The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about the coaching staff, free agency, and more.
The key decision makers for the New England Patriots spent the week in Mobile taking a look at plenty of draft eligible prospects in the Senior Bowl. As Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff comes together, upgrading the roster soon becomes the sole focus.
So let’s talk about it all and get right into this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag.
Do you have any second guesses for Vrabel’s choices for the coaching staff? Or even just simply coaches you might have liked to stay from the year prior? – SportzBaller
I have a few concerns with the new look coaching staff. I have, however, come mostly around on Josh McDaniels (not that I ever thought it was a bad hire) as it sounds like he will evolve and adapt his scheme around Drake Maye with new elements. More on that later.
My current concerns fall at two key places: offensive line and secondary, while we’ll see who they hire as their wide receiver coach as well.
Along the offensive line, New England has brought in Doug Marrone and Jason Houghtaling. Their exact rules/titles are TBD. Marrone obviously has tons of coaching experience which primary comes along the offensive line. His last few stops, however, have left more to be desired.
Coaching the Saints offensive line from 2022-23, their unit ranked 16th and 30th, respectively, in ESPN’s pass block win rate. 2022 first-round pick OT Trevor Penning also failed to make much of an impact although he did battle injuries.
Prior to his stint in New Orleans, Marrone went one-and-done at the University of Alabama after a poor season from their offensive line. That season saw Alabama finish 120 out of 130 teams in the nation in sacks allowed (41) while they had their worst rushing output since 2007.
While Marrone could take on more of an advisor/assiatnt head coach role, Houghtaling, who worked with Vrabel in Tennessee, is expected to work along the offensive line in some capacity. After serving as an assistant from 2021-22 he took over the room in 2023 where the Titans finished 28th in ESPN’s pass block win rate.
On the defensive side of things, the loss of Mike Pellegrino and Brian Belichick are major ones. Both coaches have done exceptional work in recent years with Pellegrino coaching multiple All-Pros and developing young players such as Alex Austin into promising rotational pieces.
As all of defensive coordinator Terrell Williams’ coaching experience comes along the defensive line, the preference would have been to retain the proven talent in the secondary on the coaching staff. Instead they’ll go elsewhere.
So far Vrabel has reportedly added Scott Booker, Justin Hamilton, and Kevin Richardson from the collegiate coaching ranks as coaches who have backgrounds in the secondary. Booker was Vrabel’s former safeties coach while neither Hamilton or Richardson have led rooms at the NFL level.
What offensive system will Josh McDaniels run? Will he ditch Van Pelt’s West Coast offense and go back to Erhard-Perkins? Will all the adjustments at the line pose big challenges for Drake Maye and new receivers to pick up? Or is this the perfect system for Drake’s high FB IQ? It will apparently be Drake Maye’s 4th system in four years. Is that a problem? – HesiJimbo
This is the most interesting question when it comes to the offense currently as the offensive staff features plenty of coaches with West Coast backgrounds (Marrone, Thomas Brown, Ashton Grant, etc.) under McDaniels.
I would imagine McDaniels has the core philosophies of his offense that he will build around, but the coordinator has certainly seemed open to fielding new ideas. That was the point of his college visits over the last calendar year and Vrabel noted how McDaniels will evolve his offense in a recent interview with Patriots.com.
“There’s an experience level that’s critical. There’s been some growth from the offense over the years, and [McDaniels] has blended that with some of the new trends, but the foundation will remain the same. I’m excited about adding some of those new trends,” Coach Vrabel said. “Then, his ability as a play-caller [stands out], having gone against him and seen him work and operate. He has a great vision for leading our offense.”
In that sit down, Vrabel also noted how Maye is a different quarterback than McDaniels has worked with in the past and part of the interview process included McDaniels explaining how he would enhance the QBs talents. While I’d expect both McDaniels and Maye to make it work, some growing pains could stem from either side depending on the language of the system (perhaps a benefit of having so many West Coast coaches on staff).
Is the dreadful production from Patriots WR more related to identifying talent or developing them in the offensive scheme? Whether drafted or signed as FA it seems like they all underperform related to expectations. I know we are going to sign Higgins this offseason but still need other weapons – should Pats be scared to waste more high value picks on WR????? – Spyponder90
Both. There are certainly issues with the evaluation process — just look at the Ladd McConkey vs. Ja’Lynn Polk disaster from last season. But as we also saw with Polk, the development has not been good either. Eliot Wolf even said as much in an in-season interview with FOX Sports.
