Patriots 2024 roster reset: OT help is needed, and stakes are high

Patriots 2024 roster reset: OT help is needed, and stakes are high originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Editor’s Note: With the beginning of NFL free agency looming on March 13, our Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran is resetting each Patriots position by assessing their 2023 performance, laying out their 2024 contract status and ranking their offseason priority on a scale of 1 to 5.

Curran has covered quarterbacks, wide receivers, running backs and tight ends. Next up: offensive linemen.

The fire that burned down Bill Belichick’s chance to leave the Patriots on his own terms began on the offensive line. And the path back to average – which is currently a daunting road – begins there as well.

You were thinking quarterback both as the starting point and the path back? We’ll agree to disagree. But the way I see it, if you have a quarterback who’s not tremendously mobile or strong-armed, you need to make sure he’s well-protected. And that didn’t happen last year because of injuries and talent issues.

That set the stage for Mac Jones, who already had sagging confidence after the trials of 2022, to get jumpier and jumpier in the pocket. The complement of skill position players wasn’t up to snuff either. So what you had was a perfect storm of bad. And the offensive numbers bore that out.

The Patriots were tied for last in the league in points per game (13.9), 31st in time of possession, 31st on third down, 32nd on fourth down, 31st in first downs per game, 32nd in interception rate, 30th in passing yards per play, 25th in rushing average and 30th in yards per game.

Second year left guard Cole Strange injured his patella tendon in camp and only played 10 games. Free agent additions Riley Reiff and Calvin Anderson were both beset by injury and played one and five games, respectively. Left tackle Trent Brown played 11 games and was either injured, ill or disgruntled for several of them.

That led to a parade of replacements at both tackle spots and left guard…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/patriots-2024-roster-reset-ot-134412083.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2024-03-05 13:44:12

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.