Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne caused some waves last week when he told some reporters that the Patriots were running a "new system" on offense.
"I mean, we do have a new system, but (Mac Jones is) just comfortable in the NFL," Bourne told NESN.com at a charity event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts.
"New words, new terminology. That’s the biggest thing. Football is football; I say it all the time. It’s lines on the paper, and you follow the lines, but at the end of the day, you’ve got to be a football player, and you have to sometimes adjust."
Ok, certainly interesting. But what does it mean? While we don't know every in and out of what's going on due to the Patriots' secretive nature (they should be about scheme), here's what we do know:
As we alerted you to on May 24th, off the very first open practice — 3 lingering thoughts on Patriots practice - Offensive scheme change? — the Patriots basically ran the Kyle Shanahan zone scheme the entire practice:
Look ... about the dumbest thing you can do as an NFL writer is to go to one practice, see something different and then run off and talk about how Team X is totally changing how they do Y. It's one practice. In May. In shorts. So I just want to throw out that huge caveat.
But a funny thing happened at Patriots practice ... actually a few funny things. And they lead you to wonder if the Patriots are opening up their playbook a bit to incorporate some of the recent trends around the league — if not changing their offensive scheme entirely (which I highly doubt).
But, this is absolutely true: the Patriots ran more staples of the Shanahan offense — outside zone runs, stretch play-action passes that I can remember.
At Tuesday's practice this week, it was much of the same, even if they didn't do a whole lot — although there was some man run blocking. We will know more Tuesday-Thursday at the mandatory minicamp when all the players have to be there.
Here are five further thoughts on the topic:
1. Seriously doubt they are moving to an entirely new scheme.
The genius of the Shanahan offense has little to do with the passing offense, it has to do with the running game and the short passes off of that. The Patriots might be incorporating more of the Shanahan system, but it could only be for the running game, slip screens, reverses, etc. — which Bourne would be a big part of as kind of their skinny Deebo Samuel. You can still have the same offense you've always had, but basically install a new portion of the playbook. That can happen in an offseason without everyone starting back at square one.
By the way, have you ever heard anyone rave about the difficulty covering the Shanahan passing offense? No, in fact you could argue it's not good enough at the end of the day without top talent — look at the 49ers' postseason failures and how the Rams had to load up to win their Super Bowl. The genius is in the rushing offense and complimentary pass plays run off it.
2. Belichick has been trying to do this for years.
Bill Belichick has long had a fascination with the Shanahan offense and has sought to get it implemented more in New England in recent years, but was buffered by other people (Tom Brady, Josh McDaniels, Dante Scarnecchia among others) who didn't think the Patriots had the right pieces to do it — and didn't want to waste the time for a fruitless venture. Now with the holdovers gone and — in a running theme throughout the football side of the organization — Belichick having surrounded himself with people who dare not counter him, there's no more governors to the Patriots going full-throttle into this new frontier. Joe Judge and Matt Patricia have no practical experience on offense ... who are they to tell Belichick that this is a bad idea?
The Patriots could just be using this time to take a look at it through the mini-camp, and then the coaches will decide if it's worth pursuing come training camp. That happens.
(Adam Richins for BSJ)
3. Questionable if the Patriots have the personnel to do it.
Could Mac Jones operate this offense? Absolutely. Do they have the receivers to do it? Mostly, although you'd want more a Samuel type behind the line of scrimmage and in the backfield — although Ty Montgomery is a Target-brand Samuel. They have potential H-backs in Jonnu Smith and Dalton Keene.
The bigger question mark is the offensive line. The zone scheme was founded with the Broncos under line coach Alex Gibbs using undersized but highly mobile linemen. They are playing angles, not the man in front of them. Given today's defensive linemen and their size, man blocking would be a losing proposition for many undersized linemen — and that would include first-round pick Cole Strange.
As for the Patriots' personnel, Strange is basically straight out of zone blocking casting — he can run like the dickens. David Andrews can do it, and Isaiah Wynn — if they even want him anymore since he's again putting the off in offseason — would be an ideal left tackle for a zone scheme. But Mike Onwenu and Trent Brown are huge, strong and physical — not ideal fits for the zone scheme, although I'm sure they could do it at times.
The other thing about the zone scheme is it takes a lot out of those linemen physically, given all the running and cutting, etc. Brown has enough issues staying healthy in the Patriots' normal scheme. The zone blocking scheme would greatly increase his chance of injury.
4. If they are changing schemes entirely, you just wasted a year, probably another — and put Mac Jones at risk.
One of the reasons the Patriots have been so successful is, despite coaches leaving for other opportunities, the team has always had the same offensive and defensive playbooks. Nick Saban was going to do that with the Dolphins — and used the Patriots and Belichick as his reasoning for doing that (Belichick was going to do the same with the Browns. Saban does same with Alabama). The quickest way to ruin one side of the ball or the other is to entirely change playbooks when one coordinator exits, and you bring in an outsider. Everyone has to start over again. It's why the Jets have been the Jets, and the Lions are the Lions. The Falcons had Shanahan and rode him to great heights from 2015-16. But when he left for the 49ers, the Falcons changed schemes and slowly descended to a fired coach (Dan Quinn) and now total rebuild with QB Matt Ryan traded, by going from Shanahan to Steve Sarkisian to Dirk Koetter to now Dave Ragone as offensive coordinator.
