NFL Notebook: Full offseason in Patriots' program will benefit likes of Dorsett and Britt

This week, we look at the continuation of the Pro Day trail, how Kyle Shanahan really felt when the Niners acquired Jimmy Garoppolo, and some more Patriots-related draft nuggets. But first, there's a quartet of New England players who are really looking forward to getting a full offseason in the program.


1. The news linebacker Marquis Flowers has re-upped with the Patriots gives New England four players on its roster for 2018 who were added either right before the start of the 2017 season or during the year: Flowers, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, defensive end Eric Lee and wide receiver Kenny Britt. It sounds like a minor thing, but having a full offseason in the Patriots’ system can be a huge help in terms of comfort and familiarity in the system and expectations from the coaching staff, not to mention the chance to build chemistry with teammates. So much of that foundation is added via offseason work. Whether it’s on the field (in the case of Britt and Dorsett, the chance to work with quarterback Tom Brady) or off (time together in meeting rooms, weight rooms, or just working on creating camaraderie), it’s all part of crafting a championship roster. Players who are added just before the start of the season or during the year have said it feels like they spend the whole year just playing catch up in hopes of reaching the same level as their counterparts who have been in the system for several months. This year, it could very well be a different story — provided they’re able to stick around, the expectation level around that quartet of players should spike significantly heading into '18. That’s particularly the case for Dorsett, a speedy pass catcher, good locker room presence and more-than-willing blocker who showed gains over the course of '17. Ultimately, none of this is to suggest that those four players are going to be All-Pros by the end of the 2018 season. It’s just to suggest that having a full offseason in the New England system should set the stage for an even playing field for them going into the new year.

2. One thing that’s worth pointing out is that while we’ve seen a lot of Bill Belichick and current Patriots’ assistants on the trail, Dante Scarnecchia has been operating slightly under the radar, at least when compared to previous years. However, according to reports, Scarnecchia was seen talking with University of Georgia offensive tackle Isaiah Wynn at UGA Pro Day. (Wynn did not participate because of recent shoulder surgery.) Scarnecchia was also at Notre Dame’s Pro Day on Thursday to catch a glimpse of guard Quenton Nelson and tackle Mike McGlinchey. The Notre Dame combo is really intriguing, as McGlinchey is considered to be one of the premier offensive tackles in the upcoming draft. Historically, the Patriots have almost always given at least one pick over to Dante — given the shuffling that’s gone on at the tackle spot this offseason, it’ll be interesting to see what ends up happening this time around.



3. Interesting nugget about Jimmy Garoppolo from an ESPN Radio interview with Niners GM John Lynch: when San Francisco initially traded for Garoppolo, coach Kyle Shanahan was “in mourning” over the deal because he was still holding out hope the Niners could land Kirk Cousins. “I think everybody knows his master plan was to have Kirk Cousins come in eventually,” Lynch said of Shanahan, referencing the closeness between the two which started with their time together with the Redskins. “(But) I was proud of Kyle. Because I think he knew that this was the right thing for our franchise, and he didn't hesitate. But even then Jimmy had to really prove himself. I think it was really smart. (Kyle) didn't play him right away. He waited until he had some semblance of an understanding of our scheme when he did put him in. And he put him in in a position to succeed. And then I would tell you that Jimmy really impressed Kyle, to the point that he said, 'This is our guy.'"

4. As of Saturday evening, here’s a quick look at some of the most notable available free agents at each position:

Quarterback: Jay Cutler, Geno Smith
Running back: DeMarco Murray, Darren Sproles, Adrian Peterson
Wide receiver: Jeremy Maclin, Eric Decker
Tight end: Ben Watson, Marcedes Lewis, Antonio Gates
Offensive line: Austin Howard, Luke Joeckel
Edge defender: Junior Galette, Connor Barwin, Pernell McPhee
Defensive line: Ndamukong Suh
Linebacker: Jonathan Casillas, Brian Cushing, Navorro Bowman
Cornerback: Bashaud Breeland, Delvin Breaux, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie
Safety: Kenny Vaccaro, Eric Reid, Mike Mitchell

And here’s a look at the Patriots’ official offseason tote board:

Adds/Acquisitions: NT Danny Shelton (via trade), CB Jason McCourty (via trade), RB Jeremy Hill, DE Adrian Clayborn, OL Matt Tobin, WR/KR Cordarrelle Patterson (via trade).
Returnees: RB Rex Burkhead, ST/RB Brandon Bolden, ST/DB Brandon King, ST Nate Ebner, ST Matthew Slater, OT LaAdrian Waddle, LB Marquis Flowers.
Visits: TE Asante Cleveland, LB Jonathan Casillas, CB Delvin Breaux, *OL Matt Tobin, *DE Adrian Clayborn, *RB Jeremy Hill (* — signed with team).
Losses: WR Danny Amendola (Miami), CB Malcolm Butler (Tennessee), RB Dion Lewis (Tennessee), OT Nate Solder (New York Giants), CB/ST Johnson Bademosi (Houston), OT Cameron Fleming (Dallas).
Unsigned: LB James Harrison.

