Bedard: Picking out three Patriots who may surprise and disappoint this summer

The Patriots are set to make assistant coaches available to us on Thursday, and then there's another open media practice on Friday. In between those availabilities, we'll tackle some of the looming questions about this team and roster as we progress through the summer. Would love to see your bigger picture questions in the comments and maybe we'll add them to the list.

We'll start with three players who could pop, and three that could slide this summer for the Patriots:

PLAYERS WHO COULD SURPRISE THIS SUMMER

3. Josh Uche, LB

The 2020 second-round pick got off to a slow start last season — he basically didn't play until Week 10 — but he was a factor early on in camp at linebacker before disappearing in the early portion of the season. And when Uche did get a chance to play, there were some splashes of good play, mostly as a rusher. Now the task is finding out where he plays. Uche appears to be on the Dont'a Hightower Jr. Plan — starting at linebacker and then rushing in sub, and there are indications he would be Hightower's running mater once things get ramped up. The Patriots have more than enough guys on the edge, from Matthew Judon and Kyle Van Noy to Chase Winovich and Anfernee Jennings and Deatrich Wise. They don't have much proven at linebacker. They need a lot more speed on the second level their defense and I think that Uche has a chance to do that for them.

2. Jacobi Meyers, WR

Part of my reason for picking him is sort of playing to the narrative. As a writer, you're always looking for really good stories. And Meyers could be a really good story. The Patriots signed two other receivers, fans are openly lusting for a declining Julio Jones. Wouldn't it be something of Meyers emerged to replace Julian Edelman all on his own? I think he has a lot of potential to follow in the footsteps of Troy Brown, Wes Welker and Julian Edelman. I love Meyers as a player: he's really smart, he catches the ball all the time, he always bounces back up. He's the type of kid that you root for on this team. He could develop into being Mr. Reliable for this team.

He's the type of guy that you just, you look at and you're just like, alright, this guy could be something. People made fun of me going a little overboard about him after the Seattle game, but that's how I felt and that's how I continue to feel about him. I think he could be better than Jamal Adams but don't tell anyone I said that out loud. His blitzing coming from the second level ... it's very rare. Those safety/linebacker hybrids are plentiful but there aren't many good ones. Certainly Adams is the best right now and they're similar players in that both are great in the box and blitzing, but they struggle to cover in space at this point. It was encouraging to hear Dugger list Rodney Harrison as a mentor, but the bigger news was what Harrison told Mike Reiss they were working on:

"I've been telling him 'You can cover. You just have to believe in yourself a little bit more. Don't give those tight ends free releases. Get up there and jam them -- you're a big kid, you're strong, so get up there and challenge them and don't make it easy for them,'" Harrison said.

"In the pass game, I just want to see him play with more confidence. He just has to believe what he sees. I tell him, 'Believe what you see and go get it! Don't second-guess yourself! Be aggressive! You don't need to play careful.'

The best sign here is Dugger being real about where he is and wanting to get better. He needs to play better in space. Anybody can anybody can blitz and run and go and tackle, even if you're not all that talented. For his career and his ceiling as a player, Dugger has to get better in coverage and this was all a great first step. I'm looking for him to be a real force down the stretch and into the postseason.

PLAYERS WHO COULD DISAPPOINT THIS SUMMER

3. Henry Anderson, DE/DT

Yes, I was very excited and had been pushing for Anderson to land with the Patriots as a cap casualty, and that came to fruition. But in the first OTA practice — and not much was going on with the lines so this was just a gut feeling — I wondered if Anderson might get squeezed out of a role here at some point. He's a solid player and has experience playing this spot with the Colts and Jets, but the Patriots now have a lot of options on the defensive line aside from Lawrence Guy and Davon Godchaux — Christian Barmore, Byron Cowart, Deatrich Wise, Montravius Adams and guys who have been around (Nick Thurman, Akeem Spence, Carl Davis, Bill Murray). Anderson is a bit of an acquired taste and you won't notice he's on the field for long stretches. He's getting $3 million guaranteed so I think he sticks for this season, but I just wonder if he makes much of an impact with more sudden players around. 

2. Deatrich Wise, DE/DT

Everyone knows I was member No. 1 of the Deatrich Wise Fan Club in his first training camp, and his infectious personality has definitely led him to be a leader and popular player. He's a great guy, a tireless worker and a great locker room presence. I think that alone led him to that contract extension as a Bill Belichick favorite (we've seen him do this often with players he likes). But Wise still doesn't really have a position in this defense anymore. He gives you some value because he's sort of like a 3-4/4-3 swing guy, but he's not really all that good at that. Wise is a 4-3 end and when he came to this team, that's what they played — he was targeted as a Trey Flowers understudy of sorts. But the Patriots are now a 3-4 team and Wise is not big enough or sturdy enough to play the five technique ... yet they gave him a four-year contract extension. I have a hard time seeing how Wise lives up to that money at any point. But then again, how much do you value the locker room and intangible stuff? Sometimes, yes, that can be worth it.

1. Trent Brown, OT

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I really like this roster and all of the moves the Patriots made this offseason. And I like the idea of Trent Brown from his first go-round with the team. But a lot has changed since then, especially Brown getting his big contract and Dante Scarnecchia retiring again. But Brown is a good player when he's right. The idea of giving him $6.5 million guaranteed scares me. If he reaches $10 million with incentives, it will be worth it. Could Brown disappoint? Sure. But I'd call him more my No. 1 worry on the team after QB. For years the Patriots had good stability at right tackle and Marcus Cannon was the most unassuming and largely reliable player. With Brown, the Patriots are inviting a lot of unknowns into that locker room — he's not the same person as when he was here last time because money is a great motivator. He's basically quit on two other NFL franchises. He's been hurt a ton since he left New England. And with $6.5 million at least tied up into Brown, the Patriots don't have many options if he doesn't work out (the Patriots might have been safer sticking with Mike Onwenu at RT and signing and/or drafting a less costly option at guard). If Brown doesn't work, it's going to set off musical chairs that could take the Patriots offensive line from being a great strength — which they need with Cam Newton or Mac Jones at QB — to a potential unnecessary headache.