Reloading The Musket, Part 3 - How Many Receivers Do The Patriots Need Anyway?

"The way the Patriots' offense looks to be structured will have an impact not just on the fringe depth at tight end, but probably will impact the receiving corps and depth at offensive tackle...as Bennett will take a roster spot from at least one of the swing tackles and from one of the wide outs, as his blocking ability on the edge combined with his pass catching prowess gives Belichick some roster flexibility, and given the fact that he will rarely come off the field." - Foxborough Free Press, June 7, 2016

A syllogism is a form of reasoning in which a conclusion is drawn from two assumed or given premises, each of which shares a term with the conclusion and shares a common middle term not present in the conclusion - an example of which would be something to the effect of, "If it rains, we will not have a picnic.  If we don't have a picnic, we will eat at a restaurant.  Therefore, if it rains, we will eat at a restaurant."

This tenet of deductive reasoning allows us to assume things in a manner that doesn't make an "ass" out of "u" and "me", which is important for folks like mathematicians, scientists and, apparently, football prognosticators and beat writers - well, maybe not beat writers, but people who really care about accuracy and accountability.

It doesn't always work out, because syllogism doesn't rely on validation or truthfullness or even factoids, rather,it afford free reign to imagine and to dream, if one is so inclined - the only rules being one term influencing another to arrive at a logical statement or conclusion.


What does this have to do with football? It is deductive reasoning that allows coaches to track trends to incorporate into game planning, so they know that when they see a certain formation with certain personnel, they can conclude that, more likely than not, a certain play is coming.

The same dedustive reasoning is present in the team building process as well.  Let's take the New England Patriots as the offseason's prime example, and their acquisition of tight end Martellus Bennett in particular:

Martellus Bennett is a complete tight end
Complete tight ends rarely come off the field
Therefore, Martellus Bennett will rarely come off the field

And why should he?  As we know from the second part of this series, the addition of tight end Martellus Bennett changed the dynamic of the offense, affecting almost every position on the squad - he is a strong blocker on the edge in the running game and possesses a skill set that will likely make him no worse than a number four receiver, more than likely a number three.

All that means is that it will be a rare occasion indeed if either he or his All World compatriot Rob Gronkowski ever come off the field, and the same can be said for top wide out Julian Edelman.  That leaves two "skill position" spots up for grabs in a so-called starting capacity, and at least one of those will be going to be a running back, either power back LeGarrette Blount or passing back Dion Lewis or, in his stead, James White.

For the offensive line, it impacts the tackle depth, as with Bennett and Gronskowski playing on the edges, it eliminates the need for at least one swing tackle, a roster spot that can be used elsewhere, and not necessarily on offense - or maybe so as New England will be forced to keep three quarterbacks, as opposed to two from last season, which takes up that extra spot.

But enough about the line and quarterbacks for now, as we'll cover them in later pieces - right now the question begs, just how many pass catchers does Tom Brady need - or an even better question is how many roster spots will be open for his wide receivers, because the tight end and running back depth is pretty much assured.

Just for comparsions sake and in an attempt to establish somewhat of a base line, in 2015 Belichick kept four tight ends, five running backs and five receivers, not counting Brandon LaFell, who started the season on the PUP.  In part, these numbers were dictated by a rash of injuries before the preseason ended, but the sylloism begs:

In 2015 Belichick kept just five receivers
Injuries reduced the receiving corps to pedestrians
Therefore, Belichick will keep more receivers in 2016.

That isn't necessarrily true, but still counts as a syllogism because they are limited only by imagination.

Besides LaFell being on the Physically unable to perform list to start the season, the preseason claimed fellow receivers Brandon Gibson and Brian Tyms, H-back James Develin and center Bryan Stork, who was designated to return and did so in week nine - and all of this after Belichick released Kenbrell Thompkins and the disappointing Josh Boyce.