Now that McDaniels left, the Patriots are just going to change schemes ... and become like every other team? A normal Patriots team would have taken what new offensive players (Mac Jones, Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry) did last year when they went from 27th in points and yards in 2020, to 15th in yards, sixth in points and third in combined explosive plays in '21, and just built off that with the next in-house McDaniels or Bill O'Brien.
If they do move in a new direction, basically last year was a total waste (on top of the wasted 2020 season), this year will be a challenge for them to master a new scheme in one season, and then where does that leave them for 2023?
Changing schemes after a QB's rookie season, especially when he got a master's level education under a McDaniels and season's worth of trial and errors, is straight out of the How To Ruin Your Franchise QB book published by countless teams in recent years (ask Marcus Mariota, Tua Tagovailoa, Daniel Jones, Baker Mayfield, Mitch Trubisky, Carson Wentz, etc. how that worked out for them).
Going with Judge and Patricia was one thing. Changing schemes at the same time is basically tripling the riskiness of the approach to the 2022 season.
5. So who's the in-house Shanahan expert?
Let's just say for a moment that the Patriots are indeed moving to a new scheme ... I'm sorry, did I miss the part where Patricia, Judge, Belichick or anyone else wearing a Flying Elvis on their sweatshirt served as an apprentice to Shanahan or one of his disciples for multiple seasons, learning exactly how you install this scheme, the coaching points needed, how you gameplan with these plays, how you call plays on the fly?
I mean, yes, Bourne was absolutely correct in saying that football is football. But there is a well-worn path and art in how you do all of those above things with a new scheme, and it doesn't come from watching film or reading old playbooks circling around the internet and watching coaching lectures on YouTube. If that's the case, I apparently have the right resume to lead the Patriots' offense this season. (Call me, Bill.)
It's incredible that with each passing week, just when you thought they couldn't top it, Belichick and the Patriots seem to be increasing the degree of difficulty for this offense to approach what they did last season — to say nothing of the improvements needed on defense and special teams.
If Belichick pulls this off, it may be his greatest coaching feat ever — albeit overcoming multiple circumstances that he put himself in directly.
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(Adam Richins for BSJ)
NICKEL PACKAGE
1. If the Patriots are indeed interested in trading left tackle Isaiah Wynn, who was MIA again last week but will have to arrive for Tuesday's three-day minicamp (should be an interesting podium session), they are going to have a hard time, according to one NFL executive.
"Nobody wants the contract — $10 million for an average, at best, left tackle who doesn’t love football? No thanks," he said.
Of course, tackles are in short supply. Patriots have to be rooting for an injury someplace that will make another team desperate enough.
2. Don't really blame the Patriots for being here with Wynn — it's one of the few loopholes where the player has the advantage.
No one should cry for NFL teams and owners, the way they can control player finances with a number of mechanisms. But Wynn has apparently become the poster child for why players have teams over a barrel when it comes to the fifth-year option.
Teams have to decide on it by early May before the fourth season for first-round rookies. If the team picks it up, the salary for the fifth season is guaranteed — all against the cap. Basically, teams are stuck with that player for, now. two years. Most of the time it's fine, the player is either not worth the option, or he's good enough that he'll sustain his level of play and effort. But those players in the middle, the kind like Wynn who have either had some injury issues and/or you're anticipating them to go to another level with another year or two of seasoning, they are a risk. They could go in either direction. If they don't continue to improve or rest on their laurels, the team is basically held hostage. I would expect teams to try to change the rules on this at some point.
(Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
3. If Wynn doesn't rebound this season, that 2018 draft was just a disaster. That group should have provided the core for this team. Instead, Wynn, the 23rd overall pick, is average to the point you're hoping to trade him just to recoup the $10 million in cap space. Sony Michel, the 31st overall pick, was traded as the team has spent a third (Damien Harris), two fourths (Rhamondre Stevenson, Pierre Strong), and a sixth (Kevin Harris) in three of the last four drafts at running back. And 56th pick, CB Duke Dawson, never played a game in New England and was out of the NFL after the 2020 season.
Think Belichick wants a do-over? Think of this team with RB Nick Chubb (35th), LB Darius Leonard (36th), and OT Orlando Brown (83rd) or TE Mark Andrews (86th) instead.
4. One draft pick we're not giving ground on yet is Patriots safety Kyle Dugger. The Patriots' first selection in 2020 (37th overall) was a bit of a surprise out of Lenoir-Rhyne, has flashed tremendous ability at times. And while 64th pick Jeremy Chinn is being mentioned as a possible All-Pro candidate this offseason for the Panthers, this could be the year it all comes together for Dugger. The pieces are there. Interesting to see what happens with both players.
5. Classic Belichick last week when I followed up on a Josh Uche question:
Q: Do you think Josh Uche has that inside-outside versatility similar to what we’ve seen of Dont’a in the past here?
Belichick: “It’s a stretch to compare almost anybody to Hightower. You’re talking about one of the best linebackers that’s ever played here.”
Another reporter: Would you welcome Dont’a back for this season?
Belichick: “Let’s talk about the players that are on the team right now.”
Lol. He brought up Hightower (even though I obviously wasn't comparing Uche to Hightower) and opened the door. Then he slammed it shut. Love it.