(Photo Courtesy USA Today Sports)
After saying goodbye to the past and hello to the future, the Patriots gear up to start their 2024 campaign. 2023 gave fans plenty to root against, as the team finished in the league's bottom half in every offensive category. Now the boys in blue look towards going only up in 2024.
Robert and Johnathan Kraft were plenty busy this past offseason. They decided to part ways with guaranteed first-ballot Hall of Fame head coach and eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick. In his stead, defensive assistant and former player Jerod Mayo took over. With both new offensive and defensive coordinators by his side, Mayo and newly promoted general manager Eliot Wolf brought in key additions from free agency. Along with this, they resigned 10 players and stocked the offense with youth from the draft. The official post-Belichick era begins in Foxboro.
The biggest question looming over the team was the QB situation. Two years removed from an impressive rookie season; former first-round pick Mac Jones was traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 2024 sixth-round pick. The Pats brought back fan favorite Jacoby Brissett from Washington on a one-year deal. They also made the pick to no one’s surprise and selected North Carolina signal-caller Drake Maye with the third overall pick back in the spring. Brissett will serve as the team’s week one starter and the bridge until it is time to give the franchise keys to Maye.
The defense will as always be the star of the show, despite the dramatic saga that led Wolf to trade all-pro edge rusher Matthew Judon to Atlanta. 2023 second-round pick Keion White will now be on the line alongside team captain Deatrich Wise Jr. Rookie sensation Christian Gonzalez returns after a torn labrum that ended his season after four games. He will be the team’s number-one corner, locking down the league’s best receivers as he did a year prior. Gonzalez and the rest of the defense will be tested all year long, as they have one of the most difficult schedules in the league. Having a strength of schedule rating of .512 which ties them for eighth alongside the Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders.
Another big question mark surrounding the team was the lack of offensive weapons. 1,000-yard rusher Rhamondre Stevenson and tight end Hunter Henry both resigned with the Patriots this past spring. But the topic of conversation has been around the receiving corps, who were bottom of the league last year in both yards and touchdowns. Demario “Pop” Douglas returns after leading the team in receiving, while Kendrick Bourne begins the season on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list, so we will not see him until week five. Pop will be playing alongside two draft picks, Washington’s Jaylin Polk, and UCF’s Javon Baker. Both have shown flashes of potential in this past preseason, so they should serve as reliable targets for Brissett early on.
The Patriots begin their season on the road in none other than Cincinnati, Ohio, to take on Joe Burrow and the Bengals. Kickoff is set for 1:00 PM Sunday on CBS.
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