There is a lot of pressure on Bill Belichick to succeed without Tom Brady. Some will except nothing but a superbowl from Bill Belichick in 2020 and anything else will make him a failure. The naysayers are already saying Belichick's career is over.
The Patriots dealth with the injury bug on offense in 2019. David Andrews, James Devlin, Johnson, Cajuste, and Froholdt were all out for the season. Isaiah Wynn and N'keal Harry missed most of the season on the IR. While Edelman, Sanu, Dorsett, and Izzo all missed time due to and played with injury.
Due to The Patriots pass catchers struggling to get open, the officials making bad calls, and Tom Brady refusing to work with his teammates; the Patriots had a miserable passing game. James White and Edelman were the only ones who had solid years for the team.
There is question of who's going to be the number two on the depth chart. Many are looking to former first round pick N'Keal Harry. They should be looking at Jakobi Meyers and Will Hastings.
During the 2019 preseason, Meyers had quite a connection with Stidham. On top of that, in the four preseason games he caught 20 balls for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meyers never had that connection with Brady and that's on the GOAT.
In 2017 Stidham connected with Hastings 26 times for 512 yards and 4 touchdowns. They showed the connection that Meyers and Stidham had in 2019. Unfortunately an injury to Hastings ended that connection in 2018 and led to the Patriots selecting Stidham in 2019.
These two receivers could very well surpass Sanu, Lee, and Harry on the depth chart behind Edelman. They already have that connection with Stidham. On top of that, neither Hoyer nor Stidham can afford to ignore open receivers like Tom Brady has done throughout his career. That alone will improve the passing game.
Moving on to the defense. The Patriots lost Danny Shelton, Kyle Van Noy, Jamie Collins, Elandon Roberts, Duran Harmon and Nate Ebner this offseason. Four of them were a huge part of the Patriots 2019 defense and people are worried, whether the Patriots can still dominate on defense.
The Patriots still have Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty and the ball hawking secondary. Whom They added Kyle Dugger in the second round and should see the emergence of 2019 second round pick Joe Jaun Williams.
The Patriots also signed a pair of veterans in Copeland and Beau Allen. They also got a plethora of defensive help from the 2020 NFL draft class.
The Patriots retooled and improved their defense with Bill Murray, Nick Coe, Rashod Berry, De'Jon Harris, Courtney Wallace Jr, Trevin Hill, Kyahva Tezino, Miles Bryant, Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche, Anfernee Jennings, Cassh Malula; filling every hole they had with young, hungry and capable talent.
The Patriots have one of the toughest schedules in the NFL for the 2020 season. But they also have three of the best defensive minds in the NFL on the coaching staff with Coach Belichick, Steven Belichick, and Jarod Mayo.
Hightower and the Veterans on the team will have the rookies ready, and while it will be hard for the Patriots to hold opponents to 14 points per game, the Patriots can do it.
It will be easier if the offense can hold on to the ball in 2020 and if McDaniels can call a game on offense that doesn't require the defense to score in order to put points on the board. However, the Boogeymen will be back in September; ready to do what's needed to win football games.
Lastly, Tom Brady left a hole under center and everyone is freaking out that the Patriots offense is doomed. The Patriots have two of the three best options to lead their team going into 2020 without Brady, the third would be Jacoby Brissett who is currently a Colt.
Skylar Carlin wrote that The Patriots have had Brady for twenty years and said the Patriots are facing something new with the loss of a franchise quarterback
"Over the past 19 seasons, the Patriots have been able to ignore the quarterback position with Brady manning the position. However, again, with his departure in free agency, New England is entering unchartered waters in 2020."
Over the Past 50 years the Patriots have really only had three quarterbacks under center. Sure there have been other guys to start but The Patriots basically went from Grogan to Bledsoe to Brady. While the NFL has changed, the organization has a history to look back on and see what to do and what not to do when replacing a franchise guy.
The Patriots resigned Hoyer who in 2014, during his second year with the mediocre Browns, took a 4-12 team and lead them to a 7-6 record. He was punished with a trade to Houston for winning and later found his way back to the Patriots; where he was the reason the Patriots held the Rams to 3 points in superbowl 53.
The Patriots also have 2019 fourth round quarterback Jarrett Stidham who had a great preseason. Stidham had a good 2017 college season but when things fell apart in 2018 at Auburn, losing players and dealing with a New system; Stidham went from a projected first round quarterback to a 4th round draft selection.
Odds point to Stidham being the starter in 2020 but the Patriots wanted to give him another year to develop and might sit him for part of if not all of the 2020 season. Hoyer has never been the man with the Patriots. He's never been in a good situation, with a good head coach and good offensive coordinator. Hoyer would have that for the first time in New England.
Hoyer has the ability in 2020 to do what Trent Dilfer did in 2000. Hoyer is a better game manager than Dilfer and The Patriots have the defense to win. Hoyer has a returning starting offensive line, Sony Michel and a potent running game to boot. There's no reason why he couldn't win in New England.
There is little reason to worry about the Patriots situation under center, either way the Patriots go, Both Hoyer and Stidham have the Patriots in a position for success in 2020.
The Patriots are in a win-win this season. Whether they end up in a position to take a top quarterback in the 2021 draft or they finish the year in the playoffs, there is no chance of failure for the 2020 season. That is the one thing that kills haters and talking heads.
The new era of the Patriots Dynasty has begun and all opponents should be worried about what the Patriots have done this offseason. The Patriots are staring at the precipice to the stairway of seven and the only way to go is up.
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