Mike Vrabel of the Patriots highlights a ‘critical’ priority for improving the roster
First day at work like Head coach of the New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel he already knows that he is the team’s top priority – and he will make Drake Maie happy to hear.
When asked what the new coach of the Patriots said, the offensive line is the most important need of the team he considered New England’s top priority entering the offseason.
“I think when you’ve acquired players, you look at what’s available in free agency and what you like (that) you can sign and then see what you get out of it,” Vrabel told reporters. “Certainly, you look at teams that are able to protect the quarterback and dictate the flow of the game offensively, making sure we’re healthy, strong up front, whether it’s through free agency or the draft, that’s something that’s critical.”
“The D-linemen, they get better every year. They are becoming more and more disruptive. They are getting bigger, more powerful. So while they’re trying to disrupt our quarterback, we’ve got to have some things to balance that out.”
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Vrabel already seems to know his team’s personnel pretty well. The Patriots offensive line was a mess last season, both from a health and performance standpoint. They had nine different starting offensive line combinations, starting a different combination in each of the first seven games as players rotated in and out of the lineup due to injury.
However, once the state of the offensive line stabilized, the Patriots’ defense did not improve, as they finished last in Pro Football Focus offensive line rank. The unit allowed 52 sacks, which was tied for fifth in the NFL. Their offensive attacks have been particularly poor, with left tackle Wederian Love allowing five interceptions in 14 games and right tackle Demontrei Jacobs allowing nine sacks in 15 games.
What Mike Vrabel wants from Patriots players
The Patriots will certainly have opportunities to upgrade their offensive line this offseason. There will be quality tackles available in free agency between the Ravens and Ronnie Staley, the Vikings’ Cam Robinson and the Steelers’ Dan Moore. Kansas City Chiefs standout running back Trey Smith will likely be the best free agent offensive player this offseason. In the draft, Kelvin Banks from Texas and LSU Will Campbell is projected to go in the top 10giving the Patriots two solid options when they end up with the No. 4 overall pick in April’s draft.
As the Patriots weigh their options on how to best address the offensive line this offseason, Vrabel outlined what his ideal players are and his expectations for them.
“Putting the team first, knowing what to do and playing fast and aggressive,” Vrabel said. “It’s a vision for a type of player. Winners come in all shapes and sizes. We will have leaders. Leaders will identify themselves. I know our staff and our ability to create winners and competitors is probably easier than creating leaders, and leaders will identify themselves. Leaders will be the ones who define the culture. Culture will be what drives and delivers the results we all want.
“So the type of player, when you get into scouting and evaluation, every team has height, weight, speed. Then our job is to take the analytics and, look at the tape and just figure out where we fit best. Maybe they are the best and the real ones. That would be wonderful. But it’s a long process, and those are the things we’re going to ask the players to do: put the team first, know what they need to do, and play fast and aggressive and play with a little bit of speed.”
The Patriots certainly have needs outside of the offensive line to address this offseason, as they have had poor or inconsistent play throughout the roster. Luckily for them, they’ll have over $120 million in cap space this offseason to help deal with all of that.
2025-01-14 06:47:00
