The Boston Sunday Sports Section
Pats Preview: Can They Protect Drake Maye, Generate a Pass Rush, and Find Some Depth?
Tom and Gisele never did L.L. Bean commercials.
Tom wears leather now, but I still can’t see Gisele slumming it in flannel.
Blink twice, Tom, if you need help, and three times if Gisele’s Ju-Jitsu instructor kicked you in the head one too many times.
Drake and Ann Michael Maye, however, are starring in a new ad as L.L. Bean employees. (If you have not seen it already, it is worth a watch).
Drake wins Employee of the Month four times and is favored for a fifth.
For the Patriots to have any hope of returning to the Super Bowl, he will need to do the same in Foxborough. Maye will need to be spectacular this season for the Patriots to be playing again in February, given a tougher schedule, a shallower roster, and lingering questions about pass protection on offense and the pass rush on defense.
And So It Begins
The Patriots open the season Wednesday night in Seattle, where they will have to watch the Seahawks unveil their Super Bowl Champion banner.
Their eyes will be on the prize, and it will be on the other sideline.
The taste will be bitter.
And then we begin anew.
The same two teams who played the final game of last season will play the first game of this one.
In primetime. In front of the 12th man.
And that might be the Patriots’ biggest issue this year. Not just the 12th man, but the 13th, 14th, 15th, and so forth. Head coach Mike Vrabel even questioned their depth.
The Patriots were relatively lucky with injuries last season and were definitely helped by the weak schedule. With the inevitable injuries in a 17-game season, the Patriots’ many misses in the draft from 2022-2024 may well come home to roost.
Drake Maye, Christian Gonzalez, DeMario Douglas, and Marcus Jones are the only players currently on the 53-man roster from those three Patriots draft classes combined. (Punter Bryce Barringer is currently on IR).
The proverbial next man up might not be ready for the NFL. Or even on the team.
The thinnest spot is EDGE, where they also lack upside outside of Gabe Jacas, but depth is an issue all over the roster.
And if you have any doubts as to the importance of putting pressure on the quarterback, watch the film from Seattle’s domination of New England in Super Bowl LX.
Actually, don’t; it will be better for your mental health.
The only other time a Super Bowl champion faced the team they beat in the Super Bowl in a weeknight opener (which started in 2002) was when the Denver Broncos played the Carolina Panthers.
In that Super Bowl, Denver’s defense smothered the Panthers. The Broncos sacked Cam Newton six times and forced two Newton fumbles, one of which he tried to recover.
The Broncos won the Super Bowl 24-10.
They won the rematch 21-20.
Last year, Seattle’s defense sacked Maye six times and forced one fumble and two picks.
They won the Super Bowl 29-10.
Expect this rematch to be closer, too, though I think Seattle pulls it out. If Christian Gonzalez sits out over his contract dispute, which is possible, it won’t be nearly as close.
Since it will be seven months and a day between Patriots-Seahawks matchups, and you might have been busy with back-to-school and savoring the last sips of summer, we are here to help you get up to speed on what you may have missed with the Patriots over the offseason and the preseason.
The already strong offense should be even better, but the offensive line still has question marks, and its success hinges on Will Campbell’s development (though I guess if he doesn’t develop, he can always go back to LSU).
But the offense will need to carry more of the load this season because the defense will likely take a step backward, especially with edge rusher Harold Landry starting the season on IR. The pass rush is the team’s biggest question mark.
Also, don’t forget about special teams, where punter Bryce Barringer and special teams ace Brenden Schooler are starting the season with IR and NFI (non-football injury) designations and cannot play in the first four games.
The Patriots will still make the playoffs, but expect 10-7 versus last year’s 14-3.
Our goal with this position group preview is to help you answer affirmatively to one of life’s most important questions: Are you ready for some football?
QUARTERBACK — GRADE: A-
Roster: Drake Maye (#10) · Tommy DeVito (#16) · Behren Morton (#15, R) (R denotes rookie)
Strengths
Maye finished runner-up in the MVP race and is still ascending. He throws the best deep ball in football and makes plays with his legs. Expect the biggest growth in his ability to audible into better pass protection and running plays, and his awareness of the pass rush while in the pocket.
