Lest you think people are being too negative about the Patriots, Mike Tannenbaum has all the positivity you could ever want about this year’s Bill Belichick-led squad.
The former NFL general manager waxed poetic about the Patriots in an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up!” Wednesday morning in a way that bordered on extreme.
"This is a team with two great running backs, two great tight ends, a really good offensive line and, in my opinion, a slightly underrated wide receiver corps," Tannenbaum said on the show.
“So I think the CEO of Bill Belichick will manage his team, they'll have a great kicking game like always, and I think they have a young superstar at the quarterback position, who led the team last year to the playoffs, and they scored more points than the Patriots did with Tom Brady the year before."
That projection of the Patriots’ roster is a bit…rosy, even though the running game should indeed be good once again in 2022.
As good as the theory of the Hunter Henry-Jonnu Smith pairing is, only one of them (Henry) has yet done anything of note in Foxborough. Similarly, the offensive line has to prove itself in a potentially new configuration before it can be proclaimed “really good.”
Also, what is with calling Mac Jones a superstar/sneaky MVP candidate already? Jones was obviously very good as a rookie and has a chance to grow further as a second-year player. But he’s still far down the list of players that should be on the betting odds list for NFL MVP this year — including at least one in his own division (Josh Allen).
Of course, there’s something to be said for New England having an underrated receiving corps, especially if DeVante Parker can stay healthy and Kendrick Bourne can continue making an ascension as one of the more surprisingly explosive playmakers in football.
Plus, it’s not as if Bart Scott’s hilariously negative assessment that the Patriots have the worst roster in the AFC — even more so than the Jets, who haven’t proven anything in years — is any closer to the mark.
Fortunately, Patriots training camp will begin next week and give everyone actual football to evaluate, which can hopefully bring people closer to reality again.
