Signs of hope for the future

After 17 weeks of football the equation for the Patriots is simple: win and you’re in. Of course, coming back from Buffalo with a victory won’t be easy, and there are still ways for New England to qualify for the postseason even with a loss, but backing in isn’t how the team wants to make its way to the party.

But whatever happens in Week 18, even the most ardent Patriots fan would admit that the rebuilding process following the departure of Tom Brady is still underway. Unlike the first two seasons after Brady, the Patriots appear to have some pieces in place in terms of some young players who could potentially be part of the next wave of success.

After struggling in the draft during the latter half of the previous decade, the Patriots seem to be getting some traction. Over the past three drafts the Patriots have selected seven players who are currently playing key roles. Kyle Dugger, Josh Uche and Mike Onwenu came in 2020, Mac Jones, Christian Barmore and Rhamondre Stevenson arrived a year later and Marcus Jones is member of the current class. Obviously, there’s still time for more players to emerge, but after getting a single contributor (Damien Harris, 2019) in the previous four drafts the turnaround has been a welcomed sight.

Uche’s emergence down the stretch may be the best development of 2022, After two relatively quiet and injury-marred seasons, Uche has turned it on over the last half of the campaign and is now perhaps the team’s best pure pass rusher. That’s how team sacker leader Matthew Judon describes the former second-round pick, and Uche’s varied pass rush moves have given the defense bookends for opposing offenses to be concerned with.

More importantly, the suddenly productive draft crops give Bill Belichick a nucleus of young talent to build around. Instead of having to spend wildly in free agency as they did following the 2020 season, the Patriots can instead focus on specific needs (tackle, corner, linebacker receiver) and augment the young talent…