FOXBOROUGH — You guys know me well. Most of you have read me on the Patriots for the better part of a decade, whether it's been locally or on a national scale. You know I don't go overboard about much, especially offseason practices in football "underwear" — shirts, shorts and no pads. Real football doesn't take place until the pads go on in camp, so how can you measure a man before then? You also know I'm not easily impressed — and I'm not going to apologize for holding any Bill Belichick team that wears navy. blue and silver to a high standard.
With that out of the way, I came away from Thursday's offseason practice with one overriding thought: despite the fact that core players like Tom Brady, Kyle Van Noy, Michael Bennett, Sony Michel, Patrick Chung, Isaiah Wynn and Deatrich Wise weren't even on the field ... holy mackerel, do these Patriots have a ton of talent. And, if things come together in certain respects (this is far from a finished product, just like any Belichick team), it might not take me long to repeat what I said when I first saw the 2014 Patriots: this team is going to the Super Bowl, if not winning it.
No, I haven't gone Full Bobo or anything. And, no, I wasn't put into a trance watching the likes of Brian Hoyer, Danny Etling and Jarrett Stidham — actually, I was somewhat horrified and came away thinking, Josh McDaniels is really going to earn his large paycheck this season.
It was just everywhere I looked, there were waves and waves of talent, similar to that 2014 roster. Look, I'm not going to sugarcoat it (good to be back!): tight end, left tackle and right end are areas of concern, and receiver will be a work in progress. But those areas can be mitigated in time.
Other spots? I don't know how they going to keep everybody.
Take off-the-ball linebacker for example. Elandon Roberts was the starter, but you have Ja'Whaun Bentley coming back from injury with Dont'a Hightower and Jamie Collins roaming around. And Van Noy wasn't even out there, plus Christian Sam is coming back from injury. In recent years, it felt like the Patriots were scraping to find one decent linebacker. Now, they're all over the place — and don't worry about the multiple pass rush going away; it was omnipresent.
In the secondary, your head starts spinning when you look at different combinations between Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, J.C. Jackson, Jonathan Jones, JoeJuan Williams, Keion Crossen and Ken Webster. And that's just the cornerbacks!
At safety, you didn't even miss Chung with Obi Melifonwu directing traffic with Devin McCourty and Duron Harmon with Terrence Brooks (easy to see he's a Belichick favorite already) on the second team.
I mean, are you kidding me?
I'm not going to go through the whole roster, but there are good groups on the defensive and offensive lines. Even the receivers don't lack for talent ... we just need to see someone good throwing to them and for them to understand the offense a bit better. Still, this was a good first step, especially for first-round pick N'Keal Harry, who was already deftly catching a back-shoulder jump ball against Jackson. He also had a leaping grab in the end zone and looked really good and athletic on a shallow drag.
Look, there's still a lot of work when you talk about tight end, left tackle, Brady's successor (he might have to play until he's 50), and on the edge. And we'll have to see if a really green defensive coaching staff can bring it all together. But there's largely no shortage of talent on this team. With Belichick at the helm and Brady due back at some point from his summer break, that's a great place to start.
Some other thoughts:
- Very interesting that Jerod Mayo was the one barking the defensive signals into the walkie-talkie — normally the duties of the defensive coordinator. This was far from a game — and all the calls are largely scripted ahead of time, plus he knows how to speak fluent Mike linebacker — but that was significant to me. It was also interesting to see Mayo have some apparent disagreements with Bret Bielema and other defensive assistants on some of the calls. Lots to sort out.
- Saw some Joe Thuney at left tackle for the first time in his Patriots career. ... Cedrick Lang is enormous at the same spot. Hopefully Wynn is back soon. Not great that he wasn't on the field.
- At tight end ... the Patriots appear to be really speed deficient at the position. Austin Seferian-Jenkins still has to get on the field. There's a long way to go, but I could see them start to de-emphasize the position if it keeps up. Ben Watson is solid all-around and certainly functional, but he's well past his prime.
- Part of the reason to de-emphasize tight end? Between running back and receiver, there are a lot of options. We'll have to see how it all shakes out.
- Significant to me that Melifonwu was next to Devin McCourty and he wasn't exactly playing Chung's spot. I think Obi is one of those guys who will get a chance to flash early and if they don't, they're gone. There are a lot of guys like that on this roster that is obviously deep. Derek Rivers is another. With no Wise and Bennett, Rivers got a lot of time.
- Hightower looks like a different person. Saw him working with the bands on the sideline. A new featured TB12 client? He's so thin. Can he still be as physically imposing in the past? We'll see. Should be quicker, at least.
- Mike Pennel is an enormous man. He is muscled, from his huge calves to his traps. Must be very tough to move.
- LaCosse appeared to be dealing with a left hammy throughout practice.
- Chase Winovich looks like a shorter and less athletic Clay Matthews with his flowing hair, shirt sleeves rolled up like he's trying to even out his tan (really?) and No. 52 jersey. Gave me Packers flashbacks.
- David Parry got a lot of time at NT, and he's built like a dorm-room fridge.
- Duke Dawson was at corner and in the slot most of the time.
- At one point, Belichick had his arm around the shoulder of Terrence Brooks. Yeah, I think Bill likes him. Might be his Jordan Richards/Tavon Wilson replacement binky.
- Will have more thoughts over the weekend.