NFL Notebook: Ex-scout breaks down 2017 Patriots

Taking a Sunday-morning trip around the NFL that features stops with the Jets, Saints and Chiefs, but first we start closer to home as we get an unbiased look at how the Patriots' roster is shaping up entering the season.



1. Every time we sit down to pick the brain of Dan Hatman, we come away learning something new about the game. Hatman, who has worked for the Eagles, Jets and Giants as a scout, and is now the Director of Scouting Development for The Scouting Academy, talked with us recently about some of what stands out to him about the 2017 Patriots.

“The funny thing is the Patriots aren’t tied to a traditional train of thought,” he said. “They have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, and those two pieces help massage areas that would be difficult. At the same time, having those pieces, they’ve also built a hell of a roster.

“With New England, there’s a willingness to narrow the pool to those you give a crap about and opposed to casting as wide a net as possible. Look at (Brandin) Cooks. They weren’t going to get that (kind of player) at end of first round, so they spent the 32nd pick and acquired an asset they believed would be superior to a pick. Cooks brings intermediate and deep experience to the field. Meanwhile, (Stephon) Gilmore gives them a highly functional man coverage piece.”

On the defense: “Even their middle linebacker last year (Dont'a Hightower) wasn’t exactly Brian Urlacher. He wasn’t Ray Lewis. You could line him up in the edge as a pass rusher. Then, you take that and add the (Kyle) Van Noy’s and Shea McClellin’s and you have these guys who can do a variety of things, and now you put David Harris in the middle of it.

“You don’t get Gilmore to play soft zones — you get him because now you have another piece to be proactive in man-to-man coverage. Instead of hoping that Eric Rowe puts things together and evolves into a No. 2 corner, we’re going to go get a guy who we faced twice a year the last few years and we will add him to the mix.”

On the offense: “The philosophy is simple: You are weak here? That’s where we'll attack. We will find out what you guys struggle with and then we’ll figure out which one of our guys can expose that and take advantage. When you play them, you have to self-scout really well and you have to know your weakness because they will know your weakness.

“The thing that has been historically the bane of prepping for the Patriots is that they will change on a year-to-year and week-to-week basis. You can see three-straight weeks of them in '13 personnel (one back, three tight ends)' and heavy packages and if they decide you don’t have corners to hang with them, they’ll play four wide receivers. That’s where the versatility of their offense comes into play. You can’t tie them into one thing.”

On the running game: “They have brought in a bunch of guys who are really a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. Are any of them Adrian Peterson? No. But every single one of them isn’t a one-trick pony, and that’s by design. You bring them in and you look at health and performance and you feature them on a week-to-week basis.”

2. In the wake of Thursday’s preseason finale, one of the things that really stuck with me was just how many of his now former teammates were genuinely excited for Jacoby Brissett and the success he had against the Giants. You could sense the pride from guys like Ted Karras and D.J. Foster; teammates were truly happy for him (“I love playing with Jacoby Brissett,” exclaimed Karras). That much was the case last year as well — I can still recall Martellus Bennett talking about Brissett like a proud father after his efforts against the Texans and Bills at the beginning of the 2016 season. Bottom line? He wasn’t an All-Pro in his time with the Patriots, but he distinguished himself as an excellent teammate and quick study who earned the respect of the locker room with his good nature. In the context of this conversation, it’s worth remembering that if Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo don’t make the plays needed to win over the first three weeks of the 2016 season, the Patriots could have very well ended up playing the AFC title game on the road. And ultimately, when it comes to Brissett, that’s enough to ensure a positive legacy when we remember his time in New England.

3. Kudos to the rookie undrafted free agents like Adam Butler and Cole Croston who are poised to extend the Patriots' streak of undrafted rookie free agents making the opening-day roster. New England has a streak of 13 straight years where at least one undrafted rookie free agent has made the roster, a string that includes the likes of David Andrews and Malcolm Butler. As we said last week, it’s important to remember that just because you’ve survived the final cuts, it doesn’t always mean you’re going to make it to opening day. (There is inevitably a wave of transactions between the final cuts and start of the regular season.) But the ones who have survived to this point on the calendar deserve an acknowledgment for getting to a point where they’re well-positioned to crash the roster of the defending Super Bowl champion.

4. The Jets decision to deal Sheldon Richardson to the Seahawks this past week will certainly make things easier for the Patriots the next time they have to square off against New York. Richardson was always tough for New England to contain: in eight career games against the Patriots, he has 2.5 sacks. Over the last few years, Richardson had more than his share of legal issues, but he was also a fearsome competitor who was unafraid to take a run at Brady from time to time; even as the Jets were disassembling their roster this offseason to prep for a run at the No. 1 pick, he was talking about how to beat the Patriots and Brady. “I’ve told (Brady) before I've left the field, 'Bro, don't retire till I beat you,'" he told reporters with a laugh in June. "He laughed it off and kept going. It's a pleasure to play against him. But he knows what I'm chasing, and he knows I'm trying to knock the king off his throne.” The addition of wide receiver Jermaine Kearse brings some depth to the New York passing game, but regardless of what you think of the Jets, the twice-a-year meeting between New England and New York just got that much easier for the Patriots with Richardson no longer in the picture.

