2020 officially infected the New England Patriots. From having the greatest QB ever and being the best dynasty the league has ever seen to this! It can’t get much worse, can it? This organization has been terrible these last couple months from the top on down, but the problems go back way farther and deeper than you might think. There are many reasons as to why this Patriots team may not be good for a while and from a fan’s perspective that’s really concerning as most of us Pats fans have been living in football heaven forever. Sadly, that is now over.
One major problem this organization has had is the draft. The Patriots have not drafted a Pro Bowler since 2013 (Jamie Collins), the Bengals being the only other team that have done worse. From taking N’Keal Harry over AJ Brown, DK Metcalf, and Deebo Samuel, to taking Sony Michel over Nick Chubb, to taking Duke Dawson over Fred Warner, the drafting has been terrible and with the state of the team the way it is it must improve. The Patriots are in need of skill position players, which Belichick has been especially bad at getting recently if you scan down the list of players he has taken at those positions. Bill better hit well in the 2021 Draft or this franchise will be stuck in the mud for a while.
Another major problem is the quarterback situation. What direction does Bill head in with the most important position on the field? He could bring in a veteran such as Matt Ryan, Matt Stafford, or maybe old friend Jimmy Garoppolo or even Cam Newton. Personally I don’t want anything to do with another veteran because none of these guys are going to bring you back anywhere close to the Super Bowl with the current state of the team. I believe they should draft a quarterback in the first round. This season, the Patriots tried bringing in a veteran and even for cheap money, it failed. Although Bill has never drafted a quarterback higher than the last pick of the second round in 2014 (Garoppolo), he needs to start expanding his comfort zone a little and go for it because nowadays you can’t win without a quarterback.
The third biggest problem is the front seven, this year it has been horrible to say the least. There is nobody within the front seven that can consistently apply pressure on the passer at all. Chase Winovich leads the team with 3.5 sacks and the Patriots are 28th in the league in sacks a game at 1.4. They also don’t have a run stopper besides DT Lawrence Guy. The Patriots throughout the course of the season have let guys such as Cam Akers, Jeff Wilson Jr, and Salvon Ahmed run all over them (the Patriots gave up a combined 405 yards to those three guys alone). Help better be coming quick within the front seven because this is awful.
To conclude, these are just some of the issues this organization has and if Bill doesn’t turn things around, don’t be shocked if he’s on the hot seat because I believe the Kraft’s would not be opposed to show him the door if needed.
Photo: Elise Amendola/AP
