New England Patriots: 3 players primed for breakout seasons

New England Patriots football is just around the corner. While their training camp has been underway for some time now, New England’s first preseason game is less than a week away now, which will give us our first glimpse at what this team will look like this upcoming season.

Both players and fans are excited to see what the Pats will have to offer this upcoming season. They struggled for most of last season in the wake of Tom Brady‘s departure, but have seemed intent on fixing their mistakes from last season. Soon enough, it will be time to see whether or not all the work they put in this offseason will pay off.

The Patriots certainly put in work this offseason. They used their mounds of cap space to dominate free agency, and then followed that up by having one of the better drafts in the league. There have definitely been some bright spots throughout training camp as well, only building on the excitement.

For as much established talent New England has, they also have a ton of young talent too. Some players showed signs last season, or even this offseason, that they may be capable of stepping up and righting the ship this season. Here are three potential breakout candidates for the New England Patriots this season.

New England Patriots Breakout Candidate No. 3: Josh Uche

Josh Uche isn’t a household name for Patriots fans, but he may very well be in short time. Uche has been drawing praise at both minicamp and training camp for getting off to a hot start. Even in a revamped Pats front seven, Uche may be able to find a way to crack a spot in the lineup.

Uche’s numbers from last season don’t paint the picture of a player who may be set to breakout. He played in only nine games due to injury, and didn’t do anything in those games that really jumped off the screen.

However, even as he battled an injury, Uche gained valuable knowledge of the Patriots defensive scheme, and seems to be putting it to good use so far. He was said to be one of the top performers during the Pats minicamp earlier this summer, and he has continued to stand out in training camp thus far.

Uche has only been with the team one season after getting drafted in the second round last year, and he could be set to show the league his potential this season. He profiles as more of a pass rushing threat than some of his other linebacker peers, which could help him see the field more.

Despite missing a large part of last season, it’s become clear to observers what New England saw in Uche when they picked him up last offseason. Now with a full season under his belt and a successful offseason as well, Uche could be on the verge of putting all the pieces together and establishing himself as a vital piece of the Pats defense.