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Patriots Training Camp Preview: Special Teams

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There are many new faces on the Patriots compared to last year. The Pats acquired four guys from trade, fifteen from free agency, and nine from the NFL Draft. They also lost nine players from trade and free agency and had three players retire.

In this new series, I will be looking at every player from each position leading up to training camp. For this installment I will talk about the special teams. The Pats special teamers have not changed that much over the years, but it could be different this year. They did not lose any key special teamers, but they added an undrafted rookie punter.

Stephen Gostkowski #3 (2006-Present):

Stephen Gostkowski is the second longest-tenured Patriot player behind Tom Brady. He is entering his thirteenth year for the team this upcoming season. Gostkowski was drafted in the fourth-round in the 2006 NFL Draft and was immediately expected to replace Adam Vinatieri. Over his career, Gostkowski has played in 184 games. He has 340 FGM on 388 FGA, and 593 XPM made on 599 XPM. He holds the all-time record for most consecutive extra-points made with 479. Gostkowski is a four-time pro bowler, two-time first team All-Pro, one-time second team All-Pro, and is 18th in all-time scoring in NFL history.

Gostkowski has proven to be one of the best-kickers in NFL history over his career. His career has been weird the past few years, missing more extra points than usual. One of his misses came in the AFC Championship in 2015, which cost the Pats the game. With Gostkowski being one of the best kickers in the league, coupled with the Pats not having another kicker, he is a virtual lock to make the team.

Ryan Allen #6 (2013-Present):

Ryan Allen is entering his sixth year in the NFL and for the Patriots. He has been the starting punter and holder for the Pats ever since he entered the league. Allen has played in all 80 games in his career. He has 345 punts, 45.3 yards per punt, and 127 punts inside the 20.

https://twitter.com/ezlazar/status/948785960510205952

As a left-footed punter, Ryan Allen is exactly the type of player the Patriots value. However, last year was his worst year as a pro. He only averaged 43 yards per punt. He is more known for pinning the opponents back inside their own 20 yard line, but he sometimes cuts a punt too short. Also, he has been shaky as a holder the past few seasons. Allen will have some competition this year as he is not the only punter on the roster.

Matthew Slater #18 (2008-Present):

Matthew Slater is entering his eleventh season in the NFL and for the Pats. He was the 153rd overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of UCLA. Slater has been one of the best, if not the best, special-teamer of all-time. As a returner, Slater has 35 returns, 637 yards, and 0 TD. He makes his money as a gunner on special teams. Over his career, he has 53 special teams tackles and 1 forced fumble. He has been recognized as a seven-time pro bowler, four-time first team All-Pro, one-time second team All-Pro, and a two-time Super Bowl champion.

https://twitter.com/fearthe_beard11/status/975122307424268288

Slater has been a captain ever since the 2011 since. He is quite the vocal leader. He was a free agent this past offseason. It looked like Pittsburgh was going to sign him. Instead, Slater resigned with New England on a two-year deal. There is really no chance that he will be released.

Joe Cardona #49 (2015-Present):

Joe Cardona is entering his fourth year in the NFL and for the Patriots. He was drafted 166th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft out of the Naval Academy. This made Cardona only the fourth pure long-snapper selected in the NFL Draft, and second for the Pats. Cardona has played in all 48 games in his NFL career so far, and has made contributions in both of the Super Bowls that he has played in.

Cardona has been a very good long snapper for New England in his career. Being one of the best long-snappers in the league, he will most likely make the roster.

Corey Bojorquez (Rookie):

Corey Bojorquez is the only addition to the Patriots special teams groups this summer. Bojorquez was picked up by New England as an undrafted free agent out of New Mexico State. He started 25 games in his last two years at NMSU. In those games, he had 116 punts and 45.1 average yards per punt.

Bojorquez is a lefty punter. He got a spot with the team after his tryout and can give Ryan Allen a real run for that punter spot.

 

Overall, the Patriots consistently have one of the best special teams in the entire NFL. It looks like this trend will only continue this season.

Patriots Training Camp Preview: Tight Ends

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There are many different players on this Patriots team compared to last year. New England acquired four guys from trade, fifteen from free agency, and nine from the NFL Draft. They also lost nine players from trade and free agency and had three players retire.

In this new series, I will be looking at every player from each position leading up to training camp. For this installment I will talk about the tight ends. The tight end position has been very valuable for the Patriots since Belichick took over. They became the first team to use three tight end packages and move tight ends to wide receiver slot. This past year they gained two tight ends from free agency and added one through the draft.

Rob Gronkowski #87 (2010-Present):

Gronk is considered the best tight end in the NFL, and has been for most of his NFL career. He is entering his ninth season for the Patriots after being drafted in the second round. Rob has proven to be great, but has also had some major injuries along the way. He has not played in 16 regular season games since the sophomore season. There were murmurs of Gronk retiring after New England’s loss in the Super Bowl against Philadelphia. It escalated all the way to the Patriots exploring trades for Rob. However, Gronk will be a Patriot for the upcoming season.