Weaknesses
Backup QB – DeVito has a losing career record as a starter. Known in New York as “Tommy Cutlets”, an Italian-American folk-hero persona born from a magical 2023 run with the Giants, Vrabel has rebranded him as “Two Chains” after noticing the gold jewelry DeVito never takes off.
DeVito not moving the chains is likely what happens if he has to replace Maye.
Biggest question
Will Maye take the next step in his growth by learning to get rid of the ball sooner and play for another down so that he does not put the ball on the ground so much? (He fumbled seven times in the Patriots’ four playoff games.
Grade: A minus
Maye is elite, but the season is over if he is hurt for an extended period.
RUNNING BACK — GRADE: B+
Roster: Rhamondre Stevenson (#38) · TreVeyon Henderson (#32) · Corey Kiner (#9) · Reggie Gilliam (FB, #44)
Strengths
Stevenson and Henderson form one of the more explosive 1-2 punches in the league, reminiscent of the old fire-and-ice tandem of Mike Alstott and Warrick Dunn.
Gilliam is a proven, physical fullback for a run scheme built around gap/power concepts.
Weaknesses
Kiner, a last-minute trade throw-in, has zero NFL regular-season snaps. On the plus side, his last name is Kiner and not Kiner-Falefa.
Biggest question
Henderson enters Week 1 with a right ankle injury suffered Aug. 24 that had kept him out of practice entirely as of Sept. 3. Will he play against Seattle?
Grade: B plus
Talented top two, but the depth behind them makes this a B+.
WIDE RECEIVER — GRADE: A-
Roster: A.J. Brown (#1) · Romeo Doubs (#87) · DeMario Douglas (#3) · Mack Hollins (#13) · Kyle Williams (#18) · Efton Chism III (#86)
Strengths
A.J. Brown instantly gives Maye a true WR1; Brown is one of only seven players in NFL history with 8,500-plus receiving yards and 60-plus TD catches in his first seven seasons.
Doubs adds a proven complementary WR2.
Mack Hollins was productive, especially late last year and in the playoffs, and second-year speedsters Chism and Williams give the room upside.
Weaknesses
Brown has had real, reported friction with a starting quarterback before (Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia). He could be a locker-room issue if things get off on a bad foot.
Beyond Brown/Doubs, the depth is unproven: Williams caught just 12 passes as a rookie, Chism only 4.
Biggest question
Does Brown fix the Patriots’ red-zone issues from last season?
Grade: A minus
Brown is a threat opponents have to game plan around, which the Patriots did not have at WR last season (or the season before that, or before that, or…). Perhaps the deepest position on the roster.
TIGHT END — GRADE: B
Roster: Hunter Henry (#85) · Eli Raridon (#82, R) · Tanner Arkin (#84, R) · Cameron Latu (#81)
Strengths
Henry is a proven, durable weapon. He had 60-plus catches in each of the last two seasons, is a team captain, and recently signed a two-year extension through 2027.
Weaknesses
Everything behind Henry is new or unproven: Raridon is a rookie third-rounder, Arkin is an undrafted rookie, and Latu was claimed off waivers from Philadelphia days ago with one career regular-season catch.
A spring injury to projected veteran blocker Julian Hill left this room thinner than planned all offseason
Biggest question
Raridon got rave reviews during training camp. Can he emerge as a second tight end?
Grade: B
Henry alone is a real strength and has been the Patriots’ best red-zone weapon; the room behind him is a question mark.
OFFENSIVE LINE — GRADE: B-
Roster: LT Will Campbell (#66) · LG Alijah Vera-Tucker (#75) · C Jared Wilson (#55) · RG Mike Onwenu (#71) · RT Morgan Moses (#76) — backups: Caleb Lomu, Ben Brown, Greg Van Roten, Dametrious Crownover, Walter Rouse
Strengths
Continuity: four of five 2025 starters return, with Vera-Tucker added at left guard. He was very effective for the Jets when healthy.
Onwenu and Moses give the right side a steady veteran floor, and the group is 10 bodies deep after the Rouse trade.
