I am not a small woman…but I am not a 5XL 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Phil Perry joined NBC Sports Boston in 2010 and has been covering the Patriots for 15 seasons. Phil is an expert on the NFL Draft and hosts the Next Pats Podcast, which focuses on draft prospects, future Patriots stars and more.

In addition to his written reporting, Phil appears regularly on Tom E. Curran\u2019s Patriots Talk Podcast as well as 98.5 The Sports Hub\u2019s Toucher & Hardy and Zolak & Bertrand, and was 98.5\u2019s radio analyst for two Patriots preseason games this year. He hosts The Breakdown every Monday with Super Bowl champion Ted Johnson and makes regular appearances on Patriots Pregame Live and Patriots Postgame Live.

Feel free to ask questions here for Phil to answer tomorrow during the AMA, so we can get the ball rolling with the post tomorrow.

Look folks, I know we are all still reeling from the disaster-class of a coaching job we all witnessed on Sunday, but I am still see too many 'We need to draft a WR1' across the sub. Lets face it, anyone we draft with the prospect of becoming a WR1 will fail in our current system. Our coaching staff is incapable of fostering that kind of talent, and WR is too big a hit-or-miss position to waste draft stock of that chance.

"But, then where will we find the help that Maye needs?" I hear the WR camp yelling. The answer to that is actually in the opposite side of the offense, in our Run Game. Now I'm not saying that we need a RB, god knows that is a bad idea, but rather we need to, and say it with me here:

GET O-LINE TALENT

In comparison to WR FAs, who are always chasing the next big bag (which we can definitely pay), O-Line talent is never good in FA. It is always the folk who are let go, not the ones who are good. I have had enough of these injured and incapable OL who staunch our run game. You've seen it, Rhamondre, who is still the insane talent he is when he gets downhill, is unable to get that run-up when our OL loses 2 yards before he even gets the ball. Trade back our pick for a haul and get us some big men.

And this is where I loop back to my previous point: Upgrading our OL upgrades our run game, and upgrading our run game means that we take pressure off of Maye. If we fix these things, the FA WRs will actually sign with us, rather than use us to get a bigger bag elsewhere

TL;DR: Our ass coaches (unfortunately) aren't going anywhere, and I don't trust them to use rookie WRs properly. Fix the O-Line Fix the Offense

1. Kevin White (7th overall, 2015, Chicago Bears): 0 yards Missed his rookie season due to a stress fracture.
2. John Ross (9th overall, 2017, Cincinnati Bengals): 0 yards Played in 3 games but did not record a reception due to injuries.
3. Laquon Treadwell (23rd overall, 2016, Minnesota Vikings): 15 yards Had just 1 reception in 9 games during his rookie season​
4. Josh Doctson (22nd overall, 2016, Washington): 66 yards Recorded 2 receptions over 2 games, hampered by injuries.
5. N'Keal Harry (32nd overall, 2019, New England Patriots): 105 yards Managed 12 receptions in 7 games but struggled with injuries
6. Tyquan Thornton (50th overall, 2022, New England Patriots): 247 yards Recorded 22 receptions over 13 games with occasional flashes of promise​
7. Jalen Reagor (21st overall, 2020, Philadelphia Eagles): 396 yards Tallied 31 receptions in 11 games but failed to meet expectations.
8. Corey Coleman (15th overall, 2016, Cleveland Browns): 413 yards Managed 33 receptions but struggled with injuries throughout the year played 10 games.
9. Henry Ruggs III (12th overall, 2020, Las Vegas Raiders): 452 yards Played 13 games, showing inconsistent production as a deep threat.

Polk- 12 receptions for 87 yards and 2 tds while playing in 12 games. The argument could easily be made that this is the worst rookie season of any top 50 picks in the last 10 years as he has been almost entirely healthy through camp and only missing one game.

Free place to chat and a good place to discuss whatever you like with other sub users

__

2024 Opponents Set.

_

Meet New England’s 2024 Rookie Class.

Patriots updated depth chart

__

New England Patriots Catchup links - Week 13 Patriots vs. Colts: Matchups, Keys to Victory, More!

