Who is on the Hot Seat going into Training Camp?
I’ll give you 6 players, three on Offense and three on Defense that are on the Hot Seat heading into Training Camp. There is still plenty of time (approx. 71 days to the start of Training Camp) to make changes to the roster.
Jahlani Tavai LB – It is hard to envision Tavai’s style of play to mesh with the new philosophy of Mike Vrabel. He likes lighter, faster linebackers and Tavai is more in the mold of a traditional plodding run stopper. Tavai ranked 143 out of 189 linebackers by PFF. He started 16 of 17 games last year. I think the Patriots are a little thin at linebacker at the present time, so that may work in Tavai’s favor. I believe that Christian Elliss and the Restricted Free Agent contract ($13.5M 2-year, with $7.7M guaranteed) the Patriots matched, has surpassed Tavai on the depth chart. The contract size the Patriots signed Elliss for indicates to me they have big plans for him. We will see if that is true when the media gets a look at the minicamp practice. Look at June 1st cuts and ultimately at the waivers made on Cutdown day. We will have #4 priority. Shaun Dolac, an UDFA from University of Buffalo was signed by the Los Angelas Rams. He was a player that was linked to the Vrabel as a type of player in the mold of Robert Spillane and Jack Gibbens.
Keion White DE – I am not a big fan of Keion White. To me he is a player without a true position. He is not solid enough against the run to be an EDGE or DT. His pass rush goes wildly and uncontrollably up the field, usually past the QB which opens up an escape lane for the QB to scramble and make plays. He had 5 sacks last year and all 5 were in the 1st two games. He has to move inside to DT on passing downs to be an effective pass rusher. He is not stout enough to play inside against the run. The best description of White is he looks like Tarzan and plays like Jane. White stands 6’5” and weighs 285-pounds, runs a 4.79 40 and Bench Pressed 30 reps at the combine. Playing the style of up the field aggressiveness that is expected under Defensive Coordinator Terrell Williams should play into White’s strength. It appeared that White freelanced too often last year. He was very critical of the coaching staff and openly questioned whether he wanted to play for them again because he felt he was being misused. His contract is up after this year, and he will be an Unrestricted Free Agent next season. Remember in the Packer Way, “get rid of someone a year too early rather than a year too late”. I think if Un-Drafted Free Agent (UDFA) Elijah Ponder can give you a better pass rush and be no worse than White in run Defense, he just might make the team over White.
Marte Mapu SS/LB – The Patriots selected him in the 3rd round #79 of the 2022 Draft. The draft experts were stunned at how much of a reach Mapu was. A typical Bill Belichick pick. Most fans had never heard of him. I had him as a possibility for the Pats in the 7th round. He is a 6’2.5”, 221-pound Safety, who ran a 4.59 40-yard dash. The Patriots announced him as a Linebacker. His 40 time as a LB is good but as a Safety it’s pretty slow. In two years, he has 18 tackles and can’t seem to stay healthy. Last season he missed nearly all of Training Camp and started the year on IR. He came back in week 5 and started against Miami when both Peppers and Dugger were out. His PFF Rating was 64.1, good for a true PFF Rating of 73 amongst all Safeties with 5 or more games played. There are 64 starting safeties in the league and he was 73rd. In comparison, Dell Pettus was 25th. Mapu had 217 Defensive snaps and 240 ST snaps played. In those 240 ST snaps Mapu was credited with only 4 tackles. I propose that Mapu move to Linebacker this year to clear a space for Pettus. However, if one of the rookies or UDFA make an impression on Special Teams, Mapu could be gone. For instance, UDFA RB Lan Larison has already made a strong initial impression on media observers. He played Special Teams at UC Davis and had 4 tackles last season. Oh by the way, Larison is a Rodeo Cowboy. He has won numerous championships for Steer Wrestling. That is riding a horse at full gallop while chasing a steer, and sliding off the horse, then wrestling the steer to the ground.
Rhamondre Stevenson RB – Stevenson led the league with 8 fumbles last season. Mike Vrabel pointed out that not all of those fumbles were Stevenson’s fault. One of the points that Vrabel has made is about finishing and he criticized the Offensive Line for allowing Stevenson to be gang tackled and not playing to the whistle. They didn’t come and scrape off any tacklers. Not all of this is the fault of the OL. If Stevenson continues to fumble he will be benched or cut. Vrabel will not stand for a lack of ball security. The Patriots drafted Tre’Vyon Henderson with their 2nd round selection (#38). You don’t draft a RB that high and not play him. Henderson will push for playing time and he doesn’t fumble. In 667 touches (runs and receptions) he had ZERO fumbles. He also averaged 6.9 yards per carry. Henderson is a much better receiver out of the backfield and a superior pass blocker to Stevenson. Stevenson is better in yards after 1st contact and inside runs between the tackles. I suspect that Stevenson will be used in short yardage situations and goal line.
