I've got you covered with positional previews, but for this weekend's notebook, I'm highlighting who I see as the Patriots' top 5 most valuable offensive players heading into the third week of July. How do I define most valuable? It is a combination of talent (duh), scheme fit, scheme importance, and that undefinable quality that you just know when you see it.
5. TreVeyon Henderson: The more I think about where the Patriots drafted him, the more I think he needs to be a major factor from jump. Based on what I saw this spring, he has that chance. Henderson has a gear that none of their backs have, not only on the roster but in recent memory (Sony Michel was supposed to be that. He wasn't).
4. Mike Onwenu: The only player on the offensive line (as currently constructed) who is in his football prime and being paid big money (relatively speaking). Onwenu has shown to be a very good guard at times. Last year, he wasn't that. A return to form is needed. Hoping we see a leaner 'Big Mike' in July.
3. Stefon Diggs: The Pats aren't paying him to be Nelson Agholor or DeVante Parker. The $18.5 million guaranteed (assuming he passes the physical) indicates that they believe he can be a difference maker, even at 31 (he'll be 32 in December) and coming off a torn ACL. Diggs didn't have the best spring (lack of attendance, viral video), but all will be forgiven (if not forgotten) if he is ready to go this summer. If Diggs can be a mid-to-low level #1, the trickle-down effect could be massive, especially if one of the young receivers can actually play (Kyle Williams, Ja'Lynn Polk, Efton Chism).
2. Will Campbell: The Pats had one of, if not the worst, offensive tackle situations in football in 2024-25. Enter Campbell, who earned just about every accolade possible at LSU. The Pats need him to be, at the very least, middle of the road as a rookie, especially when you consider where he was drafted. Campbell is reportedly handling the mental aspect of pro football. Let's see if he can handle the likes of Yaya Diaby, Joey Bosa, Malcolm Koonce, Chop Robinson (who tortured the Pats last year), and Alex Highsmith. There's a lot on him.
1. Drake Maye: He possesses all the physical talent in the world, and as a rookie, I saw a better processor than initially advertised. He needs to be because, despite efforts to dramatically upgrade the talent around him, the Pats had some swings and misses (Stanley, Godwin, Metcalf). The 22-year-old is now in a system that will ask even more of him. Is he up to it? Vrabel also wants Maye to flex his leadership muscles, something he didn't really have to a season ago. That, my friends, is a considerable amount of responsibility on his plate. If Maye is what this staff believes he is, he'll handle it.
IS THERE A PLAN?
Very few playoff teams made as dramatic personnel changes as the Houston Texans did this offseason. After firing offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, GM Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans took aim at their offensive line.
There was the shocking trade of left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who, despite a down year by his standard, was still the team's best lineman by a long shot. They also sent former first-rounder Kenyon Green to Philadelphia and cut Shaq Mason.
In their place, uncertainty damn near everywhere. They dealt for Minnesota guard Ed Ingram, who was one of the worst in football last season and signed a pair of talented but unmotivated tackles, Cam Robinson and Trent Brown (remember him?). They added another way-past-his-prime guard in Laken Tomlinson, who hasn't been good for at least three years and brought in Patriots' castoff Jake Andrews. We still have no idea if he can play. Add to this list second-round pick Airontae Ersery, who has a size you can't teach but isn't nearly as physical as he should be.
What that led to was a spring of mix-and-match. Ersery played both left and right tackle (along with second-year pro Blake Fisher). Tytus Howard moved from tackle to right guard. Andrews was starting one practice, then not the next (he's competing with Juice Scruggs and Jarrett Patterson).
"It was crazy, man," said Howard of all the offseason movement. "That's the game, though. That's the business. I'm just happy to be one of the guys that keeps making it through. So I just do my part and hold it down."
The Texans also changed line coaches, promoting former Pats assistant Cole Popovich to the head job. He seems to personify the change the brain trust wants to see with this group.
"As an O-line coach, you want a guy who exemplifies that persona that you want his group to be," said Howard. "He's a coach that has a background and had an offensive line that plays nasty, can establish the run, play physical in the pass game, and that's a group we want to be."
