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The news broke over the weekend that the Tennessee Titans had won the DeAndre Hopkins sweepstakes and the star wide receiver will be playing football in Nashville for the 2023 season.
The NFL world reacted Sunday night into Monday morning, with the overwhelming consensus being quite simple:
The Patriots missed out.
Here’s a look at the reactions of some prominent analysts:
Dan Orlovsky: “It feels like a massive missed opportunity and loss for the Patriots and Mac Jones, going into a huge year… just look at the division. They are worst in the division when it comes to overall skill, talent by far. And bottom three, bottom four in the conference.”
“You also expect your quarterback to take a big step, and he’s got not nearly the amount of weapons that other quarterbacks have.”
Colin Cowherd: “It’s more of an indictment on New England. Think about this: So I’m a star receiver, and you know in the NFL you’re as good [as your quarterback]. DeAndre Hopkins did not choose Belichick with six, seven Super Bowl Did not choose offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien who won a division with Brock Osweiler. He didn’t choose Mac Jones, a first round pick who’s clearly their number one quarterback.”
“He chose Tennessee. With a shaky offensive line, running back dominant, and you have no idea what he future is at quarterback.”
Dan Patrick: “The thing that I don’t understand is the New England Patriots. Because you’ve got a good defense. They were a top ten defense.”
“You have nothing on offense. You’re not even sure of your quarterback. Is Mac Jones a right-handed Tua Tagovailoa? I don’t know but Tua certainly has a lot of toys to play with. If I put Tua in New England and Mac Jones in Miami, you would probably see Mac Jones be a g=very good quarterback. But he doesn’t have anything to work with!”
Rich Eisen: “The question is: What happened to New England? Why didn’t he go there? Did New England not pny up for him? Did he not really consider him? Were the Patriots just something to go ahead and create a market?”
"What happened? Because they could use him too. Unless, they’re just going to go into the season with their usual, which is: opportunistic defense, special teams that makes you make the mistake, situationally smarter than you, running backs for days, and a quarterback who, ‘shrug emoji’ in year three. We’re assuming Bill O’Brien makes him better. Who are you going to be… circling in a defensive meeting saying ‘this guy can’t beat you.’”
“I’ll tell you what, if they had DeAndre Hopkins, you’d be circling him.”
Damien Woody:
“I think it is. I think it is. I understand what Danny [Orlovsky] was talking about with the tight ends Mike Gesicki and Hunter Henry but, at the end ofthe day when it;s third down and it’s crunch time, who is [Mac Jones] throwing the ball to?”
"Do the New England Patriots have anybody on the outside that can just win 1-on-1? Right now, I say the answer is no.”
The Patriots head into 2023 with a room including veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster, DeVante Parker, Kendrick Bourne, and Tyquan Thornton among several rookies.
Training Camp begins July 26. We'll see if they add to the group before then.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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