A constant revolving door of player movement ensued, with names like Jonathan Krause, Jalen Saunders and even the venerable Reggie Wayne being signed and then released, eventually leaving the Patriots with Julian Edelman, a clearly hobbled Danny Amendola, a timid Aaron Dobson and rookie Chris Harper and wide receiver in name only, Matthew Slater, a process that limited the passing game to literally, just one Edelman injury away from disaster...

...which eventually happened and, coupled with a myriad of injuries on every level of the offense, doomed the Patriots to finish with a putrid 2-4 record down the stretch. then squeaking out a divisional round playoff win over the Kansas City Chiefs before succumbing to the eventual Super Bowl winning Denver Broncos in the AFC Title game.

Clearly, the wide receiver position is one Belichick would like to take a mulligan on, as well as on free agent tight end Scott Chandler, who underwhelmed before being injured halfway through the season and failing to give Belichick an updated version of the two-tight end offense that he's been so fond of.

Ok, so that's two mulligans, which will generate rude grumblings on the golf course and did cause grumblings of discontent among Patriots' fans, though most simply blamed the offensive line for the fiasco, but the truth of the matter is that General Manager Bill Belichick took a chance and hoped that the injury bug wouldn't treat him too badly...

...but it instead kicked him square in the teeth, and it would have been even worse than it was had he not saved a measure of ego with the performances of his passing backs, as first human joystick Dion Lewis and, eventually, James White doing yoeman's work out of the backfield, with White taking over for the injured Lewis and joining with Gronkowski to give quarterback Tom Brady his only reliable targets down the stretch.

Even then, there was a sliver of hope that New England could ride their excellent defense and score just enough points to make a deep run in the playoffs - that is until power back LeGarrette Blount injured his hip and was also gone for the season.

The fact that the Patriots came within two points of going to the Super Bowl anyway is either a testament to fine coaching or plain stupid luck - or a combination of both - but that's a ride that Belichick doesn't want to take again this season, nor ever again.

The four tight ends kept was pared down to three when Belichick dealt Michael Hoomanawanui to New Orleans at the end of September, which will probably be the number that the Patriots keep on their 53 man roster - while in the backfield, he kept five backs initially before unloading soft-blocking Travaris Cadet a day before dealing Hoomanawanui.

Both of these units impact the receiving corps in a way that not many other teams can claim, in that they are loaded down with top-end talent at tight end and have a trio of fine young greyhounds in the backfield who can -and will - be deployed outside the numbers from time to time - and if the number of legitimate pass catchers kept on the 53 man roster is any sort of tamplate to follow coming into 2016, then the most intense roster battles are going to be at wide receiver...

...with no less than seven players vying for one spot, two at the most - because Belichick has amended his normal thought process in regard to philosophy with the addition of Bennett.

As we've already read, There is so much versatility and overall talent on this roster that Belichick can't look at his positional groupings in terms of set numbers, rather, his task is to identify the players that give him both positional versatility and the best chance at forcing the opposing defense to defend the entire field - because if you can't do that, things like what happened the final couple of months of last season occur.

Currently, there are 22 eligible pass catchers on the Patriots' roster, and if one were to eliminate the locks  - Gronkowski, Bennett and Harbor at tight end, Blount, Lewis, White and Bolden at running back, plus figuring in Edelman, Amendola, Hogan and Matt Slater at wide receiver - there are eleven roster spots taken right off the top, leaving three, possibly four, spots up for grabs.

Legitimately, one could go to fullback James Develin, another to running back Donald Brown and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell appears to be a sure thing as a fourth round draft pick, meaning that there is maybe one spot up for grabs between at rest of the pack because the team will carry nine offensive linemen - at minimum - and there are three quarterbacks that need to be accounted for.

Of course, this is all just specualtion, but isn't the entire point of balance on offense to make the opposition defend the entire field, not allowing them to load up on one aspect or another?

Because that's the key, folks, the most fundamental concept in football since the advent of the forward pass brought the term "balance" to the gridiron - but balance in the way the Patriots think about it is more about personnel usage than simply run versus pass - though a solid balance between the run and pass is essential.

