Patriots
At this point, there's no escaping reality: The 3-10 Patriots are playing for pride (and draft position) in the ultimate five games of 2024.
Additionally, fans are increasingly suspicious of head coach Jerod Mayo and his team, in addition to Eliot Wolf's ability to even reshape the roster $117 million effective cap area Available for 2025 and expected to be a top-five pick in next yr's draft.
But Brian Hoyer and David Andrews of The Quick Snap podcast think there are greater than a number of reasons to hope for an enormous turnaround next season.
Biggest point of optimism: Drake Maye, who continues to impress as a rookie and show franchise QB traits.
“The thing I love about Drake is that I see intentional improvement every week,” Hoyer said on the newest episode of “The Quick Snap.”. “He’s doing a better job of reaching in the pocket. He suffered a deep drop on his 40-yard dash. He felt the edge rustle. He stepped forward. He realized it was man coverage. Nobody has accounted for him. He took off for 41 yards.
“I think he has the right head on his shoulders. I think they surrounded him with great people… I know when you lose a lot of games the sky falls. But when I look at it analytically, I don’t think the Patriots are that far off.”
Hoyer even pointed to the Colts themselves, who’re 6-7 despite Anthony Richardson and Joe Flacco delivering generally subpar QB play this season based on their performances in close games – including last Sunday. More specifically, the Colts is currently in second place within the AFC South and are the eighth seed within the conference with an outdoor probability of sneaking into the playoffs.
Had the Patriots picked up wins against the Colts, Titans and Dolphins this yr — games they lost by a combined nine points — they might have been “in the hunt” themselves.
Unfortunately, that's not the case, Hoyer and Andrews admitted, so who will help the Patriots back into contention next yr will probably be as much as the jury.
“What can we do over the last four weeks to continue to improve and evaluate the guys who we believe will be a key part of this team in the future?” Hoyer posed. “It doesn’t mean they’ll make the team next year, but at least they’ll be here. In the offseason, um, working towards a goal, all those things. …I think there are a lot of people who have no idea: obviously Drake, [Christian] Gonzalez, [Kyle] Dugger, Hunter Henry, there are a lot of them. Rhamondre, Mike Onwenu.
“But who are perhaps the ones on the sidelines who can use the next four weeks to their advantage to really establish themselves as people who can be part of the turnaround next year?”
With loads of player cap space available and a few top-tier talent coming into play soon, the Patriots could see a significantly different roster in 2025 than this yr. We've already seen this regime move past a few of Bill Belichick's failed experiments like Tyquan Thornton, and a few of their very own 2024 picks (like receivers Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker) might not be guaranteed spots either .
Even if these final five games don't help the Patriots' playoff-less immediate future, they are going to still provide precious experience for a young core still learning win within the NFL.
image credit : www.boston.com
Leave a Reply