Barth: Patriots' rookies are front and center in 2025

Beasley Digital

Alex Barth and Matt Dolloff share their thoughts about the Patriots' rookies, explaining why they must perform well for New England to have success.  Catch the entire Sports Hub Patriots Preview Show here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44ObVUlef3w&t=395s  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/sports-hub-patriots-preview-show-offensive-and/id1557723591?i=1000724473483  https://open.spotify.com/episode/33ynoiNQDdQ5bRVet2PzbJ  Thumbnail photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Transcript

00:00It is a sink or swim year for this Patriots rookie class.

00:05For a team that's had trouble drafting the last few years,

00:08that shouldn't be breaking that news to anybody,

00:11this draft class has to hit.

00:13I count six players who are either starters

00:18or in heavy rotational roles if they're not starting.

00:22And then two more that are right on the verge of that.

00:27So Will Campbell, I shouldn't even explain that one.

00:29He's your starting left tackle.

00:31Travion Henderson, if he's not your starting running back,

00:33he's going to be playing third downs, two-minute drill.

00:37Like, he's going to be on the field in key situations.

00:39He might be your biggest big play threat on offense.

00:43Jared Wilson looks like he's going to be your starting left guard.

00:46Craig Woodson, probably your starting strong safety

00:48after cutting Jabril Peppers.

00:50If he's not starting, he's going to be playing a lot.

00:52Definitely over 50% of the defensive snaps.

00:55And then you have Andy Borgales as your starting kicker.

00:57Julian Ashby's your starting long snapper.

00:59On top of that, Kyle Williams.

01:02It's tough to gauge exactly where he is on the depth chart

01:05because he missed the last, go back to Minnesota, right?

01:08He got hurt in that game, the Josh Dobbs hospital ball.

01:11I feel like they're probably going to start.

01:13Their base 11 will be either booty digs and pop

01:17or Mac Hollins digs and pop.

01:19But Kyle Williams, I mean, third-round pick.

01:21He's going to work into the rotation as the year goes on.

01:24They need his speed.

01:25They need his ability after the catch.

01:26He's going to play a significant number of snaps for this team.

01:30It just might not start week one.

01:32And then Marcus Bryant ideally won't play

01:35because he's your backup tackle,

01:37but he's your top backup tackle.

01:40He's definitely the top backup on the right side.

01:43And he might be the top backup on the left side.

01:45They still have Vidarian Lowe,

01:46but given the way this coaching staff has treated players

01:49who were brought here not under their watch.

01:51I'm not a fan of Vidarian Lowe.

01:52I would not be surprised if Marcus Bryant,

01:53maybe he has a shorter leash at left tackle,

01:55but I would not be surprised if he ends up the top backup left tackle

01:59if something happens to Will Campbell.

02:01So that's not a lot of depth beyond Campbell.

02:03Travion Henderson, like I said, one of few big play threats.

02:07I don't know what they're doing at left guard

02:08if Jared Wilson's not in there.

02:09They're probably Ben Brown, but now what do you do at center

02:12if Garrett Bradbury doesn't work out?

02:14They don't have a ton of depth at safety after Craig Woodson.

02:17They don't seem to believe in Kyle Duggar.

02:19Del Pettis is a drop-off.

02:21And then obviously kicker and long snapper,

02:23like those are your guys.

02:24It's not just that all of these guys

02:27are going to be in significant roles.

02:29There's not much of a plan B behind them.

02:32So they need this draft class to hit,

02:36and they need it to hit right away.

02:38This is not Bill Belichick, we're going to ease the rookies in,

02:42we're going to have veterans in front of them,

02:44we'll kind of put more on their plate as the season goes on.

02:47No.

02:48Will Campbell, Travion Henderson, Jared Wilson, Craig Woodson,

02:52Andy Borgales, Julian Ashby,

02:54and then Kyle Williams and Marcus Bryant,

02:56these guys are going to have to show up

02:58and play meaningful snaps from the jump.

03:00Yeah, I mean, you hit on it when you said plan B, Barth.

03:02But it's not just that these guys are plan A in a lot of situations.

03:07If they falter, what's plan B?

03:09I'm not sure they even know what plan B is.

03:11For a lot of those guys, there really is not one.

03:15Right.

03:16Look, Campbell, I feel good about Campbell being like a decent,

03:20serviceable starting left tackle.

03:21I know maybe that's not good enough for you for the number four overall pick.

03:25I get it.

03:26If he's Nate Solder, great.