Rob has shown on the field why he is so good. In Gronkowski’s rookie season he had ten touchdowns. He then followed up with an outstanding second year showing with 18 TDs, 90 receptions, and 1,327 yards. He broke the single season touchdown record by a tight end in NFL history en route to becoming a first team All-Pro. 2012 and 2013 was where Gronk missed a lot of time, participating in 18 games over the two-season span. He then came back in 2014 and 2015 with 1000+ yard seasons and 23 combined touchdowns. In 2016 he missed a lot of time again due to injury and only played in eight games. Gronkowski last season had a healthy year with him seeing the field for 14 games. He hauled in 69 receptions, 1084 yards, and eight scores.

https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/945006630113984512

Gronkowski will need to be a major piece for the Patriots offense if they want to win another Super Bowl next year. Gronk needs to stay healthy for the season, especially with Edelman’s pending PED suspension. Rob will make it to the Patriots roster, no doubt.

Dwayne Allen #83 (2017-Present):

Dwayne Allen is entering his seventh season in the NFL and his second with the Patriots. The Pats acquired Allen via trade in the 2017 offseason to help with the loss of Martellus Bennett. The Pats have a history of bringing in veteran backup tight ends to fit their offense, and that is what Allen was supposed to be.

Allen started his career in Indianapolis as the Colts’ third-round pick in 2012. His rookie year he had 45 receptions, 521 yards, and three TDs. The next year he missed almost entirely due to a knee injury. He came back in 2014 where he had 395 yards and eight scores. In his last season with the Colts he played all 16 games and had 406 yards and six scores. The Patriots traded a fourth-round pick to Indy for Allen and expected him to be the solid backup tight end that Gronk has always had. Allen’s season was ultimately a disappointment with him catching only ten passes for 86 yards and a TD.

https://twitter.com/CaseyBake16/status/929906514898407424

Dwayne is coming off an awful season for the Pats and will need to show something off big in training camp, or else he might not make the roster.

Troy Niklas #86 (2018-Present):

Troy Niklas was signed by the Patriots in the 2018 offseason. He signed a one year deal worth $940 thousand. Niklas has been primarily a blocking tight end in his career, which is why the Pats brought him in. He will be entering his fifth season in the NFL and his first for the Patriots.

Niklas’ first full NFL season came in 2015 where he played in 16 games and had four catches, 33 yards, and two TDs. He missed 13 games in 2016 due to injury. Troy had 11 catches for 132 yards and one score in his last season for Arizona.

Even though Niklas’ stats don’t look appealing, he has been on an NFL roster for his whole career due to the fact he has been a successful blocker. Troy will still have to fight in training camp to make the roster, but he has a good chance to make it.

Jacob Hollister #47 (2017-Present):

Hollister is entering his second season in the NFL and the Patriots. He was an undrafted free agent signing out of Wyoming after the 2017 NFL Draft. He played a larger role than a lot of people expected out of him last year.

Jacob played in 15 games last year for the Patriots. He had four catches and 42 yards last year. He also showed how good he was at catching the ball in preseason where he had 12 catches for 146 yards and a TD. Hollister only played one playoff game and he had one catch for a yard.

https://twitter.com/FilthyHits/status/895853246752804864

Jacob Hollister exceeded expectations last year when he played in 15 games. He definitely has a good chance of making the roster for the upcoming season as long as he does well in training camp.

Will Tye #82 (2017-Present):

Will Tye will be entering his first full season for the Pats and his fourth in the NFL. He was acquired by the Patriots in October of 2017 after being cut by the New York Jets. He did not play for the Patriots in 2017 and was placed on the practice squad for the remainder of the year.

Tye had his most success for the New York Giants. In his two-year stint with the Giants he had 90 receptions, 859 yards, and four TDs. He then was claimed by the Jets, where he only played three games and had four catches for 38 yards.

https://twitter.com/NFLonLive/status/676595952933838848

Will has been an extremely good blocker and has played a lot of fullback because of it. If Tye can return to his form from his Giants days, he will have a shot at making the roster.

Ryan Izzo (Rookie):

Izzo was the Patriots 250th overall draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. He was a four-year player at Florida State University.

Ryan was more of a blocker than a pass catcher in his college career, with him not having more than 320 yards once in a season. His senior season consisted of 20 receptions, 317 yards, and three TDs. In total, he left college with 54 receptions, 761 yards, six scores, and 29 games under his belt.

Izzo will have a very unlikely chance to make it to the active roster next year. His only hope will be making the practice squad.

Shane Wimann (Rookie):

Shane Wimann was picked up by the Patriots as an undrafted rookie out of Northern Illinois. He had a solid career for NIU where he played 31 games.

Wimann is also a dominant blocker like many of the tight ends the Patriots have. He hasn’t been to special in the pass game with only 65 receptions, 635 yards, and 17 TDs. Shane is a big man though coming in at 6’4″ and 260 pounds.

Shane will have to show something in training camp if he wants to make the practice squad over guys like Izzo.

The Patriots have a lot of new faces at tight end this year which will make it hard to narrow it down for the 53 man roster.