Kendrick Bourne WR – Bourne had his best season in the NFL under Josh McDaniels in 2021. His stat line was 55 catches for 800 yards and 5 TDs. However, Bourne is not the player he was in 2021. Entering his 9th season in the NFL, Bourne is a full year removed from ACL surgery that cost him the 2023 season. In 2024 he played just 12 games coming off the IR following the surgery. His stat line was just 28 catches for 305 yards and just 1 TD. His 10.9 yards per catch was the lowest in his career. This is not all attributed to Bourne. The poor offensive line gave rookie QB Drake Maye very little time to throw. Most of Bournes routes are downfield and without time to throw, Maye is not looking for Bourne. Before the first Pre-season game starts in2024, Bourne will turn 30-years-old. I don’t know if you have noticed but a lot of 30 something players have been cut off this roster already. There will be a battle in training Camp for those last few roster spots at Wide Receiver. You have the two rookies from last year, Polk and Baker, who didn’t exactly shine hoping to take a leap in their second year. Kayshon Boutte made a big jump from his rookie season to have 43 catches for 539 yards, 13.7 YPC, and 3 TDs. It looks like Bourne is fighting with the two rookies from last year, 3rd year wideout Boutte and rookie UDFA Efton Chism for last one or two roster spots at WR.
Austin Hooper TE – Hooper is entering his 10th season in the NFL. He and Hunter Henry both were drafted in the same draft class of 2016 and are both 32-years-old. I just can’t see the team entering the season with two 32-year-old TEs. The older you get the more susceptible to injury you are. Hooper had a good season last year with 47 catches for 476 yards, 10.6 YPC, and 3 TDs. Pretty good for a backup TE. He was durable and played in all 17 games. Granted someone is going to have to take his job away from him. I project that Josh McDaniels will keep a Fullback so that eliminates a 3rd TE. What it comes down to is can UDFA CJ Dippre take that #2 TE spot? In my roster projection I have Dippre displacing Hooper strictly because of his age. Dippre had a 8.71 Relative Athletic Score (RAS). Let’s put that in perspective. Mason Taylor, the player I wanted the Patriots to take in the 2nd round, had an 8.89 RAS. Taylor was the 3rd TE selected in the draft. Let’s compare Dippre to Austion Hooper coming out in the 2016 draft from Stanford. Hooper’s RAS was only 8.15. Going into the draft this year, the TE position was considered one of the strengths of the draft. I will say that Eliot Wolf and the Patriots got bailed out and lucky when they were able to sign Dippre as an UDFA.
Rookie Mini Camp Takeaways
Mike Vrabel and his coaching staff are all hands-on coaches. Several of the coaches lined up opposite players with pads on and took part in the session. They actively participated and instructed the players. UDFA Lan Larison received a lot of instruction from Vrabel and running his routes. Larison benefited from Tre’Vyon Henderson not being at practice on Day one. Larison received all the reps and was later given a break when Ashton Grant jumped in and took a rep at RB on a flat pass. Grant was the 2016 Northeast-10 Offensive Player of the Year and 3x All-Conference WR at Assumption University in Worcester. Vrabel, Stretch Streicher, and Doug Marrone jumped in as well.
UDFA Lan Larison RB from UC Davis made quite the impression to most of the media members in attendance. The way he catches the ball out of the backfield amazed them. He looks like Rex Burkhead but catches the ball better. Larison was assigned the same number as Burkhead, which isn’t a coincidence.
All eyes were on Will Campbell and he didn’t disappoint. He looked smooth in drills and really works to sustain his blocks, playing beyond the whistle. The coaches did not use whistles in practice but just stated whistle, whistle, whistle. Campbell didn’t release until the third whistle. This will be something to watch when they really put on the pads in Training Camp. I am betting that Campbell will not be popular when the Pats get into joint practices. The Pats have been exploring Joint Practices with the Vikings and Commanders.
Tre’Vyon Henderson was at Day Two of Rookie MiniCamp. There was no reason given for his absence on Day one.
Defensive Coordinator Terrell Williams is home in Detroit, dealing with a traumatic medical issue. Williams met with the media via Zoom and has been a part of the team meetings with players and coaches via Zoom. Although he is not present, he is still involved. Zak Kuhr handled the Defense at minicamp in Williams absence. According to Williams, “Zak’s unbelievable. He’s an unbelievably smart guy,” he said about his colleague. “He’s going to be a superstar in this league. Smart, and more than anything he has the ability to connect with players.”
WR Kyle Williams has very quick feet as evident by the drills run in the 1st day. He is in and out of his breaks with lightning quickness. When interviewed after practice, Williams answered the question if he was as intense as Steven Smith, the wide receiver he was been compared with. He just simply stated “You’ll find out soon!”
The Patriots announce they signed three tryout players from their Rookie Mini Camp. Mekhi Butler is a 24-year-old Left Guard from Arkansas State. The 6’3” 320-pound lineman started 38 straight games at Arkansas State after being named a JUCO All-American at Iowa Western Community College. The second reported signing is Isaiah Iton a DT that spent all of last season on the Tennessee Titans Practice Squad. Iton played his final year of college ball at Rutgers. The 23-year-old DT played for Patriots D-line coach Clint McMillan at Tennessee last season. Iton played on the Tennessee Practice Squad. Wilfried Pene at just 6-2, 280 pounds, had 33 tackles and 3.5 sacks last season at Virginia Tech. He was born in France therefore qualifies for the International Pathway Program roster exemption. To make room for the additional signing, the Patriots announced they had released Cole Birdow OT from Merrimack College.
Efton Chism III WR – According to a report by ESPN’s Mike Reiss, the Eastern Washington product received a $234,000 salary guarantee plus a $25,000 signing bonus. There were as many as 6 teams vying for his services. The large, guaranteed salary does not mean that Chism will make the team, but indicates that the Patriots beat out competition for Chism. Reiss also pointed out that 6 teams had Chism in for “30” visits. I am actually surprised that the Patriots didn’t take Chism with their final selection in the draft. However, Kobee Minor visited the Patriots on a “30” visit.
About Mark Morse
Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
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