“We’re 3-13, so not good enough. Let’s start there. We had a lot of needs. I would say that I guess personally, what I was expecting maybe a little bit more internal development, which is a good lesson certainly heading into next year, and that you can’t always rely on that,” Wolf said. “The rookie receivers didn’t have it really that much for us. And, you know, Polk was sort of in our estimation a plug-and-play. … Ultimately, to answer to your question, our record speaks for itself. We didn’t do enough.”
They can’t stop drafting receivers, but something needs to change with their evaluation and that’s why the hire at wide receiver coach is very important.
What is the hierarchy in the front office? Does Wolf report to Cowden? Does Cowden report to Vrabel? Who’s making the final call during the draft? Are Cowden and Vrabel just accepting /using Wolfs scoring/eval system? Their single biggest issue over the last 5 years is probably player/talent acquisition so it’s still doesn’t seem right that they kept the front office as is and just added Cowden. – RhodyPats1
The expectation is Mike Vrabel will have final say. From there, Eliot Wolf remains the head of the personnel department with Ryan Cowden working directly under him.
Everything Vrabel has said since his arrival has made it seem he is fully willing to work with Wolf, who is well respected around the league from his time with the Packers and Browns. Robert Kraft also made note following the season that he’s excited about Wolf’s grading system moving forward.
If things don’t work out, however, the path is clearly visible for Cowden to be elevated into the top chair next to Vrabel.
NFL coaching staffs are huge. I’d like to know just what each position’s duties really are. A “passing game coordinator” for example, has certain responsibilities, and reports to the OC. Meanwhile, there are receiver coaches, etc, also involved obviously with the passing game.
I did read somewhere that a “passing game coordinator” is sort of a scout – studying game films of opponents and providing input as to what might or might not work, including designing plays.
I’d like to know a lot more about how responsibilities and day to day duties of the staff come together to form game plans and general skill imporvement. – ed.liebfried
The busy part of a coaches week is Monday and Tuesday where they go over last week’s game and turn the page to set the base game plan for the following week (which players receive when they’re back in the building on Wednesday). Work then transitions to the practice fields where a different part of the game plan is installed on different days (i.e. red area work is typically done on Friday).
While the Patriots open each practice with positional drills, there really isn’t time for general skill improvement during the season. That’s what the offseason is for as many quarterbacks spend time with footwork/throwing coaches, etc.
As for the passing game coordinator — which Thomas Brown will be the first in New England — it’s a role that would rank slightly higher than a positional coach but remain under the coordinator. We’ll see what Brown’s exact responsibilities consist of, but the PGC typically will help coordinate certain game plans of the passing attack (third-downs, red area, etc.). Brown will also be valuable to McDaniels with his West Coast background to help implement new ideas.
Patriots have the most cap space. Who are the most “workman like” veteran football players who will likely be available in free agency? Which ones will give the Pats the most value for the money? And finally, what strategy can maximize the combined draft and free agency process? – EaglemasterFan
In last week’s Sunday Notes we talked about how the Patriots could take a Commanders-type approach in free agency this year and prioritize veteran players to help raise the floor of the team and bring needed leadership. It also wouldn’t be a surprise if Vrabel has a list of players he’s coached in the past he’s interested in bringing in to help establish his culture.
Some guys that fit both categories we could see as targets: WR DeAndre Hopkins, WR Darius Slayton, WR Nick Westbrook-Ikine, OL Patrick Mekari, DL Levi Onwuzurike, DE Charles Omenihu, ED Josh Sweat, and LB Zack Baun.
It seems like the biggest question in the draft this year will be where the QB’s go. If they go 1 and 2, do you take Carter, Hunter, Graham, OT, or trade back? If Carter and Hunter are picks 1 and 2, what do you do? – SoDak605PatsFan
If two QBs are off the board by the Patriots pick, my selection would Abdul Carter or Travis Hunter. If both position players are gone, I’d try to trade back a few spots and still try to land Mason Graham or Will Campbell.
Just for fun: who makes more Pro Bowls – Maye or Jones? – Matt1102
I would have told you Maye at this time last year. Not changing anything now.
How about a prediction. Will Drake Maye be doing “the griddy” at the Pro Bowl this year? – coolbeanz
We can only hope the answer is no.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.