For example, we are virtually assured of seeing at least two tight ends and one running back in on every play from scrimmage - which is the "12" personnel package - because the dynamism inherent on the depth chart dictates that the tight ends and running backs are going to account for well over half of the receptions made by pass catchers.

...which was the case in 2015 (53%),  because by the time all of the injuries took their toll, all that was really left to catch footballs from Brady was White and Gronkowski, with Amendola the lone wide out that made any impact.

Lewis was well on his way to a 70 catch season, as was White after replacing Lewis, and assuming that Gronkowski and Bennett are good for 70 catches as well - that's 210 receptions for the top non-receivers, and with Brady averaging right around 400 completions per season , the numbers allow for minimal contributions from the wide receiver corps.

That's how the offense is designed going into 2016, but most fans - and even the beat writers - also know that Edelman is going to have his share of targets, as will Amendola and the newcomer Hogan, but after that will be meager scrapings, so for Belichick to get the most bang for his buck, 12 and 22 personnel groupings will be the standard...

...meaning that only two receivers will see the field in most packages, and just one if New England decides to go heavy, which should happen mostly on third downs and in the red zone.  Even if they go five-wide, they have shown in recent history that a running back will always be a part of that equation, and most times Gronkowski is involved.

Because, well, think about it - if you were offensive coordinator, would you take Gronkowski, Bennett, Edelman or Lewis off the field?  Ever?

Not Josh McDaniels and certainly not Bill Belichick, who thought enough of himself and the franchise to thumb his nose at the powers that be who saw fit to take away his prized top draft capital by going out and grabbing Bennett for next to nothing, knowing that he was adding him to what was already a roster loaded with playmakers

So, how many wide receivers do the Patriots need?  Well, therein lies a pretty significant problem of having so many playmakers in the passing game at other positions that the receiving corps has been relegated to being borderline complementary to the tight ends and backs in the pattern - so there will be plenty of meat for other teams to pick off the waiver wires from the Patriots...

...as names like Nate Washington, Aaron Dobson, Keshawn Martin, Chris Harper and DeAndre Carter may very well become available for other teams to snatch up - which would be a shame, particularly for Martin, who just signed a two-year extension, but he did receive a $600,000 signing bonus with the deal, meaning that the Patriots likely see him on the roster as well.

And that's it.  There's just no more room at a position that has been largely dictated to by roster and philosophy.  The tight ends and backs are just more important in the grand scheme, because they are far more versatile than being just plain pass catchers - and the same thing is going to happen to the offensive line, but that's for a later piece.

Ah, Bill, leave it to you to take perhaps the NFL's most proficient and deadly passing attack and transform it into something that discounts tradition. They will stretch the matter by adding Matt Slater to the mix as a special teamer, but it looks like any player not named Edelman, Amendola, Hogan or Mitchell may be seeking new digs come September.

If the Patriots remain healthy, they will be tough to beat
If they are tough to beat, they will win a fifth trophy
Therefore if the Patriots remain healthy, they will win a fifth trophy.

And that one is true.  Isn't logic fun?

Reloading The Musket, Part 2 - Gronkowski, Bennett Form Lethal Pairing For Patriots...

Quick, off the top of your head: What teams in the NFL have a tight end as their number one receiving threat?

Well, legitimately, you could list Jimmy Graham for the Seahawks, Greg Olsen for the Carolina Panthers, Gary Barnidge of the Browns, Delanie Walker of the Titans, and Jordan Reed of the Redskins, with names like Travis Kelse of the Chiefs, Zach Ertz of the Eagles and Minnesota's Kyle Rudolph as up-and-coming names...

That's quite a list, and as few as five or six seasons ago if a team had a tight end as their top receiving target, that team was in big trouble offensively - unless of course you were the Kansas City Chiefs with Tony Gonzalez or the San Diego Chargers with the still venerable Antonio Gates - but in the modern-day National Football League, if you don't have a dominant tight end, your team is now in big trouble offensively.

So the New England Patriots' offense is not quite unique in that the number one target in the Passing game is a tight end. They are, however, the only team that has ever successfully implemented a two-tight end attack as a base set, and now they are on the cusp of doing it once again.

