Things to look for as the Patriots play their first preseason game

Football season is almost here. You can smell it. The offseason is over. Debating who the Patriots will draft is history. Wondering who the Patriots will sign is a distant memory. Public practices, where there is very little hitting, is almost forgotten. This is it. Real football is about to begin.

It may only be exhibition season, but there is reason for excitement. Thursday night the Houston Texans come to Foxboro for some real football. The Patriots are coming off a disappointing 9-8 season. Their offense was a joke yet they almost made the playoffs. Now they have a real offensive coordinator and their defense, which was already pretty good, has improved through the draft. There is reason for optimism, and although the starters won’t probably play too much, there are several things to look for in Thursday night’s game. Here are my top ones:

1. The Offensive Line
   

Nothing even comes close to watching the offensive line as the most critical thing to look for in the preseason opener. Much of the Patriots’ success in 2023 will depend heavily on the effectiveness of the offensive line. Games are won in the trenches, so they say. Everything revolves around the offensive line. If Mac Jones isn’t given time to pass, it doesn’t matter how good the receiving corps is. If they can’t run block, the Patriots will continue to struggle in the red zone.

So far, in camp, the offensive line has been, well, offensive. It has been difficult to gauge because the defense is not allowed to touch the quarterback in drills, but estimates are the defense would be recording a lot of sacks in the opening weeks of camp.

A lot of the issues are the lack of continuity and the unavailability of three-fifths of the expected starting line. Trent Brown says he has been battling an unspecified injury. Cole Strange got injured in the first practice and has not returned. Mike Onwenu, the other guard, is still recovering from offseason ankle surgery. David Andrews, the veteran starting center, has seen his workload being managed and has missed a practice or two. It is possible that four out of five of the projected starting offensive line may not see the field Thursday.

But that is no excuse to not watch the reserves because the Patriots exhausted a lot of their draft capital as well as free agent money to the offensive line. Atonio Mafi will be the one to focus on among the group as he may be the one closest to challenging for playing time. He has been getting a lot of time at right guard in place of Onwenu. He is listed as 6’3” and 330 pounds and plays with a mean streak. Keep an eye on him as he may be starting at one of the guard positions if Strange or Onwenu aren’t ready to go for the season opener.

The other guy to focus on is Sidy Sow. The other guard drafted by the Patriots has been converted to tackle this camp. The results have not been so good. Sow was drafted before Mafi, but it looks like he will have a harder time getting playing time.

The battle at right tackle, if you want to call it that, will be a major area to focus on. Riley Reiff and Connor McDermott have both struggled. Reiff appeared to be handed the starting job at the beginning of camp but quickly lost playing time to the incumbent right tackle, McDermott. The Patriots are hoping one of Reiff, McDermott, or Sow will emerge as an adequate right tackle. "Adequate" will be the best the Patriots can hope for.

2. Wide Receivers

If the quarterbacks are allowed enough time to throw, the wide receivers are the next thing to keep an eye out for. Belichick must have viewed them as being good enough not to add DeAndre Hopkins when he had the opportunity. Mac Jones will likely only play a series or two, if he even plays at all. If he is on the field, it will be interesting to see who he may lock in on in the absence of his favorite wide receiver from a year ago, Jakobi Myers. Will it be JuJu? DeVante? Bourne?

Or could it be Demario Douglas? “Pop,” as they call him, has been the revelation of camp. He has impressed every day at camp, getting significant playing time with the first team offense. He has the potential to be a full-time version of what Marcus Jones brought to the offense last year.

It is not too often that two sixth-round picks will be the most exciting players to look out for, but that will be the case with the Patriots. Kayshon Boutte has been coming on strong, culminating with, what many in the media are calling, the catch of camp on Sunday - a one-handed catch on a ball thrown behind him in the endzone. Boutte and Douglas will be pushing last year’s second round pick, Tyquan Thornton, for playing time, and maybe even a spot on the roster. Thornton had better show something in the coming games or who knows.

3. Running backs

Are we seeing a trend here? It seems most of the question marks are on the offensive side of the ball. The running back situation is a curious one. The Patriots allowed veteran Damien Harris to walk. Harris signed a reasonable one-year, $1.7 million contract with Buffalo. The Patriots have been looking for a backup to Rhamondre Stevenson ever since. James Robinson didn’t work out. They seemed to have little interest in Dalvin Cook, which is disappointing. Ezekiel Elliott appears to be more of an affordable option for the Patriots. As it stands right now, Kevin Harris and Pierre Strong are the top backups. Harris seems to have the inside track despite Strong being more explosive. It will be interesting to see who gets the most snaps and carries and who is the most effective. Their performance Thursday night will affect how aggressive the Patriots are in signing one of the remaining free agent backs.

4. Execution on offense

This is just a general, simple observation. Basically it comes down to - does this offense look like a competent, disciplined, cohesive unit? Are plays coming in fast enough? Are they getting in and out of the huddle quickly? Is the team lining up right? Is there no confusion as to where players are positioned? Are there any false start or illegal motion penalties? How about the pass routes? Is their creativity to the routes allowing receivers to get open? Are the Patriots running more play action? Are they confusing the defense at all?

These are all things which are a reflection on coaching - more specifically, new offensive coordinator, Bill O’Brien.

5. Kickers

I don’t think there is much controversy here. There shouldn’t be when you spend two draft picks on a punter and a place kicker. College success does not always translate to NFL success with kickers so it will be interesting and, dare I say, exciting to see how these two big legs handle the bright lights of real, or almost real, games. Bryce Baringer has been impressing with both his hang time and length on punts. His punts have also been described as hard to catch (something having to do with the rotation), so keep an eye out for that. Chad Ryland has a much bigger leg than incumbent Nick Folk. As Folk has proven, however, in the NFL, accuracy is the most important thing. I can't wait to see Ryland line up for his first 50-yard field goal.

6. Keion White

Finally, defense. A lot of focus this preseason among the rookies has gone to Christian Gonzalez and Marte Mapu. Lost in the shuffle has been the second round pick, Keion White. Again, with the limited amount of contact in camp, it is especially hard to gauge the effectiveness of defensive linemen. So it is going to be extremely exciting to see White go after it in real game situations with real hitting.

7. Isaiah Bolden

Bolden intrigues me. His coach at Jackson St. knows a thing or two about being a cornerback in the NFL and Deion Sanders believes the Patriots got a steal in the seventh round by drafting Bolden. Bolden has tremendous size for a cornerback at 6’2”, 205 lbs. He is also physical. He has been getting a lot of play on the outside on second teams with Jack Jones’ availability, for various reasons, at times being inconsistent. Bolden has opened my eyes and the Patriots have had very good fortune with late round or undrafted cornerbacks.

8. Malik Cunningham

A late addition to my list. Cunningham's potential appears to have been forgotten with the emergence of Demario Douglas. For a time there, it looked like the Patriots were grooming Cunningham to be the next Julian Edelman - a college quarterback converted to shifty slot receiver. That slot receiver role now seems to have gone to Douglas, leaving Cunningham with no role on this team.

However, Sunday saw Cunningham get his first real reps at quarterback. His athleticism is off the charts and that alone should make him a dark horse candidate to make the team. Anytime you are compared to Lamar Jackson, pay attention. Belichick loves versatility and Cunningham is that. If the Patriots are going to carry three “quarterbacks”, I’d much rather have Cunningham over Trace McSorley. If nothing else, maybe the Patriots could draw up some red zone packages with Cunningham running RPOs at quarterback. They could also draw up some trick plays with Cunningham lined up out of the backfield or in the slot. The options are limitless.