Patriots Fans Need To Get A Grip On Ridiculous Expectation

The New England Patriots have built something for fans to be excited about, which is an unfamiliar feeling as it pertains to the organization lately.

New England underwent a complete and total rebuild this offseason, bringing aboard an entirely new coaching staff, droves of new talent and several executives over the course of a breakneck few months. Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf — the duo tasked with helping lead this reset — began by collecting high-level veterans like Milton Williams, Stefon Diggs and Carlton Davis during free agency, and saw things sort of come to a head this weekend during the 2025 NFL Draft.

Will Campbell was selected to hopefully solidify the offensive line. TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams will be tasked with adding a new level of explosiveness to the offense. Joshua Farmer and Bradyn Swinson should be plug-and-play contributors for the defense. Andres Borregales and Julian Ashby will (by default) contribute immediately.

It’s a good group, so why are we hearing so much about — and I promise I didn’t make these names up — Efton Chism III and Lan Larison?

Chism and Larison highlight a large group of undrafted free agents who will compete for roster spots, and admittedly are among the most likely to earn a full-time gig this summer. I just can’t get over the way some people have been talking about two decently athletic offensive skill players who come from lower-level schools.

It’s mind-numbing enough that I’ve been inspired to bring up a few examples from our wonderful commenters:

“(Rhamondre) Stevenson, (Antonio) Gibson and (Terrell) Jennings better take camp seriously because Lan Larison is a threat to knock one off the roster.” – Guest

“… (CJ Dippre, Brock Lampe and Larison) are locks for sure…” – bornstedt

“Good old (DeMario Douglas) and Stevenson should be looking over their shoulders. Fresh meat in town looking to take away a job or two.” – FullDiaperman

*sighs deeply and stares into the abyss*

Are we serious?

I could have ignored these examples and moved on with my life, but this feels like as good a time as any to sit down and have a conversation with you about how unrealistic some of those expectations are.

It’s not just silly, but completely unfair to all parties involved.

Larison and Chism went undrafted for a multitude of reasons, but the simplest boils down to the fact that they’ve never competed at a level even close to what they’re going to this summer. How could anyone seriously expect them to supplant established veterans during their first training camp? I’d also like to ask, when did everyone start hating on Rhamondre Stevenson and DeMario Douglas?

Stevenson certainly underwent his fair share of issues last season, but even with his seven fumbles, it’s astonishing that people are ready to replace him with an undrafted free agent. TreVeyon Henderson was literally drafted in the second round and still probably won’t eat into the veteran’s touches all that much.

Douglas isn’t in the mold of some other slot receiver to come through New England — notably missing one box that is checked by Chism — but he was still the club’s most reliable wide receiver last season and should only see his role increase under Josh McDaniels.

The Patriots are trying to win football games, not running a charity, so they aren’t going to toss these guys to the wolves.

CJ Dippre, Brock Lampe, Gee Scott, Jack Conley, Elijah Ponder and Jahvaree Ritzie all have a chance to crack this roster — as do Larison and Chism. I agree with that wholeheartedly, but what they aren’t going to do is replace veteran leaders any time soon.

It’s fun watching highlights, but the most you’ll be seeing out of these guys this summer is mop-up duty in preseason games. I don’t like being the person who tells fans to subvert their expectations, especially not at this point in the offseason. But there comes a point where some are just too ridiculous to gloss over.

I have no doubt these Chism and Larison appreciate your support, but maybe ease the expectations a bit and let them breathe. We have a long way to go before they’ll ever configure into plans — if they ever configure into plans.