Looking at the Patriots - 2021

There's a good segment on Patriots all access this week on Justin Bethel. He actually plays in a jazz band in his spare time with his dad and brother called 'House of Bethel' He plays the drums. And he's a great cook as well, he prepared a very tasty looking Asparagus risotto.

Great to see the non-football side of these guys.
 
Bill Barnwell's All Underrated Team for the year.

Wide receiver: Kendrick Bourne, Patriots

The Patriots' free-agent shopping spree at receiver has yielded a mixed bag of results. Nelson Agholor and Jonnu Smith haven't been impressive given their salaries, but Hunter Henry has been a red zone threat and Bourne has been an extremely effective second receiver option behind Jakobi Meyers. You've probably seen plenty of Bourne's two highlight-reel plays, given that they featured him splitting between Damontae Kazee and Trevon Diggs for a 75-yard touchdown and a spectacular leaping catch for a score against the Browns.

Those plays aren't necessarily typical of his week-to-week role in the offense, but the former 49ers wideout has caught more than 78% of his targets this season. NFL Next Gen Stats has his expected catch rate at 67.4%, meaning he's operating at nearly 11% above expectation. That's the third-best mark in the league, behind only those of Christian Kirk and Patrick.

Bourne has outplayed his three-year, $15 million deal.

Cornerback/Safety: Kyle Dugger, Patriots

One more defensive back from the 2020 draft? Sure. Dugger is nominally a safety on paper, but he plays both safety spots and also chips in a fair amount of the time as a slot corner. When NFL Next Gen Stats identifies him as a slot defender, he has allowed a passer rating of just 35.2 and generated 13.2 EPA for the Patriots' defense, the latter of which ranks fourth in the NFL.

Bill Belichick finds a variety of roles for the defender with tremendous measurables, but alongside fellow All-Underrated Team candidate Adrian Phillips, Dugger might be best at shutting down opposing tight ends. He was among the defenders who helped slow down Falcons star Kyle Pitts in last week's shutout win over Atlanta.
 
Curran says the Patriots are in a great position going forward.
Duh...but it's a good article that touches on a lot of reasons why.

 

Kurt Warner said:
He's doing more for this team, and playing better than Tom Brady did in '01.

"To me, that's the compliment you're looking for. Is he Tom Brady? No. Is he one of the best guys in the league? No. But ... what he's doing at such an early stage, and playing within himself and understanding he can win that way, that's impressive. There are guys that have been in the league a long time that don't see the field and understand their reads like he does."

exactly, well-said by him.
 
Curran says the Patriots are in a great position going forward.
Duh...but it's a good article that touches on a lot of reasons why.

not thrilled that jones' agent is a condon...but we'll see how it plays out. bb picked him knowing that so it may be no biggie.
i remember years ago on here when i said i was excited to see how bb would build a team with a cheap (i.e. young draftee) qb someone would jump on me and tell me how tb was practically playing for free, etc. 😄
 
not thrilled that jones' agent is a condon...but we'll see how it plays out. bb picked him knowing that so it may be no biggie.
i remember years ago on here when i said i was excited to see how bb would build a team with a cheap (i.e. young draftee) qb someone would jump on me and tell me how tb was practically playing for free, etc. 😄
Yeah, well, when you're the highest paid QB in league history in 2010 and have a TB12 facility built for you by Kraft at 1 Patriot Place, I am pretty sure Brady wasn't playing for free. Whoever said that is just clueless. I find it fascinating and scary how long the media tentacles got while Brady was here, painting him as some victim, when the truth is, he owes his entire pro career to BB. There's just no way his career unfolds the way it has if he was drafted elsewhere. What we're seeing with Mac right now is proof of it. Again, I think JimmyG would be better here than the is in SF, too. Coaching definitely matters.
 
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