The Patriots sit at 4-4 through eight games and have nine games remaining. First up is a home matchup with the Colts, which will be followed by the team’s bye week before an eight game gauntlet to end the season that includes two games against the Bills and matchups with the Vikings, Dolphins and Bengals. If New England wants to make it through the second half with a shot at making the playoffs there are two changes on offense they should make.
Move Mike Onwenu To Right Tackle
Whether it has been Isaiah Wynn or Marcus Cannon playing right tackle, the Patriots have had problems at that spot. Wynn has been beaten constantly off the edge and Cannon was smoked on the Mac Jones interception against the Jets. Both have also allowed penetration when run blocking. It has been the weakest spot on the Patriots offense.
Onwenu played right tackle as a rookie in 2020 and had a fantastic year. Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the best rookie linemen in the NFL and he drew praise from Bill Belichick. Slotting Onwenu back at right tackle would immediately calm the waters off the right edge.
New England would need to come up with a solution at guard, but Wynn might be more comfortable there and they also have swing lineman James Ferentz, who started at center against the Jets for an injured David Andrews. One other possible solution would be to have 2019 third round pick Yodny Cajuste get reps at right tackle, but he has not shown much in his career thus far.
Get Jakobi Meyers More Involved
Meyers is the Patriots best receiver and has been since 2020. The converted college quarterback has shown that he isn’t just a good story, he’s a legit top two option at receiver. Upon returning from injury, Meyers had 14 combined targets in his first three games back including only two in the dismal loss to Chicago, one of which was a 30-yard touchdown. Against the Jets in his fourth game back, and first full game with Mac Jones since his injury, Meyers had 12 targets and hauled in nine catches for 60 yards and New England’s lone touchdown.
I’m not saying Meyers needs to have 12 targets every game, but given his talent and his rapport with Jones he should be getting at least 7-8 every single week. Given the boom or bust nature of DeVante Parker and the still-perplexing phasing out of Kendrick Bourne, Meyers value is arguably higher than it was a season ago. Meyers does a great job of finding openings in defense to make things easy on Jones and can also make pinpoint contested catches.
The more he is involved going forward, the better the Patriots offense will be. New England should still spread the ball around, but Meyers should be getting a little more of the ball than he has been most of this season.