Bedard's Breakdown - Offense: Do the Patriots have any offensive depth moving forward?

Will have more film analysis of Marte Mapu in the coming days, but with cuts looming, I have to get game thoughts/analysis out quickly or it will never get done, and then an updated 53. So we're just going to cut to the chase with some thoughts on the game, the game chart and a chart with the preseason totals.

Bedard's Breakdown - Defense: Thoughts on Marte Mapu's debut and Patriots preseason totals

––––––––––––––––––

Look, as far as offensive performances go, this was bad. And context doesn't matter all that much because, at some point, your third-stringers are playing against their third-stringers. And the Titans played 33 guys on defense. The Patriots still couldn't do anything. 

In the second half, the Patriots had 38 net yards on 22 plays (1.7 yards per play) and three first downs, one by penalty. The quarterbacks were 4 of 11 for 15 yards and were sacked three times. 

It doesn't really get worse than that.

That got me thinking about the depth on the offense. How much of what we saw is usable in the near future?

The good news is rookie center Jake Andrews played well again and has steadily improved this summer. Among the offensive linemen who played decent snaps in the preseason, he was far and away the best — much better than fellow rookies slated for bigger roles to start this season due to injury: Atonio Mafi and Sidy Sow.

Other than that, you have to worry about the depth on this offense heading into this season.

QB: I'm still a believer in Bailey Zappe as a backup, but this summer has to give you pause that he might not be a great fit for the Patriots' normal complicated scheme. Held the ball forever. Reads were not great.

RB: Patriots have a starter in Rhamondre Stevenson and Ezekiel Elliott, but almost nothing behind them at two-down and pass back. JJ Taylor was the best over the course of the summer.

TE: Matt Sokol had another uneasy blocking night. Can't feel great about him or Anthony Firkser as depth. They're at least solid, but you'd like a lot more upside, especially with Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki (coming back from a shoulder injury that could bother him to some extent for a while) not the most durable guys in their careers.

WR: The top three are set with DeVante Parker, Juju Smith-Schuster and Kendrick Bourne. If any went down early in the season, you can't feel great about Tyquan Thornton (hurt again), Demario Douglas (hurt, rookie) and Kayshon Boutte (rookie). You can't feel great about any of those players having to step up into a major role in the first half of the season.

OT: Trent Brown is Trent Brown. Conor McDermott seemed destined for RT but has been injured, and Sow has had typical rookie struggles. He can be somewhat managed if the Patriots are at full health at the other four spots. Andrew Stueber is on the practice squad at best. Riley Reiff could give you some subpar snaps if needed, but he looked like he sustained a fairly serious knee injury. Unless the Patriots can make deal for a tackle, they might be forced to put Mike Onwenu at RT, at least to start. Don't tell me they're going to put Bill Murray on the roster here.

OG: Onwenu (sooner) and Cole Strange (later, it appears) should be back. Atonio Mafi has a lot of promise and should be a solid backup. Jake Andrews has played some snaps at guard and could be the new Ted Karras/James Ferentz as the C/G swing. Even Reiff was decent at guard. I'm OK here.

C: David Andrews is awesome and Jake Andrews is coming along. Good here too.

So to recap, the Patriots have emergency depth situations at tight end, receiver and tackle. They need better veteran backup options. They could use help at pass back and possibly an option in training on practice squad should Zappe continue to struggle behind the scenes.

If this preseason has taught us anything, it's that the offense's depth is a real stress area at multiple spots. Not that we're all that surprised.

PLAYER RATINGS VS. TITANS