Bill Belichick is a freaking wizard, and once again we
are about to witness his magic.
In fact, the 2020 NFL season will come to be known as
Belichick’s finest hour, as it were – not so much tied to success on the field,
but for finally being able to build his New England Patriots in his own gruff
image.
I’ve always enjoyed watching Belichick build his team
from the ground up each summer, but not as much as I’ve enjoyed this year’s
effort thus far. He had a difficult – some say insurmountable – number of
obstacles to navigate even before the pandemic swept across the country, and
the resultant social distancing mandates made his task ten-times more daunting.
But “difficult” and “daunting” are challenges that
fall right into Belichick’s wheelhouse.
We got our first look at his mindset during the draft,
a fascinating, eclectic class of rookies whose selections seemed right on point
with what he needed to propagate the theory that he’s been building towards
this moment for the past four seasons…
…and although his method caused quarterback Tom Brady
to go berserk and probably caused last-year’s late season collapse as well,
there’s no doubt that this season’s incarnation of the New England Patriots
will offer up a far better product than if he had not been building towards
life without Brady.
The evidence is compelling, particularly along the offensive
line. Starting with Shaq Mason and David Andrews in 2015, Belichick has
assembled a group of linemen who are better a plowing the row than pass
blocking – but to be fair, the aforementioned Mason and Andrews, along with
2016 third-round pick Joe Thuney and 2018 top pick Isaiah Wynn, have gradually
improved in pass blocking…
…perhaps not consistently enough to protect a statue
in the pocket, but plenty good enough to scheme around the talents of Cam Newton,
who is now the favorite to win the starting quarterback job (as if he wasn’t
the moment he signed his contract).
Initially, the line was being gradually constructed to
meld with the skill set of Jimmy Garoppolo, whom the Patriots drafted in the
second round of the 2014 NFL draft as the heir apparent to Brady. Garoppolo is
much more ambulatory than Brady and, as such, required an offensive line that
is more athletic than stout.
You know, guards that can pull into the flat on a
designed roll out, or who can slip onto the second level and neutralize a
linebacker, and tackles who have the ability to chip defensive ends and drift
out to lead the screen plays that are a staple of Belichick’s method of
operation.
But when Brady (Kraft?) forced Garoppolo out of the
building in 2017 - right in the middle of the building process - it forced
Belichick’s hand. His choices were to either scrap his philosophy and cater to
Brady’s insistence that he was determined to play into his mid-forties, or to
continue along the path he had designed for Garoppolo.
Of course, it went against conventional wisdom that
Brady would still be playing at a high level three years later, so Belichick
maintained course and heading, knowing that his personnel acquisition was
moving the offense away from Brady’s strengths in favor of a hopefully seamless
transition to a quarterback that embodies the latest trends in the league, that
being a renaissance of sorts to the old-school, smashmouth ways of yesteryear.
Some are speculating a return to the early seasons of
the millennium, a power-based running attack to open up play action and to clear
defined passing lanes, and while that is the hope on my end, Newton’s presence
adds another dynamic
And since any philosophy in football is built from the
inside out, Belichick has stocked the offensive line with smaller, lighter
linemen with quick feet, excellent football acumen, and a mean streak a mile
wide.
Of all the starters along the offensive line, left
guard Joe Thuney is the tallest at 6’ 5”, followed by (presumptive) right
tackle Jermaine Eluemunor at 6’ 4”, center David Andrews at 6’ 3”, left tackle
Isaiah Wynn at 6’ 2” and right guard Shaq Mason at 6’ 1” – with only Eluemunor
checking in at over 310 pounds.
The NFL average for an offensive lineman is 315
pounds, the average height, 6’ 4”.
Again, only Eluemunor checks in at or above the size
of the average NFL Lineman, and he wasn’t drafted by New England, brought in on
a trade with Baltimore to help assuage the massive injuries that befell the
Patriots last season.
All of that said and true, it is no coincidence that
Belichick has assembled the smallest, yet most athletic offensive line in
football – and all he needed was a quarterback to surround with it.
That’s when Cameron Jerrell Newton fell right into his
lap.
Newton isn’t just a mobile quarterback. In fact, he
was the gold standard for mobile quarterbacks when he entered the league in
2011, initiating a trend towards more option-based offenses that have swept
through the league in the past decade.
But the real indication of Belichick’s commitment to a
more diverse, power-based attack came with the drafting of two tight ends, both
of whom should step right into vital roles all over the formation and will
complete the blocking scheme.
The health of the line as a whole combined with the
drafting of the versatile tight ends and the presence of Newton suggests that
the product that Belichick is going to field will be different from what we’ve
witnessed in the past couple of decades under his rule – but not so different
that it will be unrecognizable.
The same concepts will be in play, but this time Belichick
will be building his roster from the ground up in his own image instead of
trying to fit square pegs into round holes in order to appease Brady, because
now the hole is square and all of the personnel moves that he has made in the
past few years should fit beautifully.
After all, that’s what the Dark Master has had up his
sleeve the entire time…
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