The New England Patriots have concluded organized team activities on Thursday and will now wrap up the offseason program with a three day mandatory minicamp beginning Monday, June 9.
So let’s talk about it all and get right into this week’s #PostPulpit Mailbag.
Is there a good possibility that Kyle Williams and Efton Chism III are the starting WRs behind Diggs week 1? - mathblaster97
With Diggs likely set to play a more prominent role on the inside, the door is absolutely open for Williams to be their Week 1 starting X receiver. His best competition for that spot is Kayshon Boutte and Mack Hollins, who has not been practicing this spring due to injury.
As for Chism, he has been their most consistent receiver through the open spring practices to the media, but there is a long way to go. Let’s see how it looks when the pads come on and with more reps with the top offense. We’ll stick with Pop Douglas in the slot for now in Week 1 with Diggs at the Z.
And yet another Chism question: aren’t he and Douglas kinda the same? Little guys who get open? Can the Pats keep both? - Ricky Hot Pants
As for Douglas and Chism, their size is similar (Chism is slightly larger) but they are different kinds of players. Douglas is a much more explosive option with speed that can threaten defenses vertically and make him an extremely hard cover in man-to-man. The ability with the ball in his hands also opens up the playbook for schemed touches.
Chism, on the other hand, does not have that straight line speed but instead the shiftiness and stop-start ability. Through his college film and the open practices he also has shown a knack for finding open space in coverages which is something we’ve seen Douglas struggle with at times. Chism’s hands have also stood out as the ball doesn’t move once he’s made contact.
While both players will do their best work inside or in the slot due to their size, there is room for both to complement each other on the roster.
With the Chism hype runaway train in full effect can you assess likely return on trade of Pop vs. Bourne vs. Boutte? - Spyponder90
As we just discussed, Pop and Chism can coexist while Boutte is in a separate category along the outside. That likely leaves Bourne on the outside looking in among this group if Chism continues to ascend. I wouldn’t guess anything higher than a mid-to-late day three pick for a team to acquire his services.
There’s been a lot of discussion about Larsson, Lampe, Chism and Dippre having a chance to stick and make it to the 53 man roster, but which other UDFA(s), if any, do you think might have an outside chance to sneak in there? - wrw921
Chism has definitely separated himself from the pack early on, but someone else who has caught my eye is Jack Conley. The versatile Boston College lineman has played every spot but center during OTAs which is something he did throughout his collegiate career. There are spots to be won up front and his BC ties won’t hurt his cause either.
Any word on how Lan Larison is progressing? He is from my childhood home, so I am really rooting for him to make the roster! - mathblaster97
The biggest thing that has stood out with Larison is how smooth he is as a pass catcher out of the backfield. With his added ability on special teams he’ll make a push for RB3 or 4 duties.
what gets negotiated in rookie contracts? Are there any interesting or unique aspects of the contracts for our rookies? - WillisMcGooberstine
As the total money in a rookie contract is largely already predetermined, the biggest negotiating hurdles are the payment schedule of bonuses and guarantees. When it comes to New England’s rookie deals, TreVeyon Henderson is the most unique one to watch. Cleveland and Houston, who selected 33rd and 34th overall, inked the first two fully guaranteed contracts for second round picks which has appeared to slow Henderson’s negotiations.
As the late round picks are usually long shots to make a team, it makes sense to use them on players a team wants to make sure to get, eliminating the uncertainty of competing for them as UDFAs. By this reasoning, making sure to get the kicker and long snapper desired made sense. What did the team see in Minor that made the certainty of getting him into camp more urgent than the high priority UDFAs such as Dippre, Chism, Larison? - WCPF
Their cornerback depth chart behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis is a question mark. Marcus Jones and Alex Austin appear to be the next two options, but there will be plenty of competition. They wanted Minor in that group. As for why, we’ll let Eliot Wolf explain:
“The movement skills at practice, the ability to play the football in the air, his competitiveness, we brought him in for a pre-draft visit, a 30 visit, and he did a really nice job on that. He was a guy that we had some affinity for. Mr. Irrelevant, a pretty cool experience for him, but we were excited to be able to add him.”
Is there concern about the LB depth? With Tavai going down, I’m wondering how you view the LB depth behind Ellis and Spill. Perhaps Mapu is moved to LB, being a lighter/faster dude, yet I’m concerned about our depth and experience there. Thanks- - Arschloch
Linebacker is not their deepest position but I’m not overly concerned about the depth at that spot especially within the new defensive scheme that features four down fronts and primarily just two off ball linebackers. They still have Jack Gibbens, Christian Elliss and Marte Mapu, who has been playing linebacker at OTAs, as more athletic options along the second level to play next to Robert Spillane. I also wouldn’t rule out some of their safeties moving down a level on third-down.
Losing Tavai would remove their one bigger body at linebacker, but getting more athletic along the second level was part of the goal within this defense.
Has anyone or anything surprised you so far in OTAs? - Sportzballer
Moving away from the players, the layout of Mike Vrabel’s practices have been interesting to watch. There is a heavy dose of 11-on-11 competitive team work compared to a Bill Belichick spring practice that featured more individual drill work with some 7-on-7 sprinkled in.
During opening positional work there are also new drills that again often feature some sort of competitive nature (i.e. wide receivers racing through cone work).
What are your favorite activities to supplement your time during peak NFL off-season nonsense? - LandenPatz1
All in on the silliness of the NHL offseason. More mock drafts. More free agent rumors. Mitch Marner to the Bruins, please.
That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them online in our weekly submission post or on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following@iambrianhines and@PatsPulpit as well.