The Patriots didn't put together a very inspiring preseason, and the overarching reason for New England's consistently underwhelming summer showings might not be overly complicated.
The roster put together by Bill Belichick and company simply might not be up to snuff. This notion was reflected Monday morning when ESPN released a power ranking of the top 100 NFL players less than two weeks before the start of the 2022 season. The Patriots, a playoff team in 2021, don't have a single player on the list.
New England is one of only five teams not represented on ESPN's ranking, and it's joined by four other teams that figure to be cellar dwellers in the upcoming campaign. The New York Jets, New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions all are among the teams with the longest odds at DraftKings Sportsbook to win Super Bowl LVII.
Many likely would argue the Patriots were able to reach the postseason in the past with a mediocre or even below-average roster. Those achievements largely were made possible because of Tom Brady, No. 20 on ESPN's list. The benefit of the doubt can't be given to an unproven sophomore quarterback who's playing behind a lucky offensive line and doesn't have an elite target to throw to.
So if New England goes on to put together a lousy 2022 season, you might not need to travel down the depths of NFL statistics and information to figure out what went wrong. It's probably foolish to count out a Belichick-led team, but the Patriots might not have enough horses in the stable to be a truly competitive bunch this season.
