Tag: Mike Onwenu

10 burning questions heading into Patriots’ season opener vs Eagles

10 burning questions for the Patriots ahead of Sunday’s season opener.

There are a bunch of questions facing the New England Patriots in Sunday’s opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.

It will be their first real opportunity to wash away the stink of the 2022 season. They went 8-9 last season and missed the playoffs for the second time in three years.

That same model of consistency the Patriots have been known for hasn’t been there since Tom Brady was the quarterback. Coincidentally enough, Brady will be attending the game as an honorary guest of the team.

Perhaps his presence can help fuel the Patriots to beat the odds and knock off arguably the best team in football. Here are 10 burning questions facing the team ahead of Sunday’s matchup.

Patriots have positive health updates for Monday’s practice

The Patriots seem to be getting healthier at the right time.

The New England Patriots received encouraging news at practice on Monday, as many key players came back healthy. Everyone returned to practice, with the exception of offensive tackle Riley Reiff, per NESN.com’s Zack Cox.

Reiff suffered an injury in New England’s preseason finale against the Tennessee Titans. He is reportedly dealing with a leg/knee injury.

However, the overall strong bill of health for the Patriots is important for the offensive side of football. Tackle Calvin Anderson and guards Cole Strange and Mike Onwenu are all going to be important pieces to the Patriots’ offensive line.

The offensive line struggled over the course of the preseason. So getting the veterans back is an important step to ensuring the line will be ready to go.

Wide receiver Devante Parker returning to practice was also a major note. Parker has been dealing with undisclosed injuries, but those injuries were not considered serious.

The health of the Patriots will be important, as they take on the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The offensive line should be much stronger, but they will be going up against an Eagles defense that ranked first in the NFL with 70 sacks last season.

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Things aren’t looking good for Patriots’ 2022 draft class

One year later, the Patriots’ 2022 NFL draft class is in rough shape.

The New England Patriots’ 2022 NFL draft class was full of promise after Year 1.

Fans saw a Day 1 starter in Cole Strange and saw promise in Pierre Strong Jr, Tyquan Thornton, Bailey Zappe and Jack Jones, while Marcus Jones was an All-Pro returner and spark plug for a dormant 2022 Patriots team.

The Patriots’ offensive draft picks were selected with a west coast zone offense in mind, which was one that the team tried to implement under Matt Patricia. There was hope that quarterback Mac Jones would thrive in a system like the one San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan perfected.

The issue was the Patriots lacked the personnel and coaching to actually do it. With only one outside runner like Strong Jr., one agile lineman in Strange and one deep threat in Thornton, the Patriots were relying on rookie players and a rookie offensive coordinator to try to implement a unique system.

Now that Bill O’Brien has returned as the offensive coordinator, the Patriots moved on from Strong for tackle depth, while also cutting 2022 picks Chasen Hines, Bailey Zappe, Andrew Stueber and Kevin Harris.

Harris, Stueber, and Zappe all returned to the practice squad.

Thornton, was placed on injured reserve after making the initial 53-man roster, meaning he will have now missed eight games in his first two seasons without showing much production. The Patriots drafted two receivers that fit their offensive mold better in 2023 with rookies Kayshon Boutte and Demario Douglas, both of whom have already flashed potential.

They are reportedly not happy with Zappe as their No. 2 quarterback, and they would like to find a new veteran backup that fits the offense more after Zappe’s abysmal summer under Bill O’Brien.

The team would still like to work with Zappe to develop parts of his game, but they have in essence moved on from the Year 2 quarterback who was pegged as the No. 2 option as early as Week 1 in 2022.

Strange has actually been really good, and he also added some power to play in the system. I believe the team likes him, and he could stick around long-term.

But things could be different for Thornton, who has now missed eight games in two years. Boutte and Douglas have already produced on the field, and if Thornton starts slow, there is a possibility the team could look to move him at the trade deadline, which would signify a change in their offensive philosophy.

