Hurley: Is everybody overstating Patriots' punchless offense? It's certainly possible
BOSTON -- The 2023 New England Patriots will not be The Greatest Show On Turf. Peyton Manning and the 2013 Broncos don't need to worry about Mac Jones' offense breaking a team scoring record, and the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts don't need to worry about New England encroaching upon their spots atop the league's scoring leaders.
Yet even with that being understood, it does feel like the bleak outlook being cast down upon the Patriots' offense is a bit overdone.
It seems to be the case both locally and nationally. After the Patriots' dud of a preseason opener, the conversation around Boston centered on concerns surrounding the Patriots' feckless offense. This was a game in which the lone actual presumed offensive starter to play was Conor McDermott, who was playing out of position at left tackle and who may not even be a starter.
Respectfully, having a big-picture conversation about Bill O'Brien's offensive approach after a game that featured Bailey Zappe, Pierre Strong, Kevin Harris, Tre Nixon and Thyrick Pitts is ... stupid. Extremely, unapologetically stupid. Disingenuous, overreactive, irrelevant and, yes, stupid.
It's stupid, is what I'm trying to say.
Nationally, it's become quite clear that zero Patriots offensive players are on anyone's radar after last year's abysmal showing. To a large extent, that's understandable. The fallout from the ill-fated Matt Patricia may take years to wipe away. The stench of that failed experiment can't be masked by potpourri or clean linen air freshener. It was that bad.
It stunk.
But that's also over. Patricia doesn't even work for the team anymore, because he's no longer available for free. (Interestingly, his new employer wanted him to coach on defense, not offense. Crazy.) Joe Judge is back to doing what he does best: Lining up the punt team to prevent blocks and coaching up the kick return units. O'Brien may not be the greatest coach in the history of the game, but he's certainly qualified and experienced. Normalcy has returned to the offensive side of the football in Foxboro, and a normal-looking offense should follow.
We seem to recognize that around here, but around the country, not so much.
It was evident in a recent exercise put forth by a group of ESPN analysts who were tasked with ranking their top 10 quarterbacks in 10 different categories. Mac Jones received at least one vote in just one category.
Again, after last year, who can blame them? But considering that same quarterback received votes in six categories after his rookie season, it's fair to say that the pendulum of public opinion might have swung too far in the gloomy direction. People are quick to forget how high they were on Jones after his rookie season under Josh McDaniels.
Going up and down the other skill positions, the picture is certainly not great. But it's also not bad.
JuJu Smith-Schuster's baseline is pretty good, and his ceiling is excellent. If the Patriots can get somewhere in the middle of that from him, they'll have done well. Kendrick Bourne has an underrated potential for a big season. (Like Jones, his stock is at an all-time low thanks to the Patricia Factor.) DeVante Parker is a decent NFL wide receiver. And the Patriots should be able to find some production from somewhere in the trio of Tyquan Thornton, Demario Douglas and/or Kayshon Boutte.
They still lack the game-changing No. 1 receiver that (most) ever team covets, but they've got a solid group. Anyone painting it as the worst wide receiver room in the league is trying too hard.
The tight ends are fine with Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki -- though depth behind that duo is a concern there -- and the team secured a much-needed sidekick to Rhamondre Stevenson by adding Ezekiel Elliott this week. Elliott's days of getting 300 carries and 1,000-plus yards are in the past, but he ought to be highly effective in the 30-40 percent of the offensive snaps he takes each week. Stevenson, meanwhile, proved last year that he's capable of being a very effective lead back.
The whole picture on offense -- it's really not bad. It's not a crisis. The Patriots' offense is going to be ... fine.
That may not be overly exciting, sure, and it won't generate the hysteria that drives so much of the football conversation throughout the summer. But the Patriots are coming off a season in which they ranked 26th in total yards, 27th on third down and dead-stinking last in the red zone. They managed to rank in the middle of the pack in scoring, ranking 17th in points per game ... but that was heavily aided by eight touchdowns scored by the defense and special teams. As a team, they ranked 19th in passing touchdowns and 22nd in rushing touchdowns.
Rest assured, the Patriots offense is going to be better. They won't be pushing for a world championship or a conference championship or -- barring a few surprises in New England and a few other places -- a division championship. But they'll be a representative NFL team, boasting a strong defense and normal, fine offense. There's really not much reason to panic.
You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.
