Here’s how NFL scouts, personnel view the Patriots midway through the season
"They are a year away from being a year away."
The first season of the Jerod Mayo era of Patriots football isn’t going particularly well in many aspects, and those in NFL organizations can see that plainly.
While there have been some moments that create excitement for the future — primarily regarding Drake Maye — New England has put more than its fair share of ugly plays on tape.
Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi detailed exactly what NFL scouts and assistants think of the Patriots in 2024, and they didn’t leave many positive notes for the once-great sports dynasty.
“I see a disorganized program, which leads to disorganization on the field. On defense, you’ve got guys in the wrong gaps, players freelancing, and they don’t play cohesively from front to back,” one scout told Giardi. “Do you want to know why they’ve fallen off so much on that side of the ball? That’s it. You can’t do that and expect to be good. And they could still make it work even without some of the big pieces they’ve lost.”
The Patriots’ defense has been inconsistent at best, and though the losses of Christian Barmore, Ja’Whaun Bentley, and Jabrill Peppers can’t be discredited, there are also problems beyond that. New England has given up the seventh most rushing yards in the NFL (1232), the 11th most passing yards, and 12th highest points allowed per game.
“What do they do well? I’m asking because I don’t know,” an AFC scout said. “… They need players — lots of them — and aside from Maye, has anybody else that Wolf brought in shown that they can be that? They are a year away from being a year away unless some of the younger players emerge.”
That particular scout was only directly complimentary of Maye and of Marcus Jones as a punt returner.
New England’s receiving core was described as “just guys” by an AFC assistant coach, who also added that “the tape is littered with bad drops, bad routes, and bad details.”
Jerod Mayo recently told reporters he believes his biggest jump as a head coach will be from Year 1 to Year 2, and according to these NFL voices, he’s going to need that to get the ship turning in the right direction.
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