Patriots Offseason Review

            The Patriots season ended in a disappointing loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game. Since the fateful night, the Patriots organization has lost and gained many new pieces. The team will be a completely different team as they near the NFL Draft. Many holes are still left to fill, but these additions look promising and the team is once again projected to go deep in the playoffs. After all these moves, it is time to recap and see what the team has done correctly or incorrectly both offensively and defensively.

            The journey starts on the offensive side of the ball. The Patriots many key players on the offense, these are the players that led the team to the playoffs the last few seasons. The biggest lost appears to stem from Wide Receiver Wes Welker. Welker has constantly been atop the entire league in receptions and receiving yards, since coming to New England. The loss of Welker could be devastating to the receiving game. He had the ability to go underneath, catch the ball, and gain yards as he bounced off of defenders that game his way. The team has also lost another great receiver in Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd was known for running the deep ball and his acrobatic catches, often getting noticed for having the best hands in the game. His ability to stretch the field opened up gaps in the defense for players such as Welker, Gronkowski, and Hernandez. His game will most certainly be missed in New England after his one season with the organization.

The team also lost key players such as Danny Woodhead and Pat Chung. Woodhead allowed the field to be opened up because of his ability to block in the passing game, and his elusiveness after catching the short routes. Pat Chung was a physical specimen at safety. He was often known for making the bone crushing hit, but was not known well for playing the ball in coverage. The loss of Chung may have been a good thing because the team is better defensively when they play the ball and go for the turnover rather than the big hit.

Now the additions, in some opinions, outweighed the losses. The Patriots immediately replaced Wes Welker, with Wide Receiver Danny Amendola, formerly of the St. Louis Rams. Amendola is the closest you get to Welker without having the man himself. He has the elusiveness and quickness to be one of the best slot receivers in the game. To replace Danny Woodhead, the Patriots signed specialist running back Leon Washington. Washington has not really seen a lot of time in the running game; he spends most of the time returning kicks and punts. He is, however, able to run around the defense and does have the physicality to run them over. The team also added two wide receivers in Michael Jenkins, and Donald Jones. Michael Jenkins is an average wide receiver with a lot of experience in the league. Jenkins will most likely be looked for to coach the younger players and show them the tricks of the trade. Donald Jones has not really played much football in the NFL, playing two years with the Buffalo Bills. He does show a little bit of promise, scoring 6 touchdowns on 82 catches.

On the defensive side of the ball the Patriots continued the work on their secondary that has been disrespected for the better part of five years now. The team resigned cornerbacks Kyle Arrington and Aqib Talib. Arrington has been a little inconsistent at times, but on a team with few cornerbacks, there is always room for more. The resigning of Aqib Talib brings a lot to this team. He allows the defensive schemes to be able to blitz while in coverage. This forces quarterbacks to throw more interceptions because they are hurried. The Patriots also signed free safety Adrian Wilson to replace Pat Chung. Wilson is more of a ball hawking safety than Chung and will definitely help in the turnover game.

Overall the Patriots did many things well. The most important signing that they made was the signing of Adrian Wilson and the resigning of Aqib Talib. These defensive pieces may help this team win a Super Bowl in the 2013-2014 season. The one resigning that the team should have made was Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd was able to stretch out the field and it will be tough for the Patriots to make up for all the gaps they no longer have in defenses. The Patriots have received a: B. The Draft is the next big step in the season, as it is less than a month away. This season looks promising for the Patriots, and the team could come away big winners by the end of the year.