It’s become common over the past few years for bill Belichick to cancel the final mandatory minicamp practice if he believes the team is in a good place.
On Wednesday morning, he did so again as the team was headed off for some team bonding instead of heading back out onto the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. With OTA’s and now minicamp in the books, we won’t get a look at the team until training camp in late July.
So, with that being the case, it’s time to take a look back at the last few weeks and figure out who had the most productive and least productive spring.
MOST PRODUCTIVE
Ty Montgomery, Christian Gonzalez, Marte Mapu, Mike Gesicki, Corliss Waitman, Pierre Strong
Ty Montgomery was arguably the best offensive player during training camp last year before he got hurt. It was great to see him these past few weeks, particularly during minicamp. Looks healthy and jacked. He’s going to be a phenomenal red zone threat for this team as long as he can stay on the field.
It’s only shorts and helmets, but both Gonzalez and Mapu are going to be Day One starters for this team I think. I’m a huge Keion White fan already too, but Mapu and Gonzalez stood out more than he did during these sessions. Gonzalez is as advertised in terms of athleticism and size. Mapu did a little bit of everything and already seems to have a good relationship with Bill Belichick as the two chatted and dapped up after one of the practices.
Gesicki is just a massive target and right now, probably the best offensive option for Mac. Both he and Hunter Henry got the ball A LOT during OTA’s and minicamp and I don’t think that’s going to change when we hit training camp. If the Pats get DeAndre Hopkins, great. If not, don’t be surprised if Gesicki is the team’s leading pass catcher. The chemistry with Mac is already there.
Pierre Strong got a lot of opportunities as a pass catcher during these sessions and looked good. Obviously, Rhamondre Stevenson is the lead guy, but with Damien Harris out of the picture, that second back role is up for grabs between he, Kevin Harris and JJ Taylor. It appears to be Strong’s job to lose when we head to camp.
Last but certainly not least, Corliss Waitman could (should) be this team’s new punter. It also just occurred to me I’ve been writing Waltman instead of Waitman this whole spring, so maybe I should add myself to the bad list. Anyways, I think he gets the job not just because of the novelty of a left-footed punter makes life a bit more difficult on guys receiving the punts, but the ball booms off his foot. The rotation and hang time are significantly better than Bryce Baringer’s and Waltman felt like he got the bulk of the “first” punts when the team transitioned into special teams periods.
LEAST PRODUCTIVE
Trent Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Lawrence Guy
Guy may be the one guy here that should get a little bit of slack. With the kind of teammate he’s been through the years, he probably deserves a bump in pay. Now, the age throws a wrench in there, but in terms of run defenders and leaders on that side of the ball, the Pats may not have a choice but to make sure he’s back in July.
As far as JuJu goes, it’s extremely worrisome. Not only was he dumb enough to put posts on IG of him at a driving range Tuesday during practice, but during his only bit of media availability earlier in the spring, he said he needed flash cards to learn this offense. Probably not great that he hasn’t been on the field when we’ve all seen countless receivers flame out here not being able to grasp the offense.
Trent Brown is probably just a lost cause at this point. He was an integral part of a Super Bowl, but ever since it seems he’s just been all about the money. He did show up on Tuesday, but barely made it a half hour before heading down to the lower fields for conditioning work. The team absolutely needs him as the O-line currently stands, but he doesn’t need them and he knows it. It’ll be fascinating to see if BB finally moves on from him over the next few weeks or if they come to a gentleman’s agreement about what role he’s going to have.
Guys not on this list (there’s like 90 players on the roster right now) didn’t necessarily have good or bad springs, but decent ones. The guys we discussed here clearly stood out one way or another above others, for better or worse.
We appreciate you checking out all of our minicamp and OTA coverage and look forward to ramping it back up in a few weeks for training camp!