Weaknesses
Campbell was torched in the Super Bowl and terrible in the playoffs. I believe he was still recovering from his MCL injury. He could make a second-year leap and go from weakness to strength, but will have to prove it on the field.
Vera-Tucker has three season-ending injuries in five NFL seasons. Durability is a big question mark.
Wilson was overmatched as a guard. He is moving back to center, where he played in college. He is unproven as an NFL center and was moved off the position last year due to snapping issues.
Biggest question
Was Campbell’s brutal Super Bowl showing a knee injury still healing, or is he really a guard miscast as a short-armed blindside tackle?
Grade: B minus
Some talent, but real uncertainty at the sport’s most important line position, left tackle, and durability questions.
DEFENSIVE TACKLE — GRADE: A-
Roster: Christian Barmore (#90) · Milton Williams (#97) · Cory Durden (#94) · Joshua Farmer (#92) · Leonard Taylor III (#93)
Strengths
Barmore and Williams graded out as one of the most disruptive interior duos in football. In 2025, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF) New England ranked 1st in the NFL in pass-rush win rate (21.1%) and pressure rate (15.7%) from the interior.
Weaknesses
Depth as a run-stuffer — Khyiris Tonga left for Kansas City in free agency
Barmore’s healthy history.
Biggest question
Can Barmore return to his 2023 form (a career-high 8.5 sacks) now two full years removed from a major health scare due to blood clots?
Grade: A minus
The duo in the middle could be disruptive, but the depth options are weaker than a year ago.
DEFENSIVE END / EDGE — GRADE: D+
Roster: Dre’Mont Jones (#5) · Gabe Jacas (#50) · Elijah Ponder (#91) · Quintayvious Hutchins (#45) — Harold Landry III on PUP, out a minimum of 4 games
Strengths
Jones is a proven veteran power rusher but lacks upside, with a career high of 7 sacks, and Ponder had 4 sacks as an undrafted rookie in a rotational role
Weaknesses
This unit combined for just 11.0 sacks all of 2025, and that was with Landry available for most of the year.
Biggest question
Can this group generate any pass rush before Landry returns around Week 5, or does the secondary have to bail out a nonexistent rush for a month? Jacas, the No. 55 overall pick, didn’t sign his rookie deal until late July, which significantly limited his practice reps. He has upside, but it could be a stretch for him to disrupt quarterbacks early in the season when Landry is on IR.
Grade: D plus
Real talent question marks with the unit’s best piece unavailable for a month. The preseason consensus is that this is the weakest unit on the team, and a lack of pass rush puts too much pressure on even a strong secondary.
LINEBACKER (off-ball) — GRADE: C+
Roster: Robert Spillane (#14) · Christian Elliss (#53) · Namdi Obiazor (#48) · Darius Muasau (#54) · Erick Hunter (#49)
Strengths
Spillane (team captain, led the team with 115 tackles in 2025) and Elliss are a proven, physical top two who started all season together.
Muasau, claimed off waivers from the Giants, adds a third-year veteran body to a thin room.
Weaknesses
Depth was already described as “slim pickings” before cutdowns, and it’s only churned more since — K.J. Britt, a projected primary backup, was released and then re-signed to the practice squad within the same week, while UDFA depth piece Khalil Jacobs landed on IR.
Muasau and undrafted rookie Erick Hunter — now the No. 3 and No. 5 options by default — have combined for zero regular-season snaps as Patriots.
Biggest question
If Spillane misses time again the way he did late in 2025, is there anyone on this roster who’s proven able to run the defense as signal-caller?
Grade: C+
Excellent top two, but three roster moves at the position in five days have left the room thinner and less settled than planned.
CORNERBACK — GRADE: A-
Roster: Christian Gonzalez (#0) · Carlton Davis III (#7) · Marcus Jones (#25) · Channing Canada (#29) · Karon Prunty (#21) · Charles Woods (#22)
Strengths
Gonzalez, Davis, and Jones were, by reputation and production, one of the best cornerback trios in football in 2025. Gonzalez is a Pro Bowler and No. 28 overall on the NFL’s Top 100; Jones is one of the league’s best slot corners.
