for New England. Big target. Big potential. Little risk.
Adding it all up for the New England Patriots’ rumored new monster 2020 offense
So here it is, the monster prototypical New England Patriots’ starting offense in 2020.
It’s unconventional. It’s innovative. It’s dynamic. It’s versatile. And it’s potentially unstoppable. And for some, maybe even unthinkable. But here it is, the rumored starting rumored new starting offense in September 2020 for the New England Patriots:
Quarterback: Jalen Hurts
Running back: Michael Warren II (alternative starter, James Develin for Markway)
Wide receivers: Julian Edelman, James Proche
Tight ends: Harrison Bryant, Kyle Markway (alternative starter, Lynn Bowden for Markway)
Offensive line: David Andrews, Joe Thuney, Shaq Mason, Isaiah Wynn, Marcus Cannon
This lineup will connote a new beginning for the New England Patriots’ offense. It blends the best of the old team with exciting young players who bring a new dimension and a new direction to the New England Patriots offense.
It’s a new monster offense and the start of a new era for the New England Patriots offense. They’ll be the talk of the town and the toast of the NFL. What do you think?