Taking a weekend spin around the NFL with a focus on the Patriots...
1. So with Jimmy Garoppolo on the West Coast and Brian Hoyer back in town, it’s reasonable to assume that the Patriots — a team that has been more aggressive than just about anyone in the NFL the last 15 years when it comes to drafting quarterbacks — is going to look for a quarterback in the middle to late rounds this spring. (That’s regardless of how many years Hoyer is signed for.) After speaking with some people around the league, and with the understanding they’re not going to go all in to the top of the first round to try and find someone, here are three possibilities to remember come draft weekend.
a) Luke Falk, Washington State: Drew Bledsoe would be proud. In nine games, the 6-foot-4, 223-pounder has a 68 percent completion rate, 2,576 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and seven picks. (He should break the Pac-12 career passing record before it’s all said and done.) Considered a highly accurate pocket passer — his college totals place him near 70 percent — Falk has done well in Mike Leach’s offense, and is considered a high mid-rounder (a third or so) at this point.
b) Clayton Thorson, Northwestern: There are two schools of thought when it comes to the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Thorson: One, his substandard numbers (when compared to some other top-shelf quarterbacks in this draft) are the result of a poor supporting cast. Two, he’s actually a substandard quarterback. From the folks we talked to, there’s more of the former than the latter. Entering this weekend, through eight games, he’s completed 61 percent of his passes for 2,044 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine picks. More of a late-rounder/developmental type at this stage of the process.
c) Ryan Finley, N.C. State: The Patriots found one Wolfpack quarterback in Jacoby Brissett a couple of years ago, and Finley could be the second. A guy who some are comparing to Mitchell Trubisky (which means he could see his stock go through the roof between now and the draft), the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder is an accurate pocket passer who is considered a good game manager. Through eight games, he;s completed more than 66 percent of his passes for 2,181 yards, with 12 TDs and just one interception. A redshirt junior, he might not declare for the draft, but if he does, he’s considered a high mid-rounder by some at this point, but that could change with a strong finish and some good pre-draft buzz.
2. One other note, as it relates to Garoppolo heading to the Niners. Garoppolo theoretically got a jump on the Niners offense last January when he was working as the scout team quarterback for Kyle Shanahan's offense in the run-up to the Super Bowl. As a result, while Garoppolo is apparently not slated to start this weekend, once he does enter the starting lineup, his acclimation process probably won’t take as long as some other signal-callers. (Oh, and five of San Francisco’s eight losses have been by one score or less. They’re winless, but there is some small reason for optimism when it comes to the Niners. Garoppolo’s arrival should add to that.)
3. Two more Patriots-related nuggets as it relates to the quarterback position: One, with the fundamental exchange of the 26-year-old Garoppolo for the 32-year-old Hoyer, New England is the oldest team in the league at the quarterback position with an average age of 36. (The team that was closest, at least according to our calculations, was Arizona, which has three quarterbacks on its roster with average age of 33.) And two, in terms of total years, Garoppolo was the longest-tenured backup to Brady since No. 12 became the started in 2001. Garoppolo’s three-plus years is the longest anyone backup has ever stayed in Foxborough working behind Brady.
4. Here are some of our favorite leftover quotes from the sit-down with the assistant coaches on Wednesday we weren’t able to utilize earlier in the week.
a) Defensive coach Brendan Daly on Deatrich Wise and Adam Butler: “I do think both of those guys have been a lot of fun to work with. They are hardworking guys. They have a positive attitude. They have the best intentions. They screw a lot of stuff up because they’re rookies and they don’t know — they aren’t trying to do it, but there’s just an element of getting them on the same page and some awareness and just figuring stuff out. But they’ve both proven to have the ability to make plays. And I think that’s the goal. Trying to keep working them and working with them and try to get more of the good plays and eliminate the disaster plays. They’ve worked had to do that. Hopefully, we’ll ses more of that going forward.”
b) Daly on Cassius Marsh: “Cassius has go a unique skill set. He’s a guy we evaluated in the draft process and had a very high opinion of. A lot of times when that happens, you don’t get an opportunity to work with that guy, and fortunately we’ve been able to. He works really hard. He’s a smart player who understands schemes and learns schemes fairly quickly. Plays extremely hard. High effort, high motor guy. Has made a number of plays for us in pursuit. … He’s a unique guy. I enjoy him. He’ s passionate guy. The game is important to him. He’s an emotional guy. He’s got a high level of competitiveness to him. Which is fantastic.”
c) Running backs coach Ivan Fears on the biggest surprise for the running backs: “That they’re all still healthy (laughter). … I don’t think I have a surprise. The expectations are pretty much what I expected. I expected them all to be very good players. They’re all good players, and I thought that given the chance, they’ll produce. And they have. And I think that’s been kind of nice.”
d) Fears on any fears Dion Lewis’ had when it came to his return from injury and hearing trade rumors: “That happens to anyone who has a major injury. Guy is coming off a injury, always … I think it’s a mental block. Part of it is mental. But once they get through it, once they get back to being themselves, they’re back and going. And Dion, he’s just like anybody else. When you have a big injury, you’re not sure. Now, he’s sure. (When it comes to trade rumors), you hear talk about it, and you’re not sure what’s true and what’s not. It’s not what you want to hear. I think he handled it pretty well. I really do. I don’t know how I would have handled it, all the stuff that can be said about you. I think those guys do a good job of focusing in at practice. He has never had a problem at practice or in a game. Whether he was bothered by it or not, I don’t know. But it didn’t affect him on the field and it (hasn’t) affected what he does for us.”