In 2010, Patriots' head ball coach and defacto General Manager Bill Belichick drafted what would turn out to be perhaps one of the most exciting pair of "skill position" players in NFL history, but also one of the most star-crossed, as the paring of Rob Gronkowski out of Arizona and Aaron Hernandez from the University of Florida took Patriots' fans on an emotional roller coaster ride that they'll never forget.

Well documented, Gronkowski suffered multiple horrific injuries during a 14 month period between the 2012 and 2013 seasons, with Hernandez being arrested on murder charges just before training camp in 2013 - effectively ending the lethal twin tight end attack and, in fact, leaving New England without an effective tight end presence until Gronkowski returned to the lineup for the 2014 Super Bowl season.

Since then, Gronkowski has been terrorizing the league with an unprecedented run that has him third in NFL history in touchdown receptions with 65, despite having played in just 80 games and with only 380 receptions.  Even more impressive are his post-season numbers, his nine touchdowns on 52 receptions in just 10 games - tops in the history of the game...

...but 60% of those touchdowns came before Hernandez was exposed as a murderous thug, the drop in red zone production a clear indicator that he's doing most of his work without a complimentary entity.

Of course, the passing game is headlined by the four-time All Pro Gronkowski and clutch wideout Julian Edelman catching lasers from the ageless Tom Brady - but after those two, there are differing opinions on who will fill out the depth charts, and who on those depth charts fills what purpose in Belichick's evil scheme, but in whatever direction Belichick decides to go one thing is certain: The offense will look very different than it has the past few years.

On one hand you have the milk drinkers who are still seeking that deep threat who can take the top off of a defense with pure speed, running under Brady's deep offering and gliding into the end zone, pinning their hopes on veteran speedster Keshawn Martin, free agent Nate Washington and rookie fourth-round pick Malcolm Mitchell out of Georgia...

...while the whiskey crowd wants the power game, running the football with authority and balancing the play calling to force the defense to defend the entire field.

But in reality, New England can satiate the longings of both camps with their tight end corps alone.

The Patriots do already have a deep threat - two, in fact - but they aren't blazing young greyhounds and their style can hardly be called "gliding"- they are tight ends, the two of them, and they own the seam.

With Gronkowski already a known commodity - and with Belichick's eyes securely on a return to the two-tight end attack - the Dark Master made a deal with the Chicago Bears to secure the services of former Pro Bowl tight end Martellus Bennett, who is now on his fourth team in nine seasons, but that doesn't tell his entire story.

After being drafted by Dallas in the second round of the 2008 draft and spending four statistically uneventful seasons with the Cowboys, Bennett exploded onto the scene with the New York Giants on a one year rental, something that could have happened three years earlier when the Cincinnati Bengals offered the Cowboys a first-round draft pick to acquire Bennett after failing to pick up a top tight end in the 2009 draft.

Dallas declined and kept Bennett behind future Hall of Fame tight end Jason Whitten, and became an excellent blocker to earn his keep, but Bennett's statistical success in New York and the past three seasons in Chicago confirmed the Bengals' suspicions about Bennett being far more than roster depth, as he has averaged 66 receptions per season since leaving Dallas, where he averaged a puny 22 per campaign backing up Whitten.

The past four seasons, he has been nobody's depth, though Bears' coach John Fox benched him for almost half of last season when he stated complaining about wanting more money, Fox inserting free agent pick up Zach Miller as the starter in week 11 and unceremoniously stashing Bennett on the IR with a rib injury - though he complained bitterly about the move - then put him up for bids on the open market.

What does it say about the free-spirited Bennett that the Patriots were his only suitor, and got him for a fourth-round draft pick, but only after Chicago sweetened the deal by throwing in a 6th round pick?

More than anything else, it means that Belichick once again has played a trump card on the rest of the league.  No one else wanted an eight-year veteran who was entering a contract year with the knowledge that he is seeking more than the $5 million per season that he averages on his current contract.

