Just three weeks from right about now, the gates to the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium will open and the annual running of the jorts will commence.

Fans will flock to the metal bleachers trying to get the best view of Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs, Milton Williams, Will Campbell, Mike Vrabel and the rest of the 2025 New England Patriots for the first training camp practice.

It’s always an exciting time for every NFL fan, but there’s renewed optimism in Foxborough for the first time since No. 12 departed in 2020. While fans are (rightfully) cautiously optimistic – some still pessimistic – it’s hard to imagine this newer version of the Patriots isn’t going to be better and more respectable than the last few iterations have been.

With adults in the room now coaching, a completely re-vamped locker room and (on paper) a much easier schedule, competitive, exciting football should be returning every Sunday this fall and winter.

With that in mind and since we’re just three weeks away from the start of it all, here are three bold predictions we legitimately believe could become reality this season:

1. The Patriots will be a playoff team

Yup. That’s right. From four-win seasons in back-to-back years to postseason football for the first time in four years. Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, Terrell Williams, Jeremy Springer and the rest of this staff will make that much of a difference. I’m not sure people fully acknowledge just how bad the coaching has been the last few years. Not just X’s and O’s, but the relationships in the building have clearly been self-serving. Not everyone has been pulling in the same direction and the feeling was palpable, particularly last year and in 2023 when the QBs hated each other but put on smiles and said all the right things for the cameras.

With continuity and a true team-first attitude permeating throughout the walls at 1 Patriot Place throughout the spring, it’s hard to imagine things won’t be better. The roster still isn’t world-beating by any means, but there’s speed and talent that hasn’t been there for a while with some legitimate veteran presence at positions it’s been desperately needed at.

I also fully acknowledge it’s hard to say the Pats have any ‘easy’ games this year when they’ve been other teams’ ‘get right’ game for two seasons now, but on paper, this version of the Patriots (assuming health) should win at least six games at home and then we’ll go from there.

We’ll be watching playoff football again in January.

2. The defense will be a Top 5 unit 

This one isn’t all that bold, but still, Top 5 is certainly a lofty goal. With Milton Williams, Christian Barmore, Keion White, Harold Landry, Robert Spillane, Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III alone, you have some absolute dudes on that side of the ball. That’s not even including other pieces of the puzzle like Jonathan Jones, Jahlani Tavai, Jaylinn Hawkins and others probably playing significant roles too. With Vrabel’s background, Williams’ scheme and no-nonsense attitude as defensive coordinator and a renewed focus on being a hard team to play against, this unit should be a big problem for a lot of offenses.

3. TreVeyon Henderson will be a Rookie of the Year candidate 

We only got to see a little bit of Henderson in OTAs, but man, that speed is legitimate. Everything about Henderson since being drafted by the Pats just screams ‘leader’ in the locker room as well, whether it’s his faith or demeanor, he was clearly an important add for the Patriots as culture was a huge part of the rebuild.

As far as the football goes, we all saw what he can do with Ohio State. With Josh McDaneils back in the saddle running the show, it’s hard to imagine Henderson won’t be used all over the place – especially as a pass catcher – much like Kevin Faulk, James White and other successful backs in this offense have been used over the years. He’s going to get plenty of touches out of the backfield in the screen game, lined up as a receiver and while taking some of the running load off of Rhamondre Stevenson’s plate.

Henderson should provide some dynamic play-making ability that the team just hasn’t had at the position in quite a while and because of all those touches, we believe he could be one of the best, most productive rookies in this class.