NFL rosters are always a work in progress, and that’s certainly true this summer for a Patriots team that just added former All-Pro running back Ezekiel Elliott to the training camp mix.
Coaches like Bill Belichick and personnel men such as Matt Groh are always looking at opportunities to upgrade talent, or as New England would prefer to position it, to improve the team.
So it’s not necessarily notable that a guy like Elliott is very much needed at this mid-August point in the roster-building process. Elliott brings welcomed depth to the running back room, the former star of the Star now set to serve as an understudy and role sharer with a rising star in his own right in Rhamondre Stevenson.
But New England’s failed pursuit of receiver DeAndre Hopkins, successful signing of Elliott and overall ongoing analysis of a roster looking to keep pace in arguably the best division in the NFL is curious if not maddening at this point.
It’s been widely accepted and critiqued that New England lacks high-end talent at most positions. Matthew Judon is the team’s lone Pro Bowl talent and only representative among the top-10 players at his position if you put any stock in ESPN’s rankings based on a survey of league insiders. If you prefer the NFL Network’s rankings, Judon is clearly the closest the Patriots have to top talent.
Maybe Stevenson should be in the conversation at running back. Or Hunter Henry at tight end. One might even be able to stretch and include tackle Trent Brown when he’s in-shape, motivated and engaged.
The rest of the top of the roster is made up of seemingly a bunch of good but not great talents. Tight end, wide receiver, safety and the defensive front are all areas where there is respectable, proven talent that might just come together to be better than sum of the parts.
But while the lack of elite talent has been a story in New England for months and even years – in case you didn’t notice the Patriots haven’t exactly replaced Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Stephon Gilmore or even Devin McCourty and Joe Thuney – an additional critique of the roster has become quite clear this summer. Not only does it lack elite, high-end talent it also somehow lacks much depth at a number of the most important positions in football.
The offensive line has been a mess this summer in part due to projected starters being unavailable, but that’s only covered up the fact that for the second straight season the tackle position is less than stable.
Brown is the lone starting-caliber player, while the rest of the group is made up of fading journeymen, former practice squanders and unproven late-rounders.
How about tight end? Everyone presumes and assumes that Bill O’Brien wants to run lots of two-tight end looks Henry and Mike Gesicki, but with the latter now dealing with a shoulder injury there’s really no next-in-line option at the spot.
Then there is cornerback, where New England projects to start a pair of young players with a combined two NFL starts on their collective resumes in first-round rookie Christian Gonzalez and second-year mid-round pick Jack Jones.
Even the back end of the receiver depth chart is relatively wide open for late-round picks like Demario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte to pursue a roster spot.
So how did this happen?
As flexible and fraudulent as it may be, the NFL does have a salary cap. So there’s not unlimited long term finances for teams to collect both elite talent and depth on the roster. Sometimes when you have big-money, big-ticket talent in some areas it forces you to cut costs and depth elsewhere on the depth chart. Or, sometimes when you collect wider-ranging depth on the roster it might limit a team’s ability to sign or retain costly top talents.
Both methods of roster management and limitations are understandable and even hold true across most sports.
But, how exactly have the 2023 Patriots built a roster that’s severely lacking in both top-end talent and key, functional depth?
Is it simply a string of poor drafts continuing to hinder the team? N’Keal Harry! Or massive free agent dollars being misspent? Jonnu Smith!
Or might it be a philosophy of roster-building that’s becoming a bit dated if not flawed. After all, Groh did reemphasize early in training camp a style of management that’s had a foothold in Foxborough since the infancy of the Belichick era when then-personnel sidekick Scott Pioli said the very same kinds of things.
“There’s a sign around here that’s been hanging for some time that says, ‘We’re not collecting talent, we’re trying to build a team,’” Groh declared as training camp opened.
For years it seemed the Patriots did that as well any organization.
Building a squad around Brady that also included Hall of Famers, All-Pros and Pro Bowlers on both sides of the ball.
Now, not so much. Now even with a starting quarterback on a rookie contract that supposed to pave the road to roster glory, New England is coming up short.
Now it seems the Patriots need to maybe collect a bit more talent. And that goes for both the top of the depth chart and the bottom. But, for this year, it’s probably too late for that. Unless there are a few more additions like Elliott yet to come.