On the surface, it didn't make sense for the Patriots financially, as they already have a hefty contract on the books for Gronkowski, who made a few waves when he tweeted what was considered by the media a cryptic notion that he felt he was underpaid after the Patriots picked up a $10 million option on his contract.

When the Patriots offered Gronkowski his current contract, the six-year, $54 million deal was, at the time, the richest for a tight end in NFL history, opening the door for the Jimmy Graham's and Travis Kelse's of the world - and while his deal has been bested by Graham, Kelse, Jordan Reed and Julius Thomas, it is still the richest in actual dollar amount in the league.

When the Patriots picked up his $10 million option this past March that will keep him in Foxborough through the 2020 season, Gronkowski playfully suggested that it was a pay cut and that he doesn't work hard for those reasons.  His tweet caused a surge of idiocy throughout football chat rooms that Gronkowski would hold out of camp for a better deal...

...and all of that stemming from a four-year, $29.4 million contract given to mediocre tight end Dwayne Allen by Indianapolis.  If the idiots who started those rumors could do math -and if they weren't such idiots in the first place - they would have seen that Allen's deal is almost $2 million per year short of Gronkowski's annual pay.

That said, Gronkowski is being paid like a number one receiver, his yearly haul would be the 11th richest in the NFL among wide receivers - and coupled with the fact that Gronkowski claims he hasn't even touched his NFL salary and has been living the high life off his endorsement bones means that money is the last thing on the mind of the man-child.

The player who should be complaining, but isn't - at least not to the Patriots - is newly acquired Martellus Bennett, who is making just over half of the bones Gronkowski is hauling in and is obligated to the Patriots for just the 2016 season.  Bennett turned 29 years old just days after being traded to New England, and will be seeking what could possibly be his last big payday in 2017 free agency.

Star crossed his entire career, Bennett will be looking for a breakout campaign with the Patriots.  The four years he spent with Dallas after being drafted by the Cowboys in 2008 were a statistical disaster, and even though he was offered the same money to stay in Dallas as depth to Jason Whitten as he was offered by the New York Giants, he left Dallas for a chance to start in NewYork and enjoyed his finest season in his career to that point.

Still, one decent year in New York only netted Bennett a four-year, $20 million contract on the open market, which he proceeded to outperform, eventually making the Pro Bowl in 2014.  Buoyed with success and statistical leverage, he held out during OTA's last season in an attempt to get more money on a new contract, but all it got him was "benched" with a rib injury and eventually placed on the Bears' IR, even though he disputed the extent of the injury.

Approaching his 30's Bennett will be lucky to get Dwayne Allen money, let along Gronkowski money, and will probably be available for right around $6 million a year, which is affordable, given New England's reliance on tight ends.

In fact, if one remembers correctly, the Patriots also gave Hernandez a five-year, $40 million contract extension just weeks after signing Gronkowski to his extension, and while neither of those contacts kicked in until after their original rookie deals were satisfied, the organization was on the hook for essentially $17 million a year for the two tight ends...

...which would have been worth the price paid had Gronkowski not been hurt and had Hernandez not been discovered to be a punk with a bad temper and an affinity for firearms.

But make no mistake, this is not the re-birth of the scheme that Belichick envisioned in 2012 as Hernandez and Bennett have differing skill sets.  Bennett's skill set is more along the lines of what Gronkowski brings to the lineup, both matchup nightmares due to their size and speed and blocking ability and given the fact that Bennett has racked up over a thousand after-the-catch yards since he signed with the Bears, second only to - you guessed it - Gronkowski.

At 6' 7" and 248 pounds, Bennett is the Robin to Gronkowski's Batman, forming a formidable one-two punch up the seam - and that's what makes this matchup potentially even more lethal than the one formed by Gronkowski and Hernandez, especially when considering the rest of the talent on the roster, which includes former Eagle and Jaguar Clay Harbor.

