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Patriots News 7/2: What Will the McDaniels Effect Be?

Some Patriots news for this morning:

Josh McDaniels has been in the spotlight as of late, with many wondering just what kind of impact he’ll have on the team this season.

The hope is that we’ll see a return of an offensive performance closer to what we saw in 2020 and 2021, when he managed to get the best out of both Cam Newton and Mac Jones.

Prior to moving on to Las Vegas, McDaniels’ final season in New England certainly saw the Patriots’ offense click. New England finished that season sixth in the NFL in scoring, which saw them break the 40-point threshold three times, including two games where they scored 50.

Heading into 2025, the gap compared to their peers a year ago was massive. Both the Lions and Bills led the league in scoring last season, with Detroit finishing the regular season having scored 564 points, while Buffalo put up 525.

Obviously, Buffalo sits here within the Division and thus far appears to be the favorite. The Dolphins and Jets ranked in the bottom half of scoring last year, putting up 345 and 338 points, respectively.

New England scored just 289 last season, and it felt like a struggle just to reach that number.

That’s a far cry from the 462 points they scored under McDaniels in 2021. The hope now is that with a physically more gifted quarterback in Drake Maye and a better cast than a year ago that they can get back to being competitive again on offense.

It’s tough to say whether or not they’ll be able to climb back into the fray within their own division, but the opportunity absolutely appears to be there. Following the Dolphins’ shedding both salary and talent after their most recent trade, including shipping off a player who led Miami in receptions against New England in Jonnu Smith, they’re definitely a little weaker than they were a year ago.

The Jets still have questions at quarterback as they hand the keys over to Justin Fields, and the opportunity for the Patriots to potentially take advantage is absolutely there.

But with a few weeks to go until training camp, the spotlight definitely remains on the offense. Whether or not Maye can thrive under McDaniels is something we’re all wondering. Maye is a more physically gifted player than Jones, which in theory should mean at least equal production.

The big question is just how much McDaniels will be able to get out of a group that feels like, at least in terms of their receiver room, might even be stronger than that 2021 team.

Mike Vrabel and Josh McDaniels

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

Looking at the numbers, what’s sort of crazy is the fact that the Patriots were actually 22nd in the NFL in scoring for the first six weeks of that 2021 season, scoring 125 points over that span under Jones.

However, by Week 12, New England was third in the NFL in points scored with 336 points, right behind both the Buccaneers (347) and the Colts (340). Much of that came from the 54 points they put up against the Jets in Week 7, along with the 45 they scored against Cleveland in Week 10, and the 36 they scored against Mike Vrabel’s Titans in Week 12.

They also got plenty of help from their defense, which finished 7th that year in average points-per game allowed. But that group surprisingly helped put the Patriots at the top of the league in point differential at +123 after Week 11, and they held that position despite being idle through Week 14.

They finally dropped to 2nd in the league behind the Bills in Week 15, then fell to fourth in Week 16 after both the Cowboys and Buccaneers, respectively, moved ahead of them.

They then jumped back up to second in Week 17, before finishing third that season, one week later at +159.

With Mike Vrabel and Terrell Williams running things on defense, and the talent they have on that side of the football, the possibility is there for them to help out the offense again this year. However, one wrinkle in all this is going to be the fact it’s McDaniels’ first season coaching the offense without Bill Belichick. It’s hard not to wonder how much insight Belichick provided during any of the game-planning, or what – if any – influence he had over some of the in-game decisions.

One thing that should make a difference is that McDaniels is paired with Vrabel and not Jerod Mayo, with Vrabel’s experience on both sides of the football likely allowing him to be a similar influence that Belichick was.

Still, in McDaniels’ case, it’s also the first season he’ll probably have the most freedom he’s had as a coordinator, but it might also be one where he’s definitely scrutinized a little more than he might have been in the past.

Drake Maye

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

Meanwhile, after getting married, Maye is still trying to enjoy the remainder of his time away from the field before camp begins. Hewas spotted across the pond at Wimbledon, with other big names on hand to take in one of the biggest events in tennis.

Maye got off to a rough start this spring but seemed to make strides during the club’s final sessions, setting up what is definitely going to be one of the most anticipated training camps in recent memory.

Albert Breer appeared on the Rich Eisen podcast recently, talking about Maye ahead of this season. He said the biggest question will just be how the other guys around him perform, which will decide how far they go this year.

“I just know people in the league think a lot of him,” said Breer of Maye. “And so can their line be better? That’s a big question. What does Will Campbell look like at left tackle? A huge question. I think the defense has a chance to be really good. And I think with TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson in the backfield, they’ve got a chance to play a certain brand of football that Vrabel is familiar with, where I could see him coaching them right into the 500 range.”

Mike Vrabel

(PHOTO: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)

Julian Edelman sat down with Colin Cowherd recently, talking about Vrabel and the type of person and player he was as the former linebacker begins his tenure as head coach.

Edelman said Vrabel’s a rare mix of someone who is both incredibly intelligent, yet also imposing.

“He’s the rare case of being a tough guy that’s really smart,” said Edelman. “It’s weird. He can alpha you with his presence, but he can also alpha you with his mouthpiece. When [Eric] Mangini said he could recall anything, he could recall…like we’d be at the Kentucky Derby, and he’d pull out a play that we played against each other or when he was with Tennessee. And he said, ‘You know that one play?’ He did that.”

“He could just bring it out. I mean, that’s what I think is so special about Coach Vrabel. He’s got that alpha mentality, but he’s also a really smart guy. So he has both of them. I’m excited to see what they do in New England. I got to go to their camp a couple of weeks back, and it looked great.”

So far, the players all seem to have really embraced their new head coach, and listening to Edelman, it’s not hard to understand why.

That’s what’s going to make these next couple of weeks so tough to sit through ahead of when things finally get started here in New England.

About Ian Logue

Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.