Weaknesses
Depth behind the top three is unproven. Woods, Prunty, and Canada carry a combined light NFL résumé.
Biggest question
Does Christian Gonzalez actually suit up for the Super Bowl rematch in Seattle, or does an unresolved contract standoff sideline the team’s best defensive player for the opener? White’s trainer said, “The contract language was kind of trash,” on an appearance on “Felger and Mazz” Monday.
Gonzalez has been noncommittal on whether he will play in the opener. I suspect that is more a negotiating tactic than anything, but the Patriots are game planning for both scenarios.
If he does not play, it will leave the Patriots in a vulnerable position trying to cover Jaxson Smith-Njigba, who Gonzalez blanketed in the Super Bowl.
“I mean, when that time comes, that’s when things will happen,” Gonzalez said, via Karen Guregian of MassLive.com, noting that there are still several days for the two sides to come to an agreement. “We’ll save that [answer] for when it’s game time.” – Christian Gonzalez
When pushed on whether he expects a deal by kickoff, he responded, “I’m not sure. I don’t know.”
Grade: A minus
Talent grade here is an A; docked to an A- because there is a chance the group’s best player doesn’t play Week 1 over money.
SAFETY — GRADE: A-
Roster: Kevin Byard III (#31) · Craig Woodson (#4) · Dell Pettus (#24) · Jaylen Reed (#23) — Brenden Schooler on NFI (Non-Football Injury), out a minimum 4 games
Strengths
Byard led the NFL in interceptions last season (7) and has 36 career picks, the most by any player since 2016. Byard played for six years under Vrabel in Tennessee and will help mentor Woods.
Woodson was a PFF All-Playoff Team honoree as a rookie and started throughout the run to the Super Bowl.
Weaknesses
Byard turns 33 this season, so there is a chance of a dropoff.
Biggest question
Is Byard’s ball-hawking sustainable at 33, or was 2025’s league-leading interception total a one-year outlier?
Grade: A minus
Excellent, proven pairing of Byard and Woodson, though depth is an issue and part of why the Pats traded Kayshon Boutte for safety Jaylen Reed.
SPECIAL TEAMS — GRADE: C
Roster: Andy Borregales (K, #36) · Julian Ashby (LS, #47) — no punter currently on the 53-man roster because Bryce Barringer was put on IR.
Strengths
Marcus Jones has a good case as the most dangerous punt returner in football
Andy Borregales went 27-for-32 on field goals (84.4%) and 53-for-55 on extra points (96.4%) and scored the most points ever by a Patriots rookie kicker, over Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski.
Weaknesses
Mitch Wishnowsky is not on the 53-man roster, but will likely be elevated from the practice squad. He was signed six days ago after the Bills released him in part thanks to a 19-yard shank in the final preseason game.
Wishnowsky is an Australian-born, eighth-year punter who has now played for four different teams in four seasons.
Special teams ace Brenden Schooler is one of the best special teamers in the league on the coverage units. His absence will hurt.
Biggest question
You might recall the Patriots did a lot of punting in the Super Bowl. Bryce Barringer might have been their MVP. Wishnowsky does have a cool nickname: The Boomin’ Onion, but he has rarely lived up to it.
Barringer’s injury could prove to be a sneaky big issue in Week 1.
Grade: C — Kicker and long-snapper are fine-to-good; the punter situation is a concern. DVOA is considered the best special teams metric, and last season New England ranked 20th. It could be worse this year.
I wrote on Friday about the incredible heater Mickey Gasper has been on.
It is the baseball version of Linsanity.
Gasper will, of course, cool down and not be mentioned in the same breath as Ted Williams and Barry Bonds. He is not Mickey Bonds, Mickey Mantle Gasper, or, in the case of this Barstool Sports t-shirt, Mickey Ruth.
Pitchers will make adjustments to Gasper and find his weaknesses. They always do.
His defense has been a pleasant surprise so far, far better than I gave him credit for on Friday. To quote Shaq, I owe you an apology, Mickey; I was not familiar with your game. At least at first base, he’s not a good catcher.
