Patriots Mailbag: Taking stock after a rough loss in Miami

• What have Mayo and wolf done to deserve a second year, aside from being inexperienced?

  — (@cheffdave.bsky.social) 2024-11-25T18:33:49.976Z

  When it comes to Jerod Mayo – maybe ‘deserved’ isn’t the right term but the argument would be there’s not enough talent on the roster to truly evaluate him as a coach. Pending a few wins down the stretch here that show late-season improvement (the real goal from the start of the season), that would be the case.  For what it’s worth Dianna Russini reported last week that the current expectation is that Mayo’s job was safe, so the team may be set on at least letting him start a second season either way.

  The question of talent on the roster though brings us to Eliot Wolf. Aside from Drake Maye the production from his first draft class has been minimal. That’s not a great sign for a GM working on a ‘draft and develop’ philosophy. Meanwhile Wolf failed to supplement that draft in free agency, particularly when it comes to the offensive line. Those offensive line deficiencies have limited the Patriots overall multiple times this year, especially when it comes to Maye. Like Mayo, Wolf’s job may end up being safe just by nature of the team not wanting to ‘one-and-done’ any top staffers, but this upcoming offseason needs to see a more aggressive approach.

• David Jacobs on X (formerly Twitter): "Is Drake Maye himself enough to attract free agents in the offseason? / X"

  Is Drake Maye himself enough to attract free agents in the offseason?

  Kendrick Bourne gave a good answer to this question after the loss on Sunday. “Yeah, absolutely. He’s putting the league on notice,” Bourne said. “I love playing with Drake, so I can see the potential. So if anybody else can’t see it, I don’t know what they looking at. We know what he’s going to be.”

  How wide-reaching will that be? That remains to be seen. If Maye does have an impact – which I think he’ll have some – it will mostly be on the offensive side of the ball. Using Maye to convince defensive players to sign still probably isn’t the best pitch (that’s reserved for perennial MVP-level quarterbacks) but offensive players should definitely feel better about joining this team now than they did last offseason (this is something that reportedly impacted Brandon Aiyuk’s decision to turn down the Patriots’ offer).

• Which players have shown tangible improvement to you so far this year?

  — Richie T (@scruffums.bsky.social) 2024-11-25T18:44:01.160Z

  It’s a short list, which isn’t a great sign for this coaching staff. It looked like Kayson Boutte was going to highlight this group, but he’s taken a step back the past few weeks.

  That being said, Keion White has made strides in 2024. White flashed early last season but then missed time with a concussion after which it took him a few weeks to get back into form. This year he’s hit the ground running and ranks 25th in the NFL with 38 pressures in 12 games, despite not having many other pass rushers around him for opposing teams to worry about.

• When Wallace comes back should they try him at LT to see what they got or RT and develop with Big Mike?

  — (@rickep.bsky.social) 2024-11-25T21:46:56.481Z

  Caedan Wallace should be the starting right tackle once he’s healthy. For one, everything we’ve seen from him going back to Penn State suggests that if he’s going to be a tackle in the NFL, the most likely path is on the right side. Plus, just like on the left side there’s no other real long-term option on the right side either. Given they’ll need at least one starting tackle this offseason either way, they should let him play his natural position and develop him there and invest in adding a true left tackle to play on that side.

• Cheap Keef 🇧🇸☘️ on X (formerly Twitter): "Should the patriots build a lions-like backfield and sign Najee Harris this off season. / X"

  Should the patriots build a lions-like backfield and sign Najee Harris this off season.

  Adding another plus running back certainly would make sense for the Patriots this offseason. The days of one running back shouldering the majority of the load are mostly history, and we’ve seen how Rhamondre Stevenson’s level of play can be impacted when too much is put on his place. This year Antonio Gibson could have had a bigger spell back role, but the team didn’t use him much that way prior to the last two weeks.

  Getting another “1A” type of back the coaching staff trusts should be on the offseason to-do list. When it comes to who that back is though, they can probably do better than Najee Harris. For one, this is an incredibly talented and deep running back draft, and a rookie would have more ceiling and be more of a long-term action than Harris. On top of that the Patriots should be looking to add more speed to their offense, with Harris being more of a power back.

• Thanksgiving dishes power rankings?

  — Bernd Buchmasser (@berndbuchmasser.bsky.social) 2024-11-25T19:16:05.357Z

  My top 5 Thanksgiving side dishes…

  1. Mashed potatoes
  2. Stuffing
  3. Green beans
  4. Cranberry sauce
  5. Cornbread