e) Special teams coach Joe Judge on getting new faces on the same page: “I think in anything within sports, you have to get used to playing next to a guy, especially when its a new situation. The best thing we can do as coaches is to simplify things for guys and keep their assignments base, so if we have to build in multiples, the more experienced guys can do that and they can just focus on their specific job. As they’re here, multiples build in naturally through understanding our system and understanding the concepts that are built in. But it definitely helps when guys you have guys on the field who … you watch Matt (Slater) and Nate (Ebner) and Brandon King and Brandon Bolden and those guys who have been in that group together for multiple years, I can put in a concept and they can adjust knowing what I’m thinking and knowing what each other are thinking. So our game plans are always evolving based on how much they can handle and what they’re seeing on the field and what they can identify as being favorable matchups for themselves.”
5. This story from Alex Marvez got us thinking about what sort of race it’s going to be this year for Comeback Player of the Year, and whether or not Rob Gronkowski is going to win the thing. I don’t have a vote in the process, but it’s amazing to consider the field that’s up for the honor this time around, a group that includes Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, Tennessee’s Marcus Mariota, Los Angeles running back Todd Gurley, and Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston. From this viewpoint, if he continues on his current pace, Gronkowski has a good a shot as anyone to take home the honors. But in an era where we see more and more season-ending injuries, it’s an amazing field that should have some element of star power every year.
6. At the halfway point, let’s take a quick look at some “on pace” totals for the Patriots’ offense:
Tom Brady: 5,082 yards, 32 touchdowns, 4 INTs, 42 sacks. It would represent the most passing yards he’s had since 2011. It would also represent a career-high in sacks.
Rob Gronkowski: 68 catches, 1,018 yards, 10 TDs. The totals would be his best since 2015, when he was healthy for 15 games. It would also mark the fourth time in his career he would go over 1,000 yards receiving.
James White: 86 catches, 730 yards, 2 TDs (56 carries, 240 yards). White would be just one of four running backs in franchise history with at least 55 catches and 55 carries in one season.
Brandin Cooks: 66 catches, 1,126 yards, 6 TDs. That would be 17 yards per catch for Cooks, which would put him in the conversation among the best in franchise history when it comes to yards per catch with at least 28 receptions.
Danny Amendola: 62 catches, 676 yards, 2 TDs. It would mark the second-highest output of his career when it came to receiving yardage.
Chris Hogan: 66 catches, 876 yards, 10 TDs. It would easily be a career-high for touchdown catches for Hogan.
7. We’ll hear this stat plenty in the next week or so, so let’s get it out of the way early: The Patriots are 12-5 following the bye under Bill Belichick. Their last loss? Last season to the Seahawks at home, a 31-24 loss to Seattle. Their last win? A 30-6 blowout of the Cowboys in Dallas in 2015.
8. As a team, on Sunday against the Chargers, the Patriots took six penalties for 80 yards, not counting those that were offset or declined. On the season, New England has 59 penalties (eighth-most in the league), and 543 penalty yards (fourth-most). Overall, here’s a look at players who have played at least 425 snaps this season and have one penalty or less:
Zero penalties
S Devin McCourty — 527 defensive snaps
S Duron Harmon — 432 defensive snaps
One penalty
QB Tom Brady — 593 offensive snaps
G Shaq Mason — 593 offensive snaps
WR Chris Hogan — 535 offensive snaps
CB Malcolm Butler — 508 defensive snaps
Most penalized by position (top 5 positions)
Special teams: 13 penalties for 112 yards
Offensive Line: 12 penalties for 125 yards
Cornerback: 7 penalties for 114 yards
Wide receiver: 7 penalties for 61 yards
Defensive Line: 7 penalties for 45 yards
Most frequently called penalties (top 5 types of penalties)
Offensive Holding: 10
False Start: 6
Offensive Pass Interference: 6 (tied for most in the league)
Illegal Block Above the Waist: 5
Defensive Pass Interference, Defensive Holding, Illegal Use of Hands, Defensive Offsides: 3
(As always, thanks to NFLpenalties.com for providing a database to help cross-check our information.)
9. Last week, I was 10-3 (hot streak!), and on the year, I’m 74-43. This week, I’ve got the Bills, Texans, Falcons, Eagles, Titans, Rams, Saints, Jaguars, Cardinals, Seahawks, Chiefs, Raiders and Packers.
10. This is when the fun starts. Game in November are almost always big, and trips to Denver are almost always important. Those are two reasons why this upcoming week will be so interesting. The Patriots will prep for a trip to Denver, and while the Broncos’ offense is sluggish at best, the defense is still playing excellent football, which means next Sunday’s game should be a good one. The Patriots will get Denver in the midst of one of its toughest months of the year, at the end of a three-game stretch that includes games against the Chiefs and Eagles. Meanwhile, New England will have the benefit of a few extra days to prepare because of the bye. Bring on the home stretch,