We all want the Patriots to compete as soon as humanly possible. Many of us wanted Calvin Ridley on this team in 2024. The screams from every corner of New England can be heard, “I thought you were going to weaponize this offense, Eliot!!”
This is the time we should remind everyone reading: It’s March 15th. Now, that’s not to say things have gone perfectly. They obviously haven’t. We would have loved a trade for Keenan Allen. But, there’s a lot of time left in this offseason to improve the team. Call us crazy, but they won’t play a game that matters until about six months from now. We’re pretty sure Eliot Wolf isn’t sitting in his office eating Cheetos, as the time goes by.
We have to appreciate that the draft is the most important tool that Wolf has to turn this offensive roster around. Look at all the contenders, what’s one thing they have in common: Draft success. Whether it’s Kansas City, Detroit, San Francisco, or Baltimore, they all have homegrown talent helping “weaponize” their offense.
We understand the apprehension: There’s N’Keal Harry PTSD. The idea is that the Patriots just can’t evaluate wide receivers properly. They’ll just mess it up and draft the wrong guy(s).
There’s the fact that a lot of Patriots fans don’t even watch college football, so it’s tough for them to identify with a certain draft class. It’s tough to envision a young difference-maker when all you’ve watched is YouTube clips and heard local radio spend time pontificating on what hasn’t gone right, now and forever.
Finally, we have the outright fear of the unknown. These guys have never played at the NFL level! You never know who’s going to work out! Why trust these guys, when they haven’t earned it? Well, because that’s how it works.
To consistently win in the NFL, you have to draft and develop. Every team in every draft has to deal with the unpredictable. They have to rely on their scouting staff and front office to get it right. That’s their job. And, what happens if they screw it all up? They get fired and you start all over. At least the silver lining is that now the personnel leader is separate from the head coach. The Patriots no longer have to hang on to the guy who’s not doing well enough drafting the players, because he’s also the most decorated coach in NFL history.
This is what happens when you lose thirteen games. This is what happens during a rebuild. It takes some time, you have to make the right decisions, and pick the right players. You especially have to pick the right quarterback. If they do those things, we won’t be complaining about not dumping ridiculous money on Ridley in the 2024 offseason.
Embrace the draft. Rid your fear. You have to, because there is no other choice.
Celtics Thoughts
Here are some thoughts, while we watch the Celtics continue to dominate the NBA…
- Is Jayson Tatum going to keep playing? With the Celtics holding a double-digit lead in the Eastern Conference with less than twenty games left in the season, it would seem prime time to sit JT here and there. Don’t get us wrong, it’s commendable that Tatum is the anti-load management king. He loves playing and we should appreciate that. But, it caught this space’s attention when the decision was made to play Tatum in Portland on the second night of a back-to-back on the West Coast trip. Seemed like a perfect time to take a rest. He’s now played 62 of the 66 games this season. Let’s just make sure he takes a load off before the games that really matter.
- The Celtics are so good, anytime we mention a flaw, it’s nitpicking. Well, we have to nitpick about Jaylen Brown’s free throw issues. Brown has been excellent since the All-Star break, unless you watch him from the line. My goodness, it’s brutal. Brown is shooting 70.5% from the line, which is his lowest mark since the 2019-2020 season. What’s even more concerning is that JB is shooting 62.4% since the beginning of February. Every point matters in the postseason. Time to straighten things out, Jaylen.
- Xavier Tillman is going to fit perfectly and that’s before he started to make corner threes the last couple of games. Could you imagine? Unfortunately, Tillman hasn’t shot better than 30% from three since the 2020-2021 season, so let’s not get too giddy. And, frankly, Tillman does enough other things on the floor that he’s going to pay dividends in the postseason.
- Derrick White blocked Jusuf Nurkic last night. One-on-one and in the paint. That’s the thought.