In 2023, more evidence pointed to this as the Patriots went and drafted three lineman, who all fit a power system. Atonio Mafi is a Mike Onwenu clone, and Jake Andrews has a similar skill set to Ted Karras, while Sidy Sow resembles the depth tackles the Patriots typically like.

Those additions coupled with the ones in the receiver room prove that the Patriots offense has a developmental pipeline more aligned with O’Brien.

There is a chance by the end of the year that Strange, Marcus Jones, Jack Jones and Sam Roberts are the only players left from the class on the active roster. It’s a sudden and disappointing turnaround for a draft class that initially seemed full of promise.

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Updated 53-man roster projection ahead of Patriots’ preseason finale

Who made the cut in our final 53-man roster projections?

The dead heat of training camp practices are in the rearview, and the focus now shifts to the preseason finale and the final roster cut for the New England Patriots.

Next Tuesday is the deadline for teams to cut down to a 53-man roster. The Patriots are going to have some tough decisions on their hands in an effort to be in compliance with that deadline.

Not every player can make the roster, and this could be a case where some fan favorites are ultimately left off the list. Keep in mind, the Patriots have the option of signing players that don’t make the cut to the practice squad, assuming another team doesn’t jump at the chance to sign them.

Here is our third and final 53-man roster projection for the 2023 Patriots ahead of the preseason finale.

6 takeaways from final day of Patriots training camp practice

Training camp has come and gone for the Patriots. Here are six takeaways from the team’s final practice.

The final day of training camp practice came and went for the New England Patriots on Wednesday. It’s crazy to think we are only a day away from the preseason finale and a little over two weeks away from the Patriots’ regular season opener.

These last few weeks have flown by, and we have reached the point where players on the roster bubble will have their final chance to convince coach Bill Belichick to keep them around on the 53-man roster.

The Patriots were in full pads for their final training camp practice, and there were several notable names that didn’t participate, including:

CB Jonathan Jones

G Cole Strange

WR Tyquan Thornton

OT Conor McDermott

ST Cody Davis

CB Isaiah Bolden

OT Calvin Anderson

DE Trey Flowers

C Kody Russey

Next on the itinerary for the Patriots is making the trek to Nashville for Friday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. But before liftoff, here are some takeaways from their final practice.

Madden 24: See the ratings for entire Patriots roster

Did Madden get the Patriots’ ratings right this year?

We are closing in on the start of the 2023 regular season, which means only one thing: It’s Madden season.

With the recent release of EA’s “Madden NFL 24”, the New England Patriots weren’t given much respect at all as far as the player ratings are concerned. Sadly, that’s what happens when a team is an absolute mess and misses the playoffs.

But there is hope for things to be better this time around with all of the new additions to the roster, including the return of Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator. The team also made the big splash signing at running back with former two-time NFL leading rusher Ezekiel Elliott joining an offensive backfield that already had burgeoning star rusher Rhamondre Stevenson.

Elliott isn’t listed as a Patriots running back on this list, but that will surely change in a future update. For now, let’s take a look at the overall rating for every Patriots player on the Madden 24 roster.

Bill Belichick gives update on Patriots G Mike Onwenu

Mike Onwenu gets an injury update.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick provided an update on the health status of starting right guard Mike Onwenu on Monday.

Onwenu, who is currently on the PUP list, is being considered day-by-day with no concrete news on his availability for the season opener on September 10.

The fact that Onwenu is day-to-day shows progress, but there are still concerns he might not be back in time for the opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a major part on the New England offensive line last season after moving to right guard. The fourth-year lineman finished with a 79.3 overall PFF.com grade, while also ranking as one of the top-10 best players at the position ahead of the 2023 season.

Riley Reiff worked in at right guard at a recent training camp practice. That could be the Patriots’ way of shoring up a potential hole along the offensive front with a reliable veteran in Onwenu’s place.