• Patriots-Colts updated Injury Report.
• Transaction: Patriots sign G Michael Jordan to the practice squad.
• Game Preview: Colts at Patriots. Series history, Scouting the matchups, tale of the tape.
• Broadcast Info: How to watch/listen to Colts at Patriots.
• Mike Dussault gives us 10 to watch as the Colts visit Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
• Mike Dussault’s Patriots Notebook: Gonzalez excelling in second season, OL changes coming?
• Patriots Unfiltered on TV: Recapping the Dolphins, Previewing the Colts, One-on-One with Davon Godchaux. (22 min. video)
• Game Preview: Key matchups and players to watch against the Colts. (4 min. video)
• Player Spotlight: Week 13 Drake Maye film breakdown with Brian Hoyer. (1.14 min. video)
• Throwback: Brady vs. Manning in the 2003 AFC Championship Game. (7 min. video)
• Community: Celebrating Thanksgiving In A Basket with the New England Patriots Foundation. (1 min. video)
• Murph gives us his Week 13 Monster Keys to a Pats victory over the Colts. 1. Spies Like Us: “...I really like a spy, but a big part is just having disciplined rush lanes to either keep the QB contained in the pocket or flush him to scramble into the boundary or towards his off hand. ...”
• Chad Finn’s Unconventional Preview: A lot has happened to the Patriots since last year’s loss to the Colts, and not much of it good.
• Phil Perry gives us a five-point plan to repair the Patriots offense and set Drake Maye up for success.
• Alex Barth’s 5 Things Friday: Patriots-Colts presents two old rivals trying to get back on track.
• Alex Barth relays Alex Van Pelt sharing two important updates on Drake Maye’s development.
• Andrew Callahan lists Drake Maye and 8 other Patriots among reasons to be thankful this NFL season.
• Matt Vautour tells us who to root for in Week 13 to improve the Patriots draft position.
• Chris Mason’s Patriots Mailbag: How can Jerod Mayo improve as Patriots coach?
• Michael DeVito mentions Vederian Lowe and 7 other Patriots are nearing the end of their New England tenures.
• Sara Marshall predicts each of the Patriots final five games on their 2024 schedule and says their chances of finishing the year strong are not looking too good.
• Danny Jaillet tells us the announcers for Patriots vs. Colts Week 13 game: Spero Dedes will handle the play-by-play duties, while Adam Archuleta will handle the analysis portion.
• Jordy McElroy reveals his ultimate dream starting offensive lineup for the Patriots in 2025.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot what if Jonathan told Kraft to hire Mayo and Mayo would be a patsy basically to tank the season while looking like we’re trying. They’re ensuring us another top pick and with that talent we can take off next year and get the real coach.

So as most of you know the player who relays the playcall to the rest of the defense and helps set everything up wears a green dot on their helmet. For the past few years that player was Ja'Whaun Bentley. But since he went down with a season ending injury that responsibility has has been passed between Kyle Dugger, Jahlani Tavai, Marte Mapu, and Christian Elliss.

I can't imagine inconsistently like that is very good for the defense. Dugger was the first one to get the responsibility when Bentley initially went down. But when Dugger went down with injury Marte Mapu started wearing it. Tavai then took over shortly after, but Elliss has also worn it from time to time.

What that tells me is Dugger wasn't very good at it or he would have gotten the responsibility back when he came back from injury. Mapu wasn't very good at it or Tavai wouldn't have gotten it. Tavai isn't good at it or they wouldn't be trying Elliss out too. And Elliss isn't very good at it or he would have taken over control for Tavai by now. That's all speculation, but anyone who has watched this defense could tell you something is off. I too think a big part of it is Covington's coaching, but I think this is hurting a lot more than any of us realize and I haven't really seen anyone talk about it. There have been several times the defense has struggled getting lined up, or there is clearly something wrong with the coverage.

Just makes me thing that this might be more of an issue than people realize. The defensive coaching has still been bad, but this can only be making things worse. Wanted to get others thoughts on this.

I've got a Patriots tattoo and have loved this team for 40+ years. I also love this forum and learn a lot from some of the people in it. That being said; what will make the masses happy? A year ago everyone hated Belichick and the coordinators and Kraft. "They" also wanted Mayo to take over with a new group of coordinators and tank games. Now? Half of what I see are Mayo haters and people complaining about every aspect of the team and coaching (Minus Gonzo and Maye). What makes people happy again? Another dynasty? Can we please just love our team and remember Superbowls come every 10-20 years and Dynasties we lived through are once a generation.

I'm sure this is a popular opinion, but I can't imagine what this team would look like if Hunter Henry had bailed in free agency (which I would not have faulted him for).

Without him, Drake Maye would have truly been surrounded by nothing in his first year of development. He's been the only reliable receiver, but more importantly he's been the consistent bail out option on 3rd downs and scramble drills. He's helping Maye grow on the field in ways nobody else on the offense is, in my opinion.

I'm glad he's signed for a few years, even if he begins to slow down.