C.J. Stroud has been sacked 90 times during the first two years of his career, and the feeling around the Texans was that a large part of his second-year slide was because of what was happening in front of him. Caserio and Ryans are betting big they've changed that, but if I were them, I wouldn't use the house as collateral.
"It's never about one pick. It's never about one player," Caserio said. "I think the offensive line, in and of itself, is five guys playing as one. I would say, for DeMeco (Ryans) and I, we're not concerned about it. So, if we're not concerned about it, you guys certainly shouldn't be concerned about it either."
Alrighty then...
REBOUND
Despite some initial interest after he was released by the Rams, the Patriots quickly balked at Cooper Kupp's asking price. The lifelong West Coast native ultimately stayed in the area, joining the Seahawks on a deal that guarantees him $26.5 million, including $17.5 million at signing.
That's a big bet on a player who has struggled to stay healthy since the Rams' 2021-22 season, in which Kupp narrowly fell short of the 2,000-yard receiving mark in just 16 games and caught the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl win over the Bengals.
"You could have him covered on paper, but he's still going to get open," said Mike Macdonald of the times he game-planned for Kupp when he was on the other side. "That's something you have to experience in-game. You have to account for him on possession downs and high-leverage situations. You need to have two guys on him. He's a little bit different than straight-line vertical guys where you want more of a high-low double (team). You want him (Kupp])surrounded as much as possible. When you're allocating resources to him, it shifts where the stress points are on the rest of the field. He's a pain in the butt."
That pain in the butt is now an important part of an offense that will look dramatically different from the group Seattle rolled out last year. Klint Kubiak is the new offensive coordinator, and Sam Darnold takes over for Geno Smith, who was traded to Vegas.
"He's in the quarterback room dang-near at 6 a.m. every single morning, just grinding away," Darnold said of Kupp. "The details are important to him."
“I think, without a doubt, he’s got his best football ahead of him,” Kupp said of Darnold. “I love his competitiveness. He’s not OK with things being just OK.
“He wants to be perfect. He wants to be right. He wants to be good for the guys. That’s the standard he holds himself to, and I love it. The issue has never been whether he can throw the rock or not. I’ve been watching since he was at USC, and it’s like, ‘Man, he can throw the ball.’”
With Kupp and 100-catch receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Darnold will have two top-end options, assuming Kupp can stay on the field. The veteran wideout is also becoming quite the sounding board for Macdonald, who is leaning on Kupp's experience and some of that Sean McVay pixie dust that's rubbed off on him.
"Coop, he's gone against our defense, and he kind of knows how people attack us," said Macdonald. "Why wouldn't you run ideas by him to see what he thinks? I think we have proof on that front."
ANOTHER HIT?
The Eagles struck gold in the 2024 NFL Draft, grabbing cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean in the first two rounds. Both were rock stars for a defense that thrived in its first season under Vic Fangio, a season that ended with a Super Bowl title.
Philadephia GM Howie Roseman continued to pump young blood into a defense that may very well end up with 10 of its 11 starters on rookie contracts, taking Alabama LB Jihaad Campbell in round one and then surprising some folks by grabbing Andrew Mukuba at the end of round two.
Campbell is recovering from shoulder surgery, so there is nothing to see there yet. However, Mukuba is already making a push to start at safety and play a significant role when Fangio rolls out his dime defense, actually lining up in the slot this spring.
As Roseman said upon drafting Mukuba, “(it's) really hard to find cover safeties.” Thus far, it seems he has found one.
“He plays with mentality, you know?” added Roseman. “And this guy, it's just he plays an Eagles brand of football, and I think for us, you know, kind of the value fit the need right there.
The former University of Texas standout is running neck-in-neck with 2023 draftee Sydney Brown in the race to fill the void created by the trade of Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. If he brings those ball skills that helped highlight his year with the Longhorns - Mukuba had five interceptions - it's going to be hard to keep him off the field.
HOUSECLEANING
This column will take its annual summer break for the next couple of weeks. Fear not; positional previews will continue, and I'll be back in full force when training camp comes upon us.