The Patriots are bringing a new look to their offense. It’s a wrinkle that should make them even more deadly in the red zone.
The change? The height and wingspan of Tom Brady’s targets.
Jordan Matthews (6-foot-3, 212 pounds), Kenny Britt (6-foot-3, 223 pounds) and Cordarrelle Patterson (6-foot-2, 220 pounds) bring more size than Patriots fans are accustomed to seeing at wideout. Put any of those receivers out there next to 6-6 tight end Rob Gronkowski, and Brady can pretty much pick any mismatch he wants.
It’ll be interesting to see how many defenses will be equipped to handle the Patriots’ big targets.
“Any time you have guys who can be big targets in the red zone and make plays like Kenny Britt, Cordarrelle and Gronk, that helps,” Chris Hogan said Thursday following the team’s OTA workout. “Everything happens faster down there. If we’re able to just do our job and make some plays, we have some guys who can go up and create some mismatches, bigger body type guys. It’s great, so we’ll see what happens.”
Assuming at least two of Matthews, Britt and Patterson make the team, when was the last time the Patriots boasted so much size at the receiver position?
The overall size was striking during OTAs, particularly when doing red-zone work. And that was without Gron- kowski, who is expected for mandatory minicamp, which starts Tuesday.
It’s not that the Patriots haven’t had tall receivers during Brady’s run, it’s just been a while since they’ve put together such a collection. They’ve been more inclined to have smaller, quicker wideouts. Randy Moss was pretty much an exception, at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds.
Brady has still generated plenty of offense during his nearly two decades at the helm. The five-time Super Bowl champs had the second-best offense in the NFL last year, but the Patriots lost some key personnel from that outfit. Brandin Cooks was traded to the Rams. Danny Amendola left via free agency. But Brady’s favorite go-to receiver, Julian Edelman, returns from injury, and Malcolm Mitchell is hoping to make a comeback at some point.
Now throw in the big boys. Britt is absolutely chiseled and can get up to make tough catches in tight spaces. Matthews was also impressive in spots during OTAs.
Patterson had some difficulty with routes, but it’s still early. With his speed, he’s the type of weapon offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels can use in a variety of ways.
But the element of size the Patriots now possess just brings something new to the table and figures to make them even more dynamite in the red zone.
“There’s no doubt it’s going to give them greater opportunities, particularly if they’re one-on-one,” said SiriusXM analyst Solomon Wilcots, a former NFL defensive back, “and Brady is so good at finding the matchups he wants. What this does is gives them more of those mismatch matchups.”
Coach Bill Belichick is always looking down the road, and seeing what he’s going to need to combat teams on the schedule. This season, the Patriots are facing some of the NFL’s best defenses, whether in their Week 2 rematch of the AFC championship game with Jacksonville or facing the Vikings in Week 13. Both of those teams have tall corners.
In the division, the Patriots have to deal with big corners in Buffalo and Miami. Taller receivers might help.
“Taller receivers have been the go-to for the last five to seven years (in the league),” said Wilcots. “It looks like the Patriots might be buying into that because they’ve had all these small guys. But to the point, the red zone is where they oughta thrive.”
Of course, all of these new wideouts still have to pass the Brady test, gaining his trust and establishing some chemistry.
Britt arrived late in the 2017 season and never made much of an impact. He’s had a 1,000-yard season with the Rams, so there’s talent. It’s a question of whether he can get on the same page with a full camp.
The same applies for Patterson and Matthews. So it’ll be even more interesting to see the dynamics when Brady finally joins the party.
“Ultimately,” said Wilcots, “with the added size and some of the other players they have, you want to be able to do a few things so the defense can’t lock in exclusively on one area.”
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