Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your day. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
Good morning! It's time to start planning your fall and winter schedules -- the regular-season schedule is being unveiled Thursday at 8 p.m. Two important things to remember here:
a) We already know the opponents — we’re just waiting for the dates and times of each game.
b) A cross-check of the Gillette Stadium events page reveals that Ed Sheeran is playing in Foxborough on Friday. Sept. 14 and Saturday, Sept. 15. This means the Patriots will almost certainly be on the road for Week Two.
--Thinking about this one the other day — what was Bill Belichick’s best draft in New England? In chronological order, we have five possibilities.
2000: Tom Brady
It’s only one guy, but come on.
2003: Dan Koppen, Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson, Ty Warren, Tully Banta-Cain
Koppen, Samuel, Wilson and Warren all stepped in to contribute immediately as rookies, and just about all of them would go on to have lengthy careers (and take home multiple Super Bowl rings). Meanwhile Banta-Cain carved out an impressive niche as a situational pass rusher for a number of seasons.
2009: Patrick Chung, Sebastian Vollmer, Julian Edelman
The most underrated draft of the Belichick Era. It took a few years, but it provided the Patriots with three players who were starters for an extended stretch.
2010: Devin McCourty, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Brandon Spikes, Zoltan Mesko
The most productive draft of the Belichick Era, the inclusion of McCourty and Gronkowski alone would be enough to make this list, but the addition of Hernandez and Spikes made it the most impactful.
2015: Malcom Brown, Trey Flowers, Shaq Mason
Three foundational piece of the Patriots’ success the last couple of years, Flowers and Mason could be in line for new deals sooner rather than later. (Just edges out 2013’s class of Jamie Collins, Logan Ryan and Duron Harmon and the 2014 group of Jimmy Garoppolo, James White and Cameron Fleming.)
Now, on with the links...
1. Mike Loyko has an incredibly detailed look at this year's running back class and how it all relates to the Patriots. I'm not sure you're going to find a more detailed breakdown of this year's group of backs, and how they all might fit in New England.
2. Miguel asks a really important question: Can Tom Brady's contract history provide some clues about a timeline for a possible extension?
3. I'll have a Q&A at 1 p.m. on Wednesday -- it'll be a one-off this week. We're moving to Monday next week. Get your questions in now.
4. Slater really doesn't like the idea of eliminating the kickoff.
5. Mike Reiss wonders what the Patriots might look for at running back in this year's draft.
6. John Rooke says it's time for Gronk to stop playing games.
7. Going to be honest with you -- the sight of Danny Amendola in teal and orange is going to take some getting used to.
8. In advance of Thursday's schedule release, NFL.com unveiled its 18 most-anticipated games of 2018. The Patriots are involved in five of them.
9. Ian Rapoport says he's hearing that BC's Harold Landry won't reach the Patriots at No. 23. And he also says that Alabama wide receiver Calvin Ridley is visiting the Patriots on Wednesday. That's on the heels of Christian Kirk visiting on Tuesday.
10. Brady was trending on Tuesday because of that sketch.
Extra Point:
#Patriots Edelman and Kraft making an appearance on the jumbotron! ? pic.twitter.com/VAAYr3S4BC
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 18, 2018