Despite reaching the Super Bowl a season ago, and improving their roster, there are plenty of questions the Patriots need to answer in the coming weeks and months. With that in mind, I thought I’d pose a handful of concerns/thoughts today about the offense (handled the defense on Monday).
These aren’t the only questions I have, but the ones front of mind as we dive in headfirst this summer.
1. Can Will Campbell put the playoffs in the rearview mirror and be the left tackle of the now and of the future?
Before suffering a knee injury in Cincinnati, the rookie was, well, fine protecting Drake Maye’s blindside. Even average. Teammates and the coaching staff lauded Campbell for his play style and demeanor, and rare was the day that the rookie wasn’t soaking up wisdom from veteran Morgan Moses or guys like Harold Landry and K’Lavon Chaisson post-practice. Plus, he and Maye became Foxborough’s frick-and-frack, and who doesn’t enjoy a story like that?
You know how I feel about Pro Football Focus’ grading, but I can’t chart every tackle in football while covering this team, so take it for what it's worth. They had him graded 37th in pass pro and 40th as a run blocker through the first 12 weeks of the season.
That’s not to say it was perfect. Far from it. Pittsburgh’s Nick Herbig put Campbell in a blender during that Week 3 loss, especially in the second half. Cleveland’s Myles Garrett got him a month or so later (as he does to pretty much everyone). The better the competition, the more some of the warts in Campbell’s game revealed themselves.
Yes, the arm length was, at times, a problem (I know that bothers some of you, but we’ll get through this, together or separately). Also troublesome was Campbell’s over-reliance on thinking he could anchor late versus the caliber of rushers/athletes you see in the NFL. That worked extraordinarily well at LSU. Here? Not as much.
Post-injury Campbell was a different cat. He just didn’t have the strength necessary to hold up to the kind of power, and the results were ugly. His pass blocking ranking plummeted from the aforementioned 37th to 58th per PFF because, over that four-game playoff, Campbell was the worst-rated tackle in football. In addition, TruMedia had Campbell down for surrendering the third-most sacks of any tackle in football during the 2025-26 campaign.
Those numbers - and what my eyes told me - bring all the pre-draft questions about the player to light. If he’s healthy, Campbell can be competitive, and maybe even control league-average rushers. But the elite guys are always going to be a problem, and if he’s playing at less than 100% (and let’s face it, that number goes by the wayside quickly in an NFL season), even the Odafe Owehs of the world can make his life - and Maye’s - hell.
Meanwhile, the Pats took a career left tackle in Caleb Lomu in round one of the 2026 NFL Draft. While the publicly stated reason is a) they didn’t expect Lomu to be in range and b) good tackles are hard to come by, only a fool would write off taking a left tackle one year after drafting one as a nothing-burger. Ideally, Campbell is what they drafted him 4th overall to be - a franchise player - and Lomu makes the transition to the right side. But if that first scenario doesn’t play out, well, things just got a whole lot more interesting - and concerning - on the offensive line.
2. What is TreVeyon Henderson?
To cross sports, is Henderson the running back version of Dave Kingman/Rob Deer/Adam Dunn/any hitter in modern baseball, i.e., hit a home run or strikeout? Or was his inconsistent yet splashy rookie season (900+ yards rushing, 5.1 YPC, 10 total TDs) step one in becoming one of the best backs in football? I have no idea…
Henderson has seven runs of 20 or more yards, and when you consider that the first time he reeled off one of those big plays was week eight against the Browns, you could easily convince yourself that his leap already started in the second half of the season. But the playoffs painted a different picture, one that showed a reduction in touches and, to me, trust. The coaching staff had already gotten there with Henderson in pass protection months prior, but man, the postseason numbers were jarring.
Henderson went from averaging 15.7 touches from week 8 through week 18 (13.7 rush, 2.0 rec), to 8.75 in the playoffs (7.5 rush, 1.25 rec). Was that riding the hot-hand of Rhamondre Stevenson? The need to shore up protection because of the offensive line problems? Not believing Henderson would, at the very least, get what the defense was giving him/blocked up? An unknown injury (dude played a ton of football over the previous 18 months or so at Ohio State and in the NFL)? I’m certain of the first three playing a role.
I’ve written a ton about Henderson’s shortcomings as a runner (lack of vision/patience), and truly, that can be the difference between him toggling between spectacular and frustrating. But with another year in the system, the addition of fullback Reggie Gilliam, and hopefully an improved offensive line (and a normal offseason), the pieces are in place for Henderson to show if he’s ready for more of the workload and some of the league-wide buzz that exists (even if I think a fair amount of that is based on the highlight reel and not studying).
3. Where will Josh McDaniels go now that Julian Hill is out?
That’s a question I didn’t think I’d be raising a handful of months ago, but the Pats were excited about what he could do for the offense, especially in the run game. After talking to people around the league, so was I. However, an unfortunate injury during OTAs has cost Hill the season, and left McDaniels searching for a “Y” tight end.
Perhaps someone - 3rd-rounder Eli Raridon, ‘26 UDFA Tanner Arkin, ‘25 UDFA C.J. Dippre, or Jack Westover - can fill that role. Finding one off someone else’s roster won’t be easy, especially as the tight end position has exploded in popularity (thanks, Sean McVay). The Pats’ approach to this offseason - signing Hill, Gilliam, and G Alijah Vera-Tucker - was indicative of their desire to be more consistent on the ground (the team was 26th in rushing success rate), and that will become more challenging without some personnel flexibility, or, at least, the ability to be productive with that personnel.
A year ago, per SumerSports, the Pats didn’t have a single snap in 13 personnel, the only team in the league to abstain. They instead leaned on bringing in an extra offensive lineman. Like the majority of the league, the Pats were an 11 personnel team, although league-wide the percentage was around 60%, whereas the Pats were at 48.9% (24th in NFL). That said, 11 was very, very good to them; they finished #1 in EPA out of that grouping. Beyond that, here’s the breakdown:
12 personnel (RB, 2 TE, 2 WR): 19.3% (19th), 6th in EPA
21 personnel (2 RB, TE, 2 WR): 15.3% (4th), 11th in EPA
22 personnel (2 RB, 2 TE, WR): 7% (7th) , 27th in EPA
If they can’t find an effective in-house solution, McDaniels won’t throw out that personnel grouping. Hell, they ran the 21 with Westover, and he was, umm, okay (I guess). But as you look at the depth chart (and health), it’s hard not to think that being in 11 is the best way to go, and at a higher rate than last season.