Harbor has never lived up to his lofty, albeit Division II, promise in the NFL, being under-used in Philadelphia (where have we heard that one before?) and purely as depth in Jacksonville, but will find New England more to his liking as a "move" tight end and H-back - and even with all of the pass catching talent on the Patriots' roster, he should enjoy a career year...

...which isn't much of a stretch, considering his top statistical season was a 26-catch campaign with Jacksonville in 2014.  Harbor is also a decent in-line blocker, and should see the field mostly in short-yardage situations as either part of the Jumbo package or in the spread, where Belichick could look to tax the opposition's linebacker depth.

There are other tight ends on the roster in sophomore A.J. Derby and the tackle-sized Michael Williams, but both will be hard-pressed to make the final roster - in fact, the way the Patriots' offense looks to be structured will have an impact not just on the fringe depth at tight end, but probably will impact the receiving corps and depth at offensive tackle...

...as Bennett will take a roster spot from at least one of the swing tackles and from one of the wide outs, as his blocking ability on the edge combined with his pass catching prowess gives Belichick some roster flexibility and given the fact that he will rarely come off the field.

Besides, how many receivers do the Patriots really need with Bennett effectively functioning as a third option after Gronkowski and Julian Edelman?  We'll tackle that question in the next installment...

Reloading The Musket, Part 1 - Goodell's Parity Plan Backfires, Belichick Loads Up Juggernaut

"Parity rubs against the spirit of competition at its fundamental roots. There is no room in football for parity. If there was, everyone would get a participation trophy and be happy with that. There wouldn't be any incentive to be any better than anyone else, there wouldn't be any reasons to dig deep, to rise above, to give every last ounce of energy, nor to willfully give up blood, sweat and occasional tears.

With Parity, what one gets is the football version of professional wrestling, a choreographed parade of marionettes with Goodell pulling strings of the 32 owners in unison, each taking turns at holding the coveted Lombardi trophy until the commissioner decides that it's someone else's turn..." - Foxborough Free Press, August 13,2015

Lewiston, Maine 6:47pm

I've been dealing with a disabling bout of writer's block for over a week now.

There have been ten causes identified for writer's block, but none of them seem to be what is causing my anguish.  The only thing that comes close occurs when an adverse circumstance has just taken place that saps all of a person's creative energy - but I don't know if graduating from college could be considered in my own psychoanalysis...

...and given that my subject is football - and the New England Patriots, to be more specific - one would think that there would be tons of stuff to write about this time of year, what with OTA's happening and new players are becoming acclimated to their new surroundings - and there is.

Perhaps where I'm going astray is trying to make sense of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's relentless insistence on bringing the Patriots back to the pack, as it were, by any means necessary and regardless of facts, science, or truth.

None of those things are on the side of the league, yet they continue to hammer New England with what the NFL Players Association calls "Their own brand of industrial justice", with Goodell as the judge, jury and executioner as both he and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals see it, not to mention the ownership and fans of the 31 other NFL franchises.

The aforementioned court has reinstated a suspension handed down by Goodell at the beginning of last season and overturned in federal court, Brady scheduled to miss the first four games of this upcoming season.  He has appealed the reinstatement and is ready to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter.

Just like Goodell also taking away the team's first round draft pick this past April, because instead of sitting around whining like the ownership and fans of the other teams would do, defacto General Manager Bill Belichick has been loading up his already talented team by signing no less than four former first-round draft picks...

...so when one tries to imagine what the Patriots' are going to look like this season, everything instead of prognostications normally defined by fundamental practice and practical application should be considered, because the Patriots have the opportunity to exact their own brand of "industrial justice" on the poor wretches that line their schedule.

Both the why and how are readily evident, but first I have to get rid of this maddening case of creative slowdown.  In creative writing, the instructor will propose a "free write", a technique in which a prospective writer will put pen to paper - or fingers to keyboard in this instance - and just write whatever pops into his or her head...

...never stopping, not worried about punctuation, spelling errors or margins, just writing - and soon enough, they say, your momentum will carry you over the abyss of the blockage.  It doesn't matter what the subject is, just whatever gland it is in the brain that stimulates creativity conjures a random thought, then a default template takes over and before you know it, you're flying along with a choppy piece that seems more like parts of chatty letters.

