With recent photos of Tom Brady in his new Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform, New England Patriots fans are reminded of a harsh truth. The upcoming 2020 season will likely be the first time in twenty years in which the Patriots will not be making a run to compete for a Super Bowl trophy. Given the amount of roster shake up this off-season along with the question mark at quarterback, it is looking more and more as though a 9-7 bridge year is the best this team can hope for. However, while a championship seems out of reach, a successful retooling of New England’s offense is very much on the table. Offensively, this Patriots team is still missing a key piece or two, but their current roster shares a lot of similarities to the high powered 2019 San Francisco 49ers offense.
2020 New England Patriots: Offense Could Mirror San Francisco 49ers
2019 49ers Personnel and Scheme
The staple of Kyle Shanahan’s offense, and the backbone of the 49ers success last season, was the team’s first ranked rushing attack. Led by one of the league’s best offensive lines along with a stable of versatile athletes at running back, the 49ers rarely asked quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to take over games. Instead, the 49ers frequently relied on play action and overall play design in order to open up relatively easy throws for their game manager under center. Furthermore, with a receiving core made up of an aging Emmanuel Sanders, breakout rookie Deebo Samuel, and a third year undrafted player in Kendrick Bourne, the 49ers lacked an All-Pro receiving talent. Shanahan helped make up for this by featuring his athletic backs in the passing game as well as by feeding the football to arguably the best tight end in the NFL, George Kittle.
2020 Patriots Personnel and Scheme
Assuming health across the offensive depth chart, the 2020 Patriots have several of the same characteristics as Shanahan’s 2019 49ers. New England’s offensive line was battered by injuries last season. With David Andrews placed on injured reserve, Isaiah Wynn out for half the season, Shaq Mason reportedly playing with a lower body injury, and Marcus Cannon missing time with a shoulder injury, it is easy to understand the team’s down year. However, after a full off-season to recover, New England’s offensive line will be hoping to replicate their 2018 performance in which they finished the season ranked as Pro Football Focus’s fourth best linemen group. Moreover, like the 49ers, the Patriots offense also features one of the league’s best running back groups. Made up of dynamic athletes who can both impact the passing game along with rush between the tackles, James White, Sony Michel, and Rex Burkhead should be expected to shoulder much of the workload in 2020.
Pass catchers are the biggest area of concern for New England outside of the obvious one at quarterback. While the Patriots lack a top-tier tight end like San Francisco, New England’s receiving core shares similarities to the 49ers of last year. The Patriots have an aging star in Julian Edelman, a freakishly athletic second year player in N’Keal Harry, a solid veteran in Mohamed Sanu, and a second year undrafted player in Jakobi Meyers. Behind establishing the running game and effective quarterback play, the most important aspect of this Patriots offense will be to find a strong second as well as third pass catching threat. The most obvious candidate to be the secondary pass catching threat is Harry. After a lackluster rookie season in which Harry struggled with injuries and learning the playbook, the former first rounder is primed for a breakout season within an offense which should embrace his jump ball and physical talents. Who the Patriots will find as their third receiving threat is a complete shot in the dark at this point. The best case scenario for New England is rookie tight ends Dalton Keene or Devin Asiasi pop and become that third pass catching threat. However, the more likely scenario for this team is there will be no clear third threat. Instead, that role will likely be spread out through a combination of production from White, Sanu, and the overall tight end position.
A Game Manager at Quarterback
First and foremost, the label of “game manager” for a quarterback should not be looked down upon or scoffed at. Head Coach, Bill Belichick, and offensive guru, Josh McDaniels, will have their work cut out for them when evaluating their quarterback room this summer. New England’s starter under center should be whoever the coaching staff trusts the most to both limit turnovers along with following the game plan as constructed. Whether that be Brian Hoyer or Jarrett Stidham remains to be seen, but while Stidham clearly has the higher ceiling, we all know potential does not always translate to success.
Garoppolo was hardly the focal point of the 2019 49ers offense, their offensive success came from a collective team effort. This is the exact blueprint the 2020 Patriots should aim to replicate as they retool their offensive system and build for future seasons.
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