It’s safe to say that the 2023 NFL season hasn’t gone the way that Patriots fans expected. In what was supposed to be a year where we returned to prominence, New England is off to a 0-2 start following Sunday’s 24-7 loss to the rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football.
Even though it’s relatively early to be pressing the panic button, our situation is less than ideal. We’ve already lost two home games and are the only AFC East team without a win, meaning it’ll likely be an uphill battle to make the playoffs if things don’t change soon.
It’s clear that some offseason moves the Patriots made just aren’t working out. While that could change as the season progresses, myself and other fans wouldn’t mind a time machine to help go back and prevent some decisions from happening.
Here’s a look at three Patriots offseason moves that already look like disasters.
3 Patriots Offseason Moves Looking Disastrous
1. Signing JuJu Smith-Schuster
One day after Jakobi Meyers left to join the Las Vegas Raiders in the offseason, the Patriots signed fellow WR JuJu Smith-Schuster to a three-year, $33 million contract.
It was a deal that many fans were hopeful about at the time. After all, Smith-Schuster was coming off of a 900-yard season that saw him play a role in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl run and was expected to help Mac Jones take the next step forward under center.
Instead, we’re two games into the 26-year-old’s Patriots tenure and he doesn’t have much to show for it.
Despite playing 56.5% of offense snaps (second-most of all Patriots WRs), Smith-Schuster has only turned nine catches into 61 yards. He finished each outing with no more than 33 receiving yards — a number that he surpassed in nine of 17 regular-season games in 2022.
The more we see of Smith-Schuster, the less that I’m convinced that he can be a WR1. He hasn’t shown that he can take over games since joining New England, making it clear that he might not be worth his $11 million AAV.
He’s known for being a streaky receiver, but that can’t be the case if the Patriots expect him to be a true playmaker. If nothing changes, he’s only on pace for 77 receptions and a career-worst 519 yards.
Unless Smith-Schuster proves that he can take his game to another gear soon, it’s going to be hard for Patriots fans to accept this contract over the next three years.
2. Signing Ezekiel Elliott
When Damien Harris departed in the offseason, the Patriots needed a second running back to complement Rhamondre Stevenson. However, instead of finding a younger option in the draft, New England opted to sign ex-Dallas Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of adding Elliott, nor were many other Patriots fans. The 28-year-old is now in his eighth NFL season and was coming off a campaign that saw him average career lows in rushing yards per game (58.4) and yards per carry (3.8).
Needless to say, I didn’t see how his addition at this stage in his career would help improve a Patriots ground game that only averaged 106.6 rushing yards per game in 2022 (No. 24 in NFL).
Unfortunately, I’m right so far.
Elliott just doesn’t look like he has ‘it’ anymore, averaging just 3.5 rushing yards on 12 carries and another 2.8 receiving yards on five catches. He’s yet to rush for more than six yards on a play and has already fumbled the ball once after only recording one fumble in 32 games between the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
He also looks incredibly slow and the thing is that players at this stage of his career just don’t get better.
It’s also unlikely that he’ll turn things around any time soon with New England’s offensive line ravaged by the injury bug. If Stevenson can’t even produce behind our frontline, I don’t like Elliott’s chances.
The good news is that Elliott is only on a one-year deal, meaning he isn’t expected to be a part of the franchise’s future. Still, we still have 15 games to go, so let’s hope he (improbably) finds another gear sooner than later.
3. Failing to Improve the Offensive Line
The Patriots’ offensive line wasn’t anything special in 2022, leading to the fanbase pleading for more depth this offseason.
Although New England added a few O-line pieces, Riley Reiff was the only veteran addition. It was clear that management expected rookies Sidy Sow, Jake Andrews, and Atonio Mafi to provide suitable depth.
It didn’t take the Patriots long to learn how detrimental the lack of depth up front can be. Injuries have ravaged the unit, highlighted by Reiff landing on the IR following the preseason finale while Sow and left tackle Trent Brown have been dealing with concussions.
To understand the disastrous state that the offensive line is in, this is how the Patriots rank across the following categories:
- Pressures allowed: 27 (1st)
- QB hits allowed: 4 (T-8th)
- Sacks allowed: 6 (T-9th)
- Rushing yards per game: 82.0 (7th fewest)
While blame can be placed on the players for not stepping up, management needs to shoulder some of the blame. If your average fan could look at the O-line depth before the season and know it wasn’t good enough, why couldn’t Bill Belichick & Co. do the same?
The Patriots must act fast if they’re hoping to see a turnaround. There aren’t a ton of available free-agent options while the trade deadline quickly approaches on Oct. 31. If they take even more time to address the situation, things will only get worse as the campaign chugs on.
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