Ruins of Pompeii.

[Captain Canada]

Love the Derrick Henry addition, lets see what he's got left in the tank. Addressed some skill positions in the draft.

[Soapy]

Training Camp Confidential: Positional battles to keep an eye on
The Patriots began training camp last week and will open the preseason with a road trip against the Minnesota Vikings who are trying to make their way back to the playoffs after taking a dip in J.J. McCarthy's first season as a starter.

While a ton of attention will be on the matchup between the two former 2024 first round picks in McCarthy and Drake Maye, they both project to play very little in the preseason opener but there will be plenty of positional battles whose pole position might be established leading up to Minnesota and through the preseason opener.

Tight end
It's no secret that New England tried to phase rookie tight end Oscar Delp into the offense more last year and by extension, phase the veteran Hunter Henry out. Delp just failed to make an impact early on and then an injury allowed Henry to return to his regular starter level snaps which continued into the playoffs.

Delp still had a solid rookie season, averaging 24.6 yards per game with two touchdowns. Henry is on the last year of his contract and at 31, it remains to be seen if he can return to the 2024 level production that saw him have his best year with Maye, breaking the 1,000-yard mark for the first time this season.

If Delp can show that he can be a consistent and reliable target -- which Henry still is -- to couple with his explosiveness, there might be something there to once again phase Henry out of the offense and invest more into Delp.

Left guard
The Patriots stuck with Layden Robinson despite his struggles last year, a sign that they are committed to making it work with the former fourth round pick. We'll see if that tolerance continues into this season as Robinson need to fend off Sidy Sow, who is on the last year of his rookie deal, which Robinson beat out last camp for the starting spot.

Another name to watch is Caedan Wallace, the former third round pick that was drafted to be the left tackle of the future but with the addition of Will Campbell, things have changed. He could be seen as the right tackle in waiting as Taylor Moton is likely a one-year rental, similar to Brandon Scherff. Coming out of Penn State, some projected Wallace to potentially play guard at the next level and he did play well, albeit in a limited role, last year.

Outside corner
We know Christian Gonzalez is going to be on the outside and Marcus Jones will be in the slot. While ultimately, all top four corners will play heavy snaps throughout the season, the Patriots did start playing Daylen Everette more as the season progressed over Benjamin St-Juste despite St-Juste having a really good season. So, who will be the official 'starter' opposite of Gonzalez on the outside?

St-Juste is the bigger more experience corner while Everette, still only 22, has shown early signs to be a potential All-Pro caliber corner down the line. He had seventy four tackles with an interception and six pass breakups while earning a 79.0 PFF grade.

Safety
Despite the success from last year, the Patriots decided to revamp the safety room, trading away Kyle Dugger, signing Jonathan Jones to make the transition from corner/nickel to safety and then drafted two guys in Kamari Ramsey and Peyton Bowen in the second round while bringing back Jabril Peppers and Marte Mapu.

How they choose to deploy their new toys -- as well as their returning ones -- will be interesting to watch, even in the preseason. We sort of know what they have in Peppers and Mapu but the transition to safety is an interesting one for Jones, albeit not new as he has played the position before in game specific situations during his time with the Patriots.

The team is also extremely high on Ramsey and Bowen so its tough to see them having a 'redshirt' rookie season and they project to have a role on the team, even if its primarily on special teams at first. While the starting combo come week one will likely be some version of Jones, Peppers and Mapu all playing significant snaps, a big preseason showing from Bowen and Ramsey combined with struggles from the veterans could open the door for their development to accelerate.

[Baze]

I'm expecting Nyck Harbor to have some immediate impact, the sheer athleticism is too much to be left on the bench

[Soapy]

I'm expecting Nyck Harbor to have some immediate impact, the sheer athleticism is too much to be left on the bench

tight end room kinda crowded with Henry and Delp and then Oronde Gadsden and Harbor as the depth. definitely interested to see if any of the young guys (Delp, Gadsden and Harbor) start to break away from the pack

[Soapy]

Derrick Henry, Christian Watson quiet in Patriots debut as Pats edge out Vikings
The New England Patriots' preseason began on a good note, securing a 16-8 victory over the Minnesota Vikings with Drake Maye rushing in the team's only touchdown.

Maye, who played four drives, had to lobby for his final one according to both Maye and head coach Jerod Mayo. Mayo granted Maye's request and it paid off with the third-year quarterback scrambling for 39 yards to get the ball in the red zone where he would punch it in on another scramble. Maye finished the game 4 of 9 for 48 yards with 54 yards rushing on those two scrambles. He did target newcomer Christian Watson once but the pass was broken up.

Derrick Henry carried the ball three times for 13 yards in his debut with the Patriots, getting the start as usual starter Rhamondre Stevenson was given an of day. Mayo said he was 'pleased' with the first team offense but that there is plenty to work on.

The young safeties showed up and showed out
Jonathan Jones and Jabril Peppers, as expected, were the two starters at safeties but once their day was over, the Patriots almost exclusively played the two second round picks at safety in Peyton Bowen and Kamari Ramsey.

Ramsey had an interception and two pass breakups, including one in the endzone, and was deployed as a deep safety for most of the game. Bowen, surprisingly, played closer to the box where he led the team with six tackles and was very active but did miss two tackles.

An interesting day for the tight ends
Hunter Henry did not have the greatest showing, getting called for two holding penalties on the first two drives of the game, both of which derailed any momentum the Patriots were building. Henry was visibly frustrated after the second one, played the ensuing snap and did not play again, even when the starters were still in for the final two drives.

Oscar Delp played the last two drives, catching a pass for seven yards. Oronde Gadsden II showed some flashes with the reserves, catching three passes for 33 yards.

Nyck Harbor played plenty as well, catching three passes and was targeted seven times by both Joe Milton III and Michael Pratt who took a couple deep shots to the speedster but were unable to connect with him.

Does New England need another arm?
It was tough to watch at times as Joe Milton III missed his first three passes by a wide margin on throws that should have been easy ones. He did start connecting on them eventually but whenever he tried to take a deep shot, it was an errant throw. Milton finished 9 of 17 for 87 yards with an impressive 25 yard scramble as well.

While Milton is a solid developmental guy with intriguing traits, tonight's game only bolster the argument for bringing in an experienced, veteran arm as if the Patriots have playoff aspirations, they need to be able to survive at least a game or two if Maye were to go down.

Injury News
Punter Ryan Stonehouse injured himself early in the game, causing kicker Andre Borregales to take over punting and kickoff duties. It seems to be a serious injury as Stonehouse went to the locker room and was immediately ruled out.

Nyck Harbor, Sidy Sow and Jahlani Tavai all went to the locker room at some point with various injuries but they all returned and played.

[Baze]

ayo?

[Soapy]

ayo?

this aint gonna hit the same with mayo fired

[Baze]

write him off

Brian Flores style

[Soapy]

write him off

Brian Flores style

[Soapy]