03:28That's a starting caliber, set it and forget it left tackle.

03:30People ask me, what's a good season for Will Campbell?

03:33I say, we don't bring his name up.

03:37Like, we will because we dig in deeper.

03:39A great season for Will Campbell, they don't utter his name once, two to six.

03:42Right, like the average person, like,

03:44doesn't really come out of the game talking much about Campbell.

03:47We're just not noticing him.

03:48Exactly.

03:48But he goes without saying because he plays one of the most important positions

03:51on the team.

03:52It's been a big need for them for years.

03:54And he's the fourth overall pick.

03:55Like, that guy's expected to hit and start right away no matter what.

03:57And I get it.

03:58Yeah, no, I get it.

03:59If your expectations are super high for him as the number four overall pick,

04:02I get it.

04:03Yeah.

04:03But if he could just be a serviceable, decent left tackle,

04:07that's a huge upgrade over what they had last year.

04:10Massive.

04:11And if Drake May is as good as we want him to be,

04:12he should be able to, you know, work with that.

04:14And he should be able to make up for him just being okay.

04:18And so I think that right there would be, you know,

04:20a big upgrade from what they had last year.

04:22You said in the pre-show rundown, like,

04:24who's the most crucial rookie besides Will Campbell?

04:26Yes.

04:26So that's where I was sort of going.

04:28That's what I was about to ask you.

04:29Okay, good.

04:30Good synergy.

04:30So I jumped you there.

04:32I'm going Jared Wilson there because he's playing left guard,

04:35and I know that's not the most important position on the field,

04:37but he's going to be starting.

04:40He's probably going to be playing every snap.

04:41That's the plan.

04:43He can't – he's not ready.

04:44He can't figure it out.

04:45Like, there's a chance that he's not ready because I don't think this was the

04:49plan for him coming into the year that he was going to be the starting left guard.

04:52I think they wanted to eventually develop him as the center.

04:56You know, they came into camp with Cole Strange at left guard.

04:59You know, he's obviously gone now.

05:00He's a bust.

05:01Ben – or Garrett Bradbury at center had a terrible camp,

05:06but they're staying the course with him for now.

05:09For now.

05:10And, like, there's also the domino effect there.

05:13If Garrett Bradbury can't play and if they decide that Jared Wilson is ready

05:16to play center, who do they put at left guard?

05:17Like, maybe it's Caden Wallace, but that's a guy that came in here as a tackle

05:21last year, and they had to convert to left guard.

05:24And so, yeah, it's the domino effect.

05:25The plan B thing is a huge concern, especially on that offensive line.

05:30But the reason I go Jared Wilson over a guy like Kyle Williams or Travion

05:33Henderson is that I feel like they have enough at those other positions where

05:39they're not coming into the season saying, we have to get a lot out of Kyle

05:42Williams, especially at receiver.

05:44Right.

05:44With the experience they have there, they brought in Stephon Diggs,

05:47Mack Hollins looks like he has a rapport with Drake May.

05:50Kayshawn Booty has a rapport with Drake May.

05:52Pop Douglas is a slot receiver.

05:54So, it's like, I don't think they're looking – like, it would be different if

05:57they didn't bring in Stephon Diggs.

05:58I might be looking at Kyle Williams saying, like, they need him to hit the

06:00ground running there.

06:01And at running back, like, Travion Henderson had a great summer and looks

06:04like he could be a legit weapon for them.

06:06But they do still have Ramondre Stevenson, who I think is a good running back.

06:11And Antonio Gibson.

06:12And Gibson was good – was one of the few bright spots for the team last year,

06:15Gibson, and I think if Stevenson could just hold on to the ball, he's a good

06:19running back.

06:19And so, I feel like I look at those guys and they don't absolutely have to get

06:24the most out of those guys as rookies because they have bodies there.

06:28They have depth there.

06:29Don't exactly have that on the offensive line.

06:31So, there's a lot riding on Campbell and Wilson in particular.

06:34So, Jared Wilson's up there for me, most important rookie.

06:36I'm also going to say Craig Woodson for a lot of the same reasons you just said.

06:39Yep.

06:39But, you know, they didn't necessarily have a starting left guard before Jared

06:43Wilson.

06:43He – don't get me wrong.

06:44He had a good summer.

06:46But didn't he also kind of maybe end up in that position by default because

06:50everybody – like, nobody else claimed it.

06:52And he's been good.

06:53But you had Jabril Peppers.