It isn’t necessarily ideal, but it might be the best option the Patriots have right now.

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How Mike Onwenu’s expiring contract could play out with Patriots

Will the Patriots reach a contract extension with starting guard Mike Onwenu?

The New England Patriots struck gold in 2020 when they selected a Michigan Wolverine in the sixth round of the NFL draft. Stop me if you’ve heard that one before.

Mike Onwenu bounced between right tackle and right guard, before finally settling in at right guard last season.

Although right guard is his more natural fit, he played right tackle earlier in his career due to need. Even though the Patriots have a glaring need at right tackle and a surging rookie at guard with Atonio Mafi, they want to keep Onwenu right where he is.

That decision, although puzzling, is well understood across the league. Onwenu is wildly viewed as one of the best guards in all of football, and he has improved every single year since 2020. He is up for a new contract, and the Patriots have yet to make any headway on it.

Many, including myself, want them to lock up Onwenu sooner than later, as the price for good versatile linemen continues to rise. That, and, the Patriots have a ton of cap space after 2023 with other roster spots to fill. They should without a doubt spend the cash on an elite, homegrown player, who’s job is to protect the most important player, the quarterback.

Unfortunately, the writing may be on the wall, as the Patriots rarely give any player a second contract. They feel that their scouting and development teams are better than most at identifying talent in the later draft rounds, especially on the offensive line.

The Patriots recently let Joe Thuney and Ted Karras walk, while also trading Shaq Mason to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They clearly feel they can revamp the line on the fly, rather than having money tied to good veterans they developed. Onwenu could be the latest casualty to this philosophy.

That’s unless Matt Groh has anything to say about it. Groh has slowly taken more and more control behind the scenes in player personnel, allowing Belichick to control the team operations. Perhaps he could get a deal done.

In the 2023 NFL draft, the Patriots selected Mafi, an offensive guard from UCLA, and he has quickly shot up the depth chart, which is a sign that the team could be ready to let Onwenu walk. Onwenu had surgery in the offseason and has been on the PUP list since the start of camp.

The absences of both Onwenu and Cole Strange, who is dealing with a leg injury, has allowed Mafi to work at both left and right guard.

If Groh is truly in charge, it might make sense to pay Onwenu like a tackle, move him back to right tackle and allow Mafi to take the reins at right guard moving forward.

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Stock up, stock down for Patriots ahead of preseason opener

Who’s stock is up and who’s stock is down for the Patriots?

The New England Patriots are approaching their first preseason game of the 2023 season on Thursday, which will be an important test for every player on the 90-man roster. Each player is fighting for a role and an opportunity to make the 53-man roster.

As each week passes, we will be taking a look at players or position groups and breaking down how they have been performing this summer.

Stock watching is a way of sharing what we see and how a player is performing or building off of their past performances. Generally, the more a stock drops, the lower their roster lock status becomes.

As with all roster moves, there are multiple facets that get taken into consideration, like contracts, draft status and positional need. Let’s take a look at who is up and who is down in the Patriots’ stock watch.

Only one Patriots player cracks 2023 top 100 NFL players list

Are the Patriots being overlooked?

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New England Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon was the lone Patriot that cracked CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco’s top 100 NFL players of 2023 list.

Judon has established himself as one of the NFL’s best pass-rushers over the last couple seasons. The 2022 campaign was no exception. He recorded 15.5 sacks on the season, in addition to 60 combined tackles. He was the anchor of a Patriots’ pass-rushing unit that ranked third in the league with 54 sacks on the year.

Another Patriots player received an honorable mention, as guard Michael Onwenu was able to get recognition. He played in all 17 games last season, although he did struggle at times. Nevertheless, he looks to bounce back under the direction of new offensive line coach Adrian Klemm.

These honors could help set the table for both players in their efforts to have strong 2023 seasons. The Patriots will look to bounce back in their own right after missing the playoffs for the second time in three years.

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