I have watched too much football to not have faith in Belichick and McDaniels. In Belichick's first stint in New England as a DC, he was the difference that brought us to the 96 Super Bowl. Then he went to the Jets w/ Parcells and that team was a bear to play against. I wanted Belichick in the 1990s, and when he came to New England, I was totally convinced he would lead us to Super Bowls. He has ALWAYS been great. He will turn this around.
I have a lot of faith in Josh as well. And I am not blinded, someone who simply likes whoever is running the Patriots. I did not much like Bill O'Brien's stint here. I blame BOB for a Super Bowl loss in fact. McDaniels has something else, and that's an ability to maximize the field like few other OCs. Josh will figure this out.
That being said, I see huge deficiencies in personnel at key positions (wideouts on offense, front 7 on defense) that will make this season an uphill climb. My advice: enjoy the rebuild. Have faith in BB and Josh. They will turn this around. Stop feeling like the world is falling down. This team is rebuilding the right way (cap space, youth) and the turnaround will come quick, maybe even next year.
Build on these players on D: JC Jackson, J Jones, Dugger, JJ Williams, M Bryant, , Adrian Phillips, Anfernee, Winovich, Uche.
Build on these O players: Harris, Wynn, Thuney, Mason, Onwenu, Andrews.
I have no idea what we have in the 2 rookie TEs but obviously they will be around for a bit.
The point is, these players are the foundation for the team that will compete at the top of the league. Combined with what I anticipate is a draft with picks in the teens of every round, and a huge salary cap advantage, and Bill will be in optimal position to find more young players and to season them with prime free agents, who will become available with the new cap ramifications.
My only big concern really--outside of WR--is the front 7 on D. Notice I didn't include Bentley as a building block. He's a fine player, and occupies a central role in Belichick's D--but I wonder if this is the D of our future.Having a run plugger in the middle when our DTs are 2 gapping is critical. But now that you see the college game creeping into the NFL so much, it makes me wonder if we can't get by with the likes of Bentley anymore. It was just deflating to watch him chase an RB in the open field. Bentley did everything right. He diagnosed the play. He got himself into perfect position to stop it. Garoppolo waited, and even got the ball to the RB late, and then HORROR the guy just ran right by Bentley. We are so limited right now in our front 7. The DBs are being exposed.
So--I am still very optimistic about our future. But I'd like to see a total focus on WRs and LBs in the fraft and FA next year.
We are hurting there.