5. The Patriots haven’t selected a Boston College player since they chose Ron Brace in the second round of the 2009 draft, but two names continue to jump off the page: edge rusher Harold Landry and cornerback Isaac Yiadom. Landry is a guy whose stock has continued to rise throughout the offseason to a point where some consider him to a late first-round possibility. (New England defensive line coach Brendan Daly certainly sounds like a believer.) As for Yiadom, his selection would be a double-dip on a local level: he’d also be the first New England native since Brace to be taken by the Patriots.



6. One other local note that’s really good news — Massachusetts native Maurice Hurst was cleared to resume football activities on Thursday after a heart scare, which meant the Michigan defensive tackle got his chance to participate at the Wolverines’ Pro Day on Friday. Hurst, who grew up in Canton and went to Xaverian Brothers High School, is considered one of the top defensive linemen in this draft class, and he showed as much on Friday. After not being able to take part in the combine, he posted a 4.97 40 (which would have been one of the fastest 40s at the combine for a defensive tackle) and a 31-inch vertical. The 6-foot-1, 291-pounder, who is the son of former Patriots cornerback of the same name, is considered a first-round prospect.

7. Our weekly draft note details how the Patriots have used their selections when it comes to their high-value picks — fundamentally, their choices when they've drafted in the top 100. Since Belichick took over prior to the start of the 2000 season, New England has picked in the top 100 on 60 occasions. (The most? The Patriots had six top 100 picks in 2009. The fewest came in 2007 with just one.) While it's important to note that every year is different — and so priorities vary from year-to-year — New England has selected more defensive backs (15) than any other position when it has had a top 100 pick. The Patriots have taken 12 defensive linemen in the top 100 in that time, and seven linebackers. Offensive line (eight) is next, followed by wide receiver (six). Rounding out the list? Quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends (four each).

8. The release of the regular-season schedule is an annual event which usually happens sometime in mid- to late-April. However, if history is any indication, be on the lookout for the release of the preseason schedule sometime in the next couple of weeks. Over the last decade, the preseason schedule has been announced somewhere between March 30 and April 10. We haven’t heard anything yet when it comes to joint practices, but based on previous years, it’s a safe bet we’ll see at least one of those this summer. And it wouldn’t be a Patriots’ preseason slate unless there was the preseason finale against the Giants.

9. The biggest thing to come out of the league meetings this week in Orlando will (hopefully) be more clarity when it comes to the catch rule. The latest chapter in the NFL’s sorry soap opera will be re-opened this week, as the league tries to bring clarity to what has become an endless debate. This has been looming since the Super Bowl when Roger Goodell said he wanted to “start over again” when it came to the ruling. First thought? The “surviving the ground” aspect is going to be tossed out. Check out the rest of thoughts here from Al “Replay” Riveron.

10. It’s the last big week on the Pro Day calendar. The feeling here is that we’ll see Patriots coaches make an appearance this week in Arkansas, Florida, Louisville and Western Kentucky. (WKU’s Mike White is one of the potential mid-round quarterbacking prospects who could draw the attention of the Patriots.)

Monday: Arkansas, Baylor, Iowa, South Florida.
Tuesday: Appalachian State, Florida Atlantic, Iowa State, Kansas, Mississippi, Texas A&M.
Wednesday: Florida, Maryland, Miami, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Navy, Texas, UTSA.
Thursday: Houston, Louisville, Rice, Southern Mississippi, UCF, Utah, West Virginia.
Friday: BYU, TCU, Western Kentucky, Yale.

11. One of our favorite quotes from this past week came via our introductory conference call with Jason McCourty, who recalled his personal football history with his brother Devin, going all the way back to their time together as Pop Warner teammates for the Valley Cottage Indians. “Football-wise, me and Dev have played on the same team all the way up until 2009 when I was drafted by the Titans. Back then, I can remember I was waking up early,” Jason recalled when asked about their time together as youngsters. “We played our games Sunday mornings and as we moved up they moved the times later and later. We’d wake up and we’d go outside and we’d go over all of the plays that we had in for the day. If one of us was the running back, the other one’s pretending to hand him the ball off as the quarterback or throwing passes. I just remember us always trying to compete with one another, but for the most part just wanting to be on the same team to push each other to try to succeed together. Those are probably some of the funnest memories when it comes to football, just being able to be out there playing free and just having fun.”

12. A fond farewell and best of luck to Martellus Bennett, who announced his retirement in his trademark unique style on social media Friday. Fans probably don’t care much about this sort of thing (and that’s OK), but even though he was only in New England for a year-plus, he became one of the singular most quotable guys on the roster. Frank, forthcoming and pretty much always friendly, his best line probably came early in camp in 2016. With Tom Brady scheduled to miss the first four games, he faced the unique challenge of trying to build chemistry with two different quarterbacks in the same stretch. Is that difficult? “I’ve dated two girls at the same time before,” he said with a shrug and smile. Best of luck to him and the rest of The Imagination Agency.

 

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