Eliot Wolf has doomed the 2024 Patriots
Through two games the Patriots have proven to be at the very least, competent. That is more than you can say about the team the last couple of years. Coach Vibes has these guys committed and ready to play. The short coming of this team are just abundantly evident. They can’t throw. There is a 50% or more pressure rate. Your quarterback is too slow in his progressions. Receivers aren’t separating quickly enough, or all of the above on any given play. The Patriots had a net passing yardage of SEVENTEEN yards in the first half against the Sea Hawks. They finished the game with FOUR attempts to WRs and three receptions. So, it really chaps my ass to think what is holding this team back in 2024 and how obvious the fix could have been.
The number 1, 2, and 3 needs the Patriots had heading into the off season were, Quarterback, Left Tackle, #1 Wide Receiver. How many of those needs did Elliot Wolfe fill? The answer is zero. If you want to give me Drake Maye, I’ll tell you he was the 3rd QB taken #3 over all. That’s not exactly savant level general managing. They had the 3rd over all pick and took the kid who fell to them. A Kid everyone projected as a project. In the short term for 2024, their answer was career back up Jacoby Brissett on a 1 year deal. Maye has flashed potential. Brissett has been a steadying hand in the wake of Mac Jones. They could be moving in the right direction here. Could be. Wolf does not get credit for that. Not now at least.
And how about LT? There answer was Chuk’s Okorafor because they liked his measurables and was 1/2 the price of a Jonah Williams. Chuks has since been benched and quit. Beyond that they have not made a single effort to sure up that position. This has been the philosophy for years! Elliot Wolf has been in the building long enough to understand how woefully pathetic this position has been for the Pats and how inexcusably the organization has just completely ignored it. They had a chance to take a LT in the 2nd round or trade up into the 1st or trade back into the 2nd round. They tried to. The failed to. You do not get credit for trying.
Calvin Ridley’s wife didn’t want to come to New England. Oh, well no fault of Wolf there. Let’s draft a possession guy in the 2nd round instead of the LT we need.
If it feels like we are beating a dead horse our continually repeating ourselves here, get used to it. You can’t bring back every single player from a 4 win team (Minus your best player, Matthew Judon) and not add from the outside at all with out criticism. Especially when the team has shown it can be competitive. So, sure you get credit for recognizing those players were better than 4 wins, but how much better? And what did you do to supplement the clear lack of talent at the 3 most important position on the field? Nothing. You should not let Wolf and the organization slide on the the fact that the Patriots are a decent LT and #1 WR away from the playoffs with $40 million in cap space burning a hole in Robert Kraft’s Air Force 1’s.