The New England Patriots have received a ton of attention following their free agency frenzy.
Bill Belichick added names like Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, Matthew Judon, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne, Jalen Mills, Trent Brown and Kyle Van Noy. The Patriots managed to retain Cam Newton, David Andrews, Lawrence Guy, James White, JC Jackson, Justin Bethel and Deatrich Wise Jr.
The roster is entirely revamped and although the Patriots had a losing record last season (7-9), they still almost went .500 with less than half the talent. These factors along with Belichick’s legendary coaching career lead to the idea that the Patriots are officially back after one losing season.
Pro Football Focus released their power rankings for NFL rosters and they don’t quite agree with the Patriots’ rebuild just yet. PFF’s Anthony Treash primarily used Newton as his reasoning for ranking the Patriots No. 20 on the list.
“Bill Belichick went all-in during free agency, handing out money left and right,” Treash stated. “Even after the heavy spending, the Patriots still have an average roster outside of their offensive line. Despite losing standout left guard Joe Thuney, they still have a top-10 unit.
“The big concern with this team is at quarterback and wide receiver. Cam Newton ranked 24th in passing grade in his first season as a Patriot and struggled to push the ball downfield. His 2.8% big-time throw rate was a bottom-five mark among quarterbacks on the year. As it stands, New England’s No. 1 wideout is Nelson Agholor, who is coming off a boom-or-bust campaign with Las Vegas where he was fed deep crossers and vertical routes. He ranked 45th of 99 qualifiers in receiving grade in what was his most productive year in the NFL. In the five years prior combined, he ranked second-to-last in receiving grade.”
The main concern is at wide receiver and quarterback, but those are positions that will likely be addressed in the upcoming draft. Speculation leads to the idea that Belichick may trade up for one of the premiere rookie quarterbacks. There’s also a large pool of extremely talented receivers on the docket this year.
The Patriots still have some work to do, but it’s difficult to believe the team’s coaching staff won’t pull out a winning season with this group.
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