New England Patriots: 3 most dynamic offensive playmakers in 2021

The second most dynamic player on the New England Patriots offense will be … Rhamondre Stevenson

Now this one is a bit “out there” I acknowledge. Yet, seeing Rhamondre Stevenson’s almost unprecedented preseason was a true eye-opener.

Rhamondre Stevenson from Oklahoma scored five touchdowns in three games. It was an amazing immediate return on a fourth-round draft pick. He was sensational.

At the risk of another dislocated shoulder patting myself on the back, yes, I did actually suggest that the Patriots draft him. That happens about once every time Haley’s comet appears.

I think that’s about every 75 years or so. (If our astronomical readers can confirm, much appreciated.) In any event, it ain’t happening too often, to say the least.

But it did this time. This young man is the real deal. He’s the big back about which I have written often suggesting that the Patriots fill the void left when they kicked out one of their all-time best.

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That would be the terrific LeGarrette Blount. He “only” scored 18 rushing touchdowns in 2016, the year of the Atlanta Super Bowl miracle. Not sure if all the backs since have that many.

An aside: If Ivan Fears does in fact retire, Blount (LB) would make a great running backs coach. Just sayin’.

So Rhamondre Stevenson arrives and he just lights up the preseason like a Fourth of July fireworks display at the Esplanade. This young man can do it all. He’ll be a fan favorite, for sure.

Much about him has been written before, please check out the links. But there is one thing I want to mention about the young man that absolutely blew me away in his first NFL preseason game.

Stevenson scored a touchdown in the first professional game in which played, and oh, by the way, it was a 91-yarder! His celebration oozed class, capital “C” folks, capital “C”.

Did he jump for joy? Nope. Dance with his teammates? Nope. Did he do anything else that a rookie in his first game might be expected to do after scoring on a 91-yard touchdown in his first game?

Nope. Nothing. He just raised spread his arms up and sort of said to the adoring crowd, I’m here. (Note: it actually was more like 98 yards from where he took the pitch.)

It was amazing. Totally. Finally, finally, after waiting years for a player in the NFL (and he is not the only one, of course) to act this way, this young man has that kind of class.

He acted not only like he’d been there before, but also like he’d be there again. Perhaps his view was, so, what’s the big deal requiring a wild celebration? There’s lots more of this to come.

The implication to this observer was, get used to this because I’m a Patriot. I’m a top runner. And I’ll be back here often. Perfect.

All I’m going to say is this as if any additional prompting was necessary, that was enough for me to be even more supportive of Stevenson than before.

The third most dynamic player on the New England Patriots offense will be … Jonnu Smith

Again, there are a whole host of other potential picks here, but I’m going to explain why Jonnu Smith, the tight end acquired in free agency, is the pick here.

Smith was formerly a player with the Tennessee Titans coached by former Patriot, Mike Vrabel, the last coach to beat No. 12 Tom Brady in a playoff game at Foxborough, no less.

Jonnu Smith was part of the makeover at tight end after the faux “retirement” of former Patriots great, All-Universe tight end Rob Gronkowski.

New England Patriots

He was brought in early by Bill Belichick and company to try to shore up a position that was probably the worst in the entire NFL in 2020. To put it plainly, they stunk.

Two third-round draft picks they had traded up for had flopped catching five passes between them in 2020. The other waiver-wire types also did little.

To him and his new Director of Pro Player Personnel, Dave Ziegler’s credit, they moved quickly and decisively to remedy the situation. Jonnu Smith was the first addition.

Now, Smith is a very solid young tight end but injuries have been an issue. Smith caught 41 passes in 2020. Not a monster haul for certain. So why such joy? Let’s explore.

First, Smith hauled in eight touchdown passes. That’s a nice contribution of points, 48 points if my math serves me. The Patriots’ tight ends complement in 2020 … had one. Six points.

Now that sounds like a red-zone target to me and it did to New England’s brass evidently, as well. It was a super addition. And stay tuned, it gets better.

Not only does Smith score TD’s, but he’s also a YAC guy, that’s “yards after the catch”. Interesting. With a rookie quarterback who is accurate and doesn’t gamble the ball away, might that just work?

You bet it might. A short and less dangerous pass in the flats or a short crossing route could be turned into a 10 or 15 yard gain by Smith (as he did in the preseason).

So things start to make sense and fall into place. You get an uber-accurate quarterback and players who can catch the ball and get yards after the catch.

Those factors combined with a devastating running back room and the end result is, you get a very, very difficult offense to defend against. That running game can combine with the upgraded wide receiving corps and the two very good tight ends. What they can deliver is a very effective play-action option (which just happens to be a top strength of that rookie QB).

In addition, you signed another tight end, Hunter Henry who caught 60 passes last season with four touchdown catches. All the better.

So that’s it, a rundown on the top three Patriots playmakers on offense who will electrify New England Patriots fans and horrify opposition defenses.

Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear your views. We’re all Patriots fans and we all have our own opinions. One thing about this space, we want to hear yours.