Even after a productive offseason, the Patriots still are clouded with uncertainty.
As such, Peter King seemingly is left with no other choice but to view New England as a middle-of-the-pack team for now.
King in Monday's Football Morning in America column shared his latest NFL power ranking, which has Bill Belichick's team at No. 17.
"Except for Green Bay, no team this morning is as full of questions as the Patriots," King wrote for NBC Sports. "That's mostly a good thing. Is Cam Newton somewhere north of the awful he was last year? How long can Cam hold off Mac Jones? Will Bill Belichick try to go 2007 redux (Randy Moss) by trading for Julio Jones? Will Dont'a Hightower resume his strong career in the middle of the Pats' D, or will Belichick permanently opt him out? Will Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry make New England the center of the tight end universe? Will Kyle Van Noy be the force he was before his gap year in Miami? What will the twin departures of Ernie Adams and Nick Caserio mean to Belichick, and can Matt Patricia become some sort of jack-of-all-trades John Nash for Belichick? You answer those questions, even a few, and you'll have some idea whether the Patriots will be in the middle of the NFL's morass of mediocrity or contenders to play an 18th game."
The question -- among those presented by King -- most likely to be answered first is the Patriots' Jones pursuit, or lack thereof. The superstar wide receiver is available for trade, wants out of Atlanta and would make sense as a New England trade target.
And should the Patriots acquire Jones, we imagine they'd move up on King's ranking.
