The New England Patriots are in a rebuilding year, which means that the most important aspect is the development of their young players.
But have the Patriots been excelling in that department this season?
Sean T. McGuire of NESN doesn't seem to think so.
While McGuire acknowledges the progress of quarterback Drake Maye and rising star cornerback Christian Gonzalez, he has expressed legitimate concerns about the rest of the roster.
"Beyond those two, however, the list is small. Maybe you can include second-year defender Keion White, but even White has struggled with consistency," McGuire wrote. "Sophomore wideout DeMario Douglas has started to form a connection with Maye, but there’s no doubt he’s well short of expectations this season."
McGuire then goes on to bemoan the poor production from New England's rookie wide receivers Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker.
"Mayo has said New England’s young players will have more opportunities in the last four games," added McGuire. "The Patriots need to see what they have entering the offseason, Mayo said. They sure do. Because the vast majority have not shown any improvement the first three months of the season."
The Pats still have the worst group of skill position players in all of football, and their offensive line remains a disjointed mess. The Patriots even have some issues defensively, an area in which New England succeeded in 2023.
Fortunately, the Pats will have plenty of cap room to address the issues heading into free agency, and the Patriots can always add more pieces through the NFL Draft.
However, outside of Maye, the draft didn't help New England all that much last spring, and the Pats also struck out in terms of signing free agents.
Hopefully, it will be a different story in Foxborough this time around.