But Gasper is not in the Majors for his glove. He is here for his bat.
And since Friday, more detail has come out about the changes Gasper has made in his setup and stance that could be driving the improved results.
Six degrees of separation doesn’t sound like much unless you are trying to locate Kevin Bacon (did you know he is married to his ninth cousin once removed, actress Kyra Sedgwick).
But we all know every inch counts — when it comes to being closer to the plate.
So Gasper has made some changes to his setup that are paying off. There is a notion in baseball that players will always be what they were in the past. That is just not true.
David Ortiz wasn’t David Ortiz until he was.
Gasper may not be a star based on 17 hot days, but he does seem to be on the path to being, at the very least, a solid role player, like Lin was in the NBA, and potentially more.
Sunday Notes
↑ TopHugging It Out
My favorite sports moment of the week, and maybe even the year, was Monday when Payton Tolle fielded a slow roller down the first base line from Seattle’s Dominic Calzone and, instead of tagging him, opened his arms and gave him a hug.
Canzone knew he was out anyway, so he embraced Tolle even though the two did not know each other.
If you have not seen it, definitely watch the video for a great laugh.
As Dave O’Brien said on the broadcast, “That’s Payton Tolle.”
In a game so many take very seriously, Tolle is a breath of fresh air. The batter before Canzone, Randy Arozarena, had just homered off him.
Most pitchers would be angry. Some even throw at the next hitter.
Tolle gives hugs.
Last August, I was in the Worcester Red Sox clubhouse doing some interviews for an article on Roman Anthony. I walked in, and the first person headed in the opposite direction was Payton Tolle. As we passed each other, I said something profound like, “Great game last night,” as Tolle had pitched a gem for the WooSox. He responded with something equally profound, like, “Thanks,” and we went our separate ways.
He was a mountain of a man, and I was intimidated seeing him as the first guy in a clubhouse where I didn’t know a soul. Had I known he was such a friendly, warm, quirky teddy bear with a great sense of humor, I would have stopped to talk with him, and who knows, maybe he would have even come to me with open arms before we went our separate ways.
Fantasy Football Time
My son Jackson and I co-manage a fantasy football team, and ESPN emailed a report card after our draft, giving us an A grade. We wanted to print it out and put it on the fridge, but my wife didn’t like that idea. Putting a report card on the fridge is so 1990s anyway; it is way cooler to share it on your Substack, and I am nothing if not cool.
Note that our team name is based on the State Farm commercials, not, well, his other nuggies.
The guy with the ‘F’ didn’t display the note at the bottom in his screenshot, but if I were writing them, I would go with, “Don’t waste more time on this; you are F’d.”
Best of luck to those of you drafting this weekend. You will get a lot of grief if you take a kicker (Brandon Aubrey) in the 7th round. Not that I would know.
Sex, Drugs and UNC Football
Bill Belichick’s football program at North Carolina is in trouble for sex, drugs, and rock and roll, minus the rock and roll.
UNC football GM Mike Lombardi (yes, college football teams now have a GM) resigned amid an investigation into the UNC football program.
WRAL, which broke the story, reported:
Ruh-roh.
WRAL goes on to note:
Don’t think Belichick didn’t know what was going on under his nose (or in this case under his son’s nose). He is too detail-oriented not to know.
For instance, reports also came out this week that, from 2000 to 2019, the Patriots used this sneaky visual tactic when opposing field goal kickers attempted a kick.
On opponent FGs, the video board showed a reverse camera angle that created a second, offset set of yellow uprights behind the real goalposts, potentially making kicks more disorienting. When there was wind, the scoreboard would even have the orange flags at the top of the uprights waving in a different wind direction.
Patriot opponents made 76.8% of their field goals over that period, while opponents of every other team in the league made at least 80%.
Spygate, Deflategate, and now Goal Post Gate show Belichick will look for any advantage, but the allegations at North Carolina are far more tawdry.
Can we have “Get off my lawn” Belichick back instead of “Back to School,” Bill?
Don’t be surprised if Belichick is the next one to go.
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