Which is normal for me, so it's sound advice - but what I can't seem to get past is how to explain what the additions of tight ends Martellus Bennett and Clay Harbor means to the base philosophy of the Patriots' offense - their presence, particularly that of Bennett shifts the focus of the offense from the collection of garden gnome-sized slot receivers to a three-headed hydra that will annihilate the opposition's pass defense.

In fact, there is so much talent at the tight end position and so much depth and skill at the passing back position, that Belichick could play an entire game using nothing but a short-yardage, Jumbo package - a 23 Personnel, if you will, meaning two running backs and three tight ends.  Nothing really weird about it and a pretty easy offensive package for a defense to match up with...

...until you remember that you are playing the Patriots, who have brought out Dion Lewis and James White as their running backs and have tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Bennett split wide outside the numbers with H-back Harbor in the slot.

No wide receivers on the field, yet your secondary is doomed.  This is what happens when you mess with Bill Belichick.

This is what happens when you falsely accuse his quarterback of dark malfeasance.  This is what happens when you take away top draft capital.  This is what happens when you leave Belichick to stew in his own juices watching pick after pick come off of the draft board while waiting for his opportunity at the end of the second round.

And that was after he had made the deals to bring Bennett and Harbor aboard, and after receiving guard Jonathan Cooper as part of the compensation in the Chandler Jones deal.  You see, the NFL may have stripped Belichick of his top draft capital, but it could do nothing but sit and watch in horror while Belichick acquired multiple former-first and second round picks to turn what was already the most lethal offense in the NFL into a literal juggernaut.

The loot is breathtaking, as Cooper (7th overall, 2013), linebacker Shea McClellin ( 19th overall, 2012), defensive end Chris Long (2nd overall, 2008) and passing back Donald Brown (27th overall 2009) join the Patriots as former first round picks, while Bennett (61st overall, 2008), nose tackle Terrance Knighton (73rd overall, 2009) arrive as former second and third rounders, respectively.

Throw in Harbor (125th overall, 2010) and Belichick has added four first rounders, a second a third and a fourth, without spending more than fourth-round draft capital for any of them - all should make the team, but it is the presence of Bennett and Harbor, plus the stable of passing backs that should make this Patriots' offense impossible to defend, and open to perversions like the 23 attack.

Of course, the Jumbo package is used almost solely in short yardage or goal line situations, when the offense needs considerable heft to move the pile a yard or two, so ordinarily the two running backs would be your power back and a full back, and your tight ends would be a combination of blocking tight ends and swing tackles who must report as being eligible receivers.

Dynamic in every interpretation of the word, the 23 personnel was designed for the offense to take what they want and need by force, which is the entire philosophy of the New England Patriots' offense heading into the 2016 season - which is scary in-and-of-itself, given the twisted mind of Belichick and his young Igor, but when one adds in the big chip balanced on Belichick's shoulder...

The Dark Master is a man of few words.  Very rarely is he compelled to offer anything more than what is required to reporters, league offices and the like, and so scrutinized is he that he has to be as transparent as a plastic baggie in all of his dealings, thanks to episodes such as "Spygate" and numerous times stretching the interpretation of the rules.

Each time he is rebuffed, he rises from the canvas with the style of a mean counter-puncher and lays waste to everything in his path.  He has a very clear track record of this behavior, so it shouldn't be a surprise at all that Belichick has a very real axe to grind against the league, including the management and ownership of 31 other NFL franchises who have supported commissioner Roger Goodell in his punishments handed down to New England as the result of the stupid and wrong "Deflategate" saga.

In 2007, his response to "Spygate" was to sign freakish wide receiver Randy Moss and slot receiver Wes Welker for Brady to throw to, the result being a perfect regular season where Belichick left no doubt as to final scores, running up the tabulation with some truly impressive offensive performances.  It was stylish in many ways and serves as the high water mark for points scored in a season or the franchise.

