Bill O’Brien was brought back by the New England Patriots to do one thing.
Fix the offense.
New England finished in the bottom half of the NFL in passing yards (20th), rushing yards (24th) and scoring (17th) during the 2022 season, watching Matt Patricia and the new-look offense fail to get more than a few feet off the ground at any point in the season.
That led to the re-hiring of O’Brien, who is expected to fully turn things around in his return to the Patriots. Is that fair to the man who once called the best offense in football, albeit over a decade ago? Not with Mac Jones. Is it fair if you give him a dynamic quarterback like Lamar Jackson? You bet.
Jackson, a former MVP who recently requested a trade from the Baltimore Ravens, has become the subject of the NFL world’s attention. Naturally, given the Patriots’ offensive struggles in 2022, one place he is often linked to is New England. Robert Kraft is even hearing about a potential union between Jackson and the Pats.
So, why would Jackson’s arrival make things easier on O’Brien? He’s dynamic.
Jones has been solid for the Patriots, but nothing more. Whether you want to pin all of last season’s struggles on Patricia or not, there’s no arguing that Jones didn’t do anything to correct the mistakes being made by the coaching staff. Jackson has spent his entire career doing that.
In Baltimore, the 26-year-old was stuck with Greg Roman as his offensive coordinator. Though not as inexperienced or inept as Patricia, Roman ran an offensive system that players seemingly hated. Jackson was asked to do way too much as a runner, not allowing him to display his talents as a passer. Sure, the personnel in Baltimore was lacking, but shoehorning your All-Pro QB into running the ball over 10 times a game is insanity.
O’Brien’s system is much more conducive to allowing quarterbacks the freedom to operate under a controlled environment. Tom Brady wasn’t running around and making off-schedule plays, but the likes of Deshaun Watson and Bryce Young both did that within O’Brien’s system in the past.
A potential addition of Jackson comes with both pros and cons, but the on-field repercussions of a trade are seemingly all positive. Where does that start? Well, it makes the lives easier of the newcomers to the Patriots’ offensive staff: O’Brien, Adrian Klemm and Will Lawing. And that is invaluable.
