Saying that 2020 will be a difficult year for the New England Patriots is an enormous understatement.
Rewinding to the middle of March — Tom Brady’s departure was the biggest blow the team took in a long time. The Patriots’ Hall of Fame quarterback that thrived for two decades jolted down to Tampa Bay to sign with the Buccaneers. New England’s best replacement option at the time was second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham and the salary-cap space was nearly nonexistent.
Fast-forwarding to the beginning of August — the quarterback position is an afterthought and the coronavirus pandemic began to really take its toll on the NFL. Cam Newton is the quarterback, which is good, but the team has an league-high eight opt-outs that includes Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung. But hey, at least the Patriots have gained a significant boost in cap space since March.
Here are the five biggest holes the Patriots have ahead of the start of training camp, which is a mess in itself. Hint hint — quarterback didn’t even touch this list.
Linebacker
The linebacker position is by far the biggest hole on the roster. New England went from one of the best linebacker corps in the league to potentially one of the worst over the offseason. Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy and Elandon Roberts took their talents elsewhere in free agency. Dont’a Hightower opted-out and it’ll leave Bill Belichick with some serious work to put in.
It is important to keep in mind that this is a fluid situation and the Patriots do have cap space to bring in talented players. But, the talent on the roster currently consists of rookies Josh Uche and Anfernee Jennings, Ja’Whaun Bentley, John Simon, Chase Winovich and Brandon Copeland primarily. Bentley, Simon and Winovich have the most experience with the Patriots’ system and Copeland will bring a solid player experience-wise.
Training camp will tell the tale on which players thrive and claim starting roles, but this group will have to run off the collective unit and not individual stardom.
Offensive tackle
Barring any injuries, the Patriots’ offensive line still has the potential to be one the better units in the league. David Andrews is returning, Isaiah Wynn appears to be healthy and they even managed to retain Joe Thuney for another season. The issue comes with depth and Marcus Cannon’s decision to opt-out this season.
Cannon’s absence will leave a huge hole on the right side at offensive tackle and it’ll be crucial to find the right candidate as his replacement. The Patriots already have uncertainty with their quarterback position and the running backs will need a strong foundation ahead of them.
The two options that seem most logical to replace him are 2019 third-round pick Yodney Cajuste and third-year tackle Korey Cunningham. Cajuste, if healthy, seems to be the obvious choice because of his knowledge of the system and potential long-term possibility. Cunningham only suited up twice last season with the Patriots and was traded for a sixth-round pick.
Training camp will give them both opportunities, but the real issue lies in the depth behind the starting group.
Fullback
Josh McDaniels hasn’t had to worry about depth or skill at the fullback position since James Develin came on strong in 2013. New England played consistently with Develin on the field and he played phenomenally in five consecutive seasons. That ended after two games in 2019 when Develin went down for the season with a neck injury — eventually leading to his retirement.
The Patriots were aware of this early and signed Danny Vitale, who could’ve been the perfect successor. Well, Vitale opted-out as well and left the Patriots with Jakob Johnson and Dalton Keene as the next-best options.
Johnson was placed with the Patriots last year as a rookie through the NFL’s International Pathway Program. He played four games last season and was decent, but went down with a season-ending injury. Keene is the rookie tight end who played H-back at Virginia Tech and is well-known for being a tenacious blocker.
New England has two decent options at the position, but Keene will also take snaps at tight end and Johnson has yet to fully prove himself.
Safety
The Patriots had arguably the best secondary in the NFL last season and the safety group had a huge part of that. Devin McCourty, Patrick Chung and Duron Harmon formed a bond that was stronger than Gorilla Glue. Harmon was traded to the Detroit Lions and Chung opted-out as well.
The Patriots now have a 32-year old McCourty, a second-round rookie in Kyle Dugger and a freshly-signed Adrian Phillips. Phillips is a six-year veteran and will likely take Chung’s role to start the season — unless Dugger’s talent is undeniable in training camp. Phillips typically plays a strong safety-type role and will bring youth to the position.
Chung’s absence leaves a huge hole to fill in a short amount of time, but the Patriots fortunately have enough talent at the position to pivot.
Kicker
Before the 2019 season, the Patriots had nearly three decades of security and elite skills at the kicking position. Adam Vinatieri held down the position for New England since 1996 and Gostkowski picked it up in 2006 — both kickers are surefire Hall of Famers.
Gostkowski missed the season last year with injury and it took a very noticeable hit on the team’s offensive gameplan. The Patriots had little flexibility in late-game situations and they scrambled to find a kicker who filled their needs. Belichick drafted Justin Rohrwasser in the fifth round and his abilities are still unknown. Rohrwasser went to Marshall and doesn’t have much film that’s available to the public.
The Patriots might’ve hit and found their third consecutive star in Rohrwasser, but for now, he’s an under-the-radar rookie with enormous shoes to fill.