06:56Yeah, I mean, they still have Kyle Duggar, but they're clearly cutting his

06:58rollback.

07:00They are – like, Craig Woodson got elevated late in this process.

07:03I think they need – and he's going to be in kind of that crucial role on the

07:08defense, kind of in that cleanup role.

07:10I think he's important.

07:11One more that I think is really important that succeeds, this is maybe more

07:14narrative-driven than anything else.

07:16No, you know, this is important because they lost a lot of close games last

07:18year, but also you can't draft two kickers in three years.

07:23I don't want to say they're both busts because Chad Ryland's good in Arizona

07:26now, but you as a team can't miss on two kickers in three years, even if it was

07:32different people drafting them, Andy Borgals needs to be this team's kicker

07:35for years to come.

07:36He just – he does.

07:37And I think he can be.

07:38I know he didn't have the best camp, but seeing him at Miami, like, he's got a

07:41big leg.

07:42I think he's a super confident kid.

07:44I'm excited to watch him.

07:46They need – there's some pressure on him.

07:49You can't blow another kicker pick.

07:51You can't do it.

07:51No, yeah, there's a lot of pressure on him because of that for everything you

07:54just said.

07:55But, like, I mean, in the draft, I know he was considered one of, if not the best

07:59prospect at the kicker position, but he wasn't, like, a blue-chip, can't-miss

08:04type of guy.

08:05No, this wasn't.

08:06So, the year they took Chad Ryland, I think they took Chad Ryland higher than

08:10they wanted to because Jake Moody, who is considered this blue-chip, rare

08:15kicking prospect, the Niners took him in the top 100.

08:18And, by the way, he's kind of been bad, but the Niners took him in the top 100,

08:22and the way it works with kickers is once the run starts, it starts.

08:25So, you take Chad Ryland.

08:27We don't need to go back and revisit that pick, but Andy Borgales, and for a

08:32team that's going to play a lot of close games, I am going to make this X's and

08:35O's and not just narrative-driven.

08:37You need your kicker in close games, and you can extend that to the long snapper

08:40and Julian Ashby.

08:42You need your kicker in close games.

08:43This team is going to have to win close games this year to get to that 9, 10-win

08:49mark that some people have them at.

08:51So, they're going to need Andy Borgales.

08:53And, by the way, Parker Romo not on the practice squad.

08:55Like, Mike Vrabel thanked him for everything, wished him well.

08:59Like, it doesn't sound like he's coming back.

09:01So, it's Andy Borgales' job.

09:04Yeah, look.

09:05Yeah.

09:05So, there's obviously a lot of pressure on him just throwing him right in there as

09:08a rookie.

09:09Ashby's another one, but, like, I mean, what can we even say about the long

09:12snapper?

09:12Either snap the ball or don't.

09:14But, again, to your point, like, it's sort of along the same lines as Campbell.

09:18Being a long snapper, seventh-round pick, it's like, you just don't want to ever talk

09:22about the long snapper, right?

09:23You just hope you never have to worry about that.

09:25And I know that they could probably find another guy off the street to do the job

09:28if they have to.

09:29But, like, you actually invested a draft pick in this guy in addition to Borgales.

09:34So, like, those are two guys that do have to hit the ground running.

09:37You've got to have a good kicking game because, like you said, these games are

09:39going to be close.

09:41There's probably going to be games where Drake May gets them into field goal position

09:45at the end of the game, whether to tie it at the end or maybe it's a tie game.

09:49He has a chance for a game-winning field goal.

09:51So, there's going to be pressure on the rookie.

09:53And he could be in cold weather, too, late in the year.

09:56I know he has a little bit of experience playing in cold weather, but not really,

10:01not necessarily consistently in New England.

10:03Not a ton in Miami.

10:03Yeah, it doesn't get, I don't think there's too many snowflakes at Hard Rock Stadium.

10:07No, I'm not saying in Miami, but he's played some cold weather games.

10:09Right, in the ACC, yeah, coming up north, he's done that a little bit.

10:12We'll see, that's the one, like, you can't practice that.

10:14We'll just see it when we see it.

10:15So, Patriots rookie class, I think front and center this year.

10:19Drake May's story one, obviously.

10:21Is he the guy?

10:23Showed promise last year.

10:24Can he put it together?

10:25Can he continue to build?

10:26Story 1A, they're not getting to double-digit wins without the rookie class

10:31stepping up across the board.

10:33Do they get that?

10:34We will see.

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