5. We’ve been following preseason snap counts because sometimes, they can offer some insight into where a player stands with the coaching staff. Sometimes, they don’t mean much. In this case, you can draw your own conclusions. We have the top 5 on each side of the ball: On offense, Croston led the way with 223 preseason snaps, while fellow lineman Karras was not too far off the pace (203). Wide receiver Austin Carr (193), lineman Brian Ferentz (178) and lineman Conor McDermott (173) rounded out the top 5. On the defensive side of the ball, defensive back Damarius Travis was the preseason champ with 161 snaps. Linebacker Trevor Bates (151) was second, while cornerback Cyrus Jones (147), linebacker Jonathan Freeny (141) and defensive lineman Darius Kilgo (125) round out the top five. We won’t go too in-depth on the preseason penalty totals, only to say that the Patriots were hit with 15 penalties for 153 yards in the four games, not counting flags that were declined or offset. McDermott was the only player to be hit with two penalties this preseason (one false start and one holding). Meanwhile, the linebackers took the most penalties (four for 40 yards). And offensive holding was far and away the most common penalty against New England in the preseason — they were hit with that call five times in four games.

6. As some of you guys already know, I’m a certified 3-cone apologist — I firmly believe New England place more emphasis on success in that drill above some of the others, especially when it comes to evaluating defensive backs and wide receivers. Basically, the Patriots like their fast guys to also have some short-area quickness as well. And this weekend, the Patriots fundamentally traded one conehead for another when they traded Justin Coleman to Seattle and picked up wide receiver Phillip Dorsett in a trade with the Colts. Keeping in mind anything below seven seconds in the drill is a big plus, it was interesting to see their results, at least as collegians. Dorsett was one of the best at the 2014 combine with a mark of 6.7. Coleman had a 6.61 as a collegian. (For what it’s worth, newcomer Johnson Bademosi had a 6.96 3-cone time as well.) Two more things about Dorsett and Cassius Marsh, two of the newest veterans in Foxborough:

a) Dorsett and James White were high school teammates at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale.

b) Marsh is a big fan of the card game “Magic: The Gathering.” He also comes from a football family, as his father Curtis Marsh Sr. was a wide receiver who was drafted in the seventh round out of Utah in 1995 by the Jags. He played for Jacksonville and Pittsburgh.

7. Following the preseason finale Thursday night against the Giants, defensive end Derek Rivers was spotted outside the New England locker room, posing for pictures with friends. The sight of the injured rookie moving about without an issue sparked questions (“Shouldn’t he be on crutches?”), but it’s important to remember that when it comes to knee surgery, the preferred course of action is usually to allow swelling to go down before surgery takes place. For what it’s worth, he appeared to be in pretty good spirits, and it was good to see him up and about.

8. The Patriots caught something of a break on Friday when it was announced that Saints wide receiver Willie Snead was suspended for the first three games of the regular season for violating the NFL's policy on substances of abuse. (He was initially banned four games before it was reduced on appeal.) That means he’ll miss the Week 2 game against the Patriots in New Orleans. The 24-year-old has 141 catches for 1,879 yards and seven touchdowns the last two seasons with the Saints, but was working with the starting offense over the course of the summer. New Orleans does have a deep passing attack, but the loss of Snead will certainly force them to readjust heading into the Sept. 17 game against New England.

9. In that same vein, it was more good news for the Patriots when it was revealed this week that the Chiefs will keep defensive lineman Tamba Hali on the physically-unable-to-perform list to start the season. That means the 6-foot-3, 276-pound pass rusher won’t be available for the regular-season opener on Thursday night in New England. Hali, who hasn’t practiced or played all preseason, was cranky about his reduced role down the stretch and into the playoffs last year, and this might be a way for Kansas City to keep the 33-year-old healthy and fresh for a potential late-season push. Regardless, it means things will be a little easier for the Patriots offensive line come Thursday. (For what it’s worth, Belichick had this to say about Hali in 2014, saying he was “probably one of the best technique pass rushers” in the NFL: "Great motor. Tremendous work ethic and effort on the field. Never takes a play off. He's going to play hard every snap. He's strong. He's 270, 275 pounds, whatever it is, but he has good playing strength on top of that. He has good athleticism and quickness,” he said. “He's probably one of the best technique pass rushers in the league. He uses his hands extremely well. Kind of like (Rob) Ninkovich, (Mike) Vrabel and guys we've had that have been really good hands-type rushers. He's all of that plus 275 pounds of explosive speed and power.”

10. Big week ahead: the Patriots will have media availability on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday this week. There won’t be access on Wednesday, as the team will hold a traditional day-before-the-game walkthrough. (One more reminder : “NFL Network” will be going deep on the 2016 Patriots on Wednesday with “Do Your Job 2,” “America’s Game: 2016 Patriots,” and “NFL’s Top 10: Tom Brady Games” starting at 8 p.m.) And then, kickoff on Thursday night.