New England’s director of scouting thinks the team has enough talent on offense.
The New England Patriots’ offense was one of the least productive in the NFL in 2023. While a big part of that was subpar play at the quarterback position, the supporting cast also left a lot to be desired due to a combination of inconsistency, injury, and inexperience.
The unit’s struggles overall were the primary reason for New England going just 4-13, and a new era eventually being ushered in after that disappointing 2023 season. Not only did long-time head coach Bill Belichick leave the organization, the Patriots also completely rebuilt their offense under his successor, Jerod Mayo.
Even though this process saw extensive changes to the coaching staff, the Patriots did not made any significant upgrades to their roster. Despite being among the league leaders in salary cap space, the biggest deals handed out were to a possible bridge or backup quarterback (Jacoby Brissett) and a rotational receiving back (Antonio Gibson). The main portion of the resources was invested in re-signing players.
For the Patriots to significantly upgrade their offense, the draft will be the way to go. The expectation is that they will select a quarterback high, and also make serious investments to upgrade the talent around that player — especially at offensive tackle and wide receiver.
What will happen remains to be seen. However, Patriots director of scouting is — at least publicly — optimistic about the state of the offense and its seemingly underwhelming supporting cast. In fact, he went to bat for the group and its ability to support a rookie QB.
“I read a lot of that storyline. I’m not really sure what that means,” Wolf said.
“We have a solid offensive line. We resigned Mike Onwenu, we have David Andrews coming back. We have three rookies that we drafted last year that are developing. We signed [Chukwuma] Okorafor from the Steelers. Hunter Henry. I mean, a good running game, a solid foundation, and a solid system in place with coach [Alex] Van Pelt on the offense. So, I definitely feel like we can support that. …
“We have NFL receivers, we have NFL tight ends, we have NFL running backs, we have NFL offensive lineman. We feel good about where we are. And we feel through free agency, on the offensive side in particular, that we’ve been able to supplement our roster properly, so we’re not having to draft for need as much offensively.”
The Patriots brought back various key players on offense in free agency. The aforementioned Michael Onwenu and Hunter Henry were re-signed before making it to free agency, as were wide receivers Kendrick Bourne and Jalen Reagor.
Besides Brissett and Gibson, the Patriots also acquired offensive tackle Chukwuma Okorafor — who currently sits atop the left tackle depth chart, per Wolf — as well as interior lineman Nick Leverett, wide receiver K.J. Osborn, and tight end Austin Hooper. All six project to have roles on the rebuilding unit in 2024.
Those signings might prove their value this coming season. However, none of them are particularly big names or considered “difference makers” at their respective positions. The Patriots’ most noteworthy free agency target — wide receiver Calvin Ridley — ended up signing elsewhere.
Ridley would have helped improve a wide receiver corps currently heavy on slot and Z-receivers, but lacking game-changing talent on the outside. The X-receiver spot is therefore still one of New England’s major needs heading toward the draft.
Even Wolf acknowledged that that particular type of player is still missing on the roster. That said, he again praised the quality of the current group overall.
“I think we have players that can line up and play,” he said. “Do we have players that on a 3-by-1 can beat the backside coverage every single time? I’m not sure if we have that just yet. But we certainly have good receivers that we’re excited about working with. K.J. Osborn can play all three positions. We have Kendrick Bourne coming back. [DeMario Douglas], JuJu [Smith-Schuster] — the list goes on. We feel like we have NFL receivers.”
What the wide receiver group, and the offense in general, will look like after the draft is to be determined. Despite Wolf’s positive statements, however, major shakeups could very well be coming next week.
That is true at wide receiver, and should also be true across the board on that side of the ball.
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