Which is significant in that the New England Patriots own four of the eleven highest scoring seasons in the history of the National Football League.

The 518 points scored in 2010, the 513 in 2011 and the 557 in 2012 surpassed in franchise history only by the 589 scored in 2007, and that total second in NFL history to the 606 scored by the Denver Broncos in 2013 - and if we are to witness on the field the potential this 2016 offense has on paper, the Broncos record is toast.

Simply winning is not going to be enough for Patriots' head ball coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady - not after what Goodell, the media and the ownership of the other 31 NFL franchises have put them through the past 18 months, and he certainly didn't sign all of that talent just because he could...

...he's going to incorporate them all into his master plan to create a a massive inexorable force that crushes anything in its path during the 2016 NFL season, and not stop until he has a fifth trophy for the franchise - because that's the only way to exact justice for the franchise.

The one thing that Goodell can not touch is the end result on the scoreboard.  It can not be appealed to a higher court, it can not be subjected to multi-million dollar investigations and it can not be suspended or have a draft pick taken away from it - a final score is a final score, and if the Patriots are standing on that podium with the Lombardi trophy securely in hand, they win.

If they are not, they lose.  It doesn't get any more simple than that.

But back to our original thought regarding the "Jumbo"package, and how the Patriots could pervert it into a dreadful weapon - there is no question that New England could pull that off, the only question remaining is how would an opposing team defend it?

For one, they would have to play the formation pretty much straight up to account for the running game, but at the same time try to cover a trifecta of tight ends that individually are too fast for linebackers and too big for safeties to cover one-on-one, but to double team any of them means leaving the box light, which is suicide in the 23 personnel...

...and just the fact that the uniquely verbose Belichick arch-nemesis Rex Ryan has no idea how he would defend it means that the idea has merit.

"I just think it's unusual to have two guys that are like 6' 7", and can run, catch, block." Ryan mentioned at the owners meeting in Florida a couple of months back. "It's going to be a major challenge. There's no doubt about that.  They're scary when you look at them."

"Those are two huge guys.  How we're going to defend them, I don't know."

It's not like the two-tight end package that Gronkowski teamed with Aaron Hernandez to terrorize the league with back in the early part of this decade is being re-imagined or reborn, because Hernandez was, for all intents and purposes, a big slot receiver while Bennett is more a traditional up-the-seam tight end like Gronkowski.

Harbor is more along the lines of Hernandez, though his game hasn't really blossomed to this point in his career, relegated to back up duties behind Julius Thomas and Mercedes Lewis in Jacksonville the past couple of seasons because the Jaguars didn't have the weapons that the Patriots do, so Harbor's snap count suffered until Lewis was injured - then Harbor shined.

The Jaguars were genuinely shocked at his blocking ability when he got the chance filling in for Lewis, but the fact that he was still going to be the third option in Jacksonville combined with the sports hernia surgery he had after the season was over made Harbor available, and the Patriots signed him for a lot more than the veteran minimum deal he was likely to get elsewhere - which shows that Belichick already has a role picked out for him

The Jags - and the Eagles before them - used Harbor mostly as a decoy in motion to sniff out the coverages and set the strong side, which is also what he'll be doing in Foxborough, taking a linebacker with him across the formation to clear out zones for the backs wheeling into the pattern and for giving the slot receiver space to sit down and show his numbers...

...while Gronk and Bennett hold their own personal track meet up the seam, taking multiple defenders vertically.  That doesn't leave very many defenders in the box, where the Patriots' supurb collection of receivers and running backs should find plenty of room to run.

This is no joke.  If the Patriots stay relatively healthy and Belichick's evil philosophy evolves according to plan, it's going to be next to impossible to stop this offense - which we will cover as this series evolves - and given the quality of folks that they have on the other side of the ball, New England has been instilled as the odds-on favorites to win the Super Bowl.

Of course, there are some in the Boston media that are urging fans to "pump the brakes" on Bennett and the rest of the pack of tight ends, but there is really no reason to - as we will find out in the next free write...