Offensive players to watch in Patriots preseason opener vs. Commanders

CBS News

3 days ago

The New England Patriots play football on Friday night, as the team will kick off its preseason slate against the Washington Commanders at Gillette Stadium. It will give us our first real look at Mike Vrabel's Patriots, and several intriguing rookies on the offensive side of the football.
While those around the NFL are extremely high on New England's defense, there are still a lot of questions surrounding the team's offense. Is Drake Maye ready to make that Year 2 jump? How is the unit taking to Josh McDaniel's system? Is it a functioning offense? Can the offensive line protect Maye, and can his receivers get open?
We aren't going to get the answers to all of those questions Friday night, but we should have a better idea of where the unit stands when it goes against a talented squad in the Commanders. That is, of course, assuming New England's top offense actually takes the field against something resembling Washington's top defense.
Several Commanders veterans will likely sit out the game, but Patriots players need all the reps they can get under a new head coach and in a new offensive system. Even after a strong showing in Wednesday's joint practice -- which a lot of coaches consider more valuable than preseason games -- expect to see a number of top-teamers take the field for New England.
"I would say most everybody that's healthy should expect to play in the game," Vrabel said ahead of Wednesday's joint practice.
Quarterback Jayden Daniels isn't going to play for Washington, which is a bummer. But here are New England's offensive players we really want to see during Friday's exhibition, including a number of guys looking to make the team.
The Patriots are going as far as Drake Maye takes them this season. We'll be looking for two things in particular when he's on the field Friday night.
Is he taking what the defense gives him and not forcing passes downfield? And has he cut down on his turnovers?
Maye hasn't been taking many deep risks downfield in practice, going through his reads and cashing in with the intermediary game. It led to a sharp drop in turnovers from OTAs and minicamp, as Maye hadn't thrown a practice pick until last Friday's in-season scrimmage.
Now he's going to line up against a defense that is not his own, throwing some different looks and coverages (albeit still vanilla preseason looks and coverages) his way. Will he keep cashing in underneath or force some deep balls downfield in a game-but-not-a-game setting? And will he fulfill his promise to remain a passer for a lot longer than he did as a rookie before mobilizing and taking off downfield?
Maye's decision-making -- especially his decision-making in the face of pressure -- could make or break the Patriots this season. Depending on how much he plays, we could get an early idea of how he's acclimating to McDaniels' offense and processing everything a defense shows him on Friday night.
Dobbs should get a lot of playing time Friday as Maye's top backup. He's been slinging it well in practice, so we could see some big throws out of "The Passtronaut."
Wooldridge has been OK, but he's really going to have to show a lot in the preseason to earn a spot on the 53-man roster.
We'll see if he even plays. But if he plays, we want to see him catch a pass or two and roast some DBs.
And if he doesn't play, we want to see Diggs on the sideline chatting up Maye and New England's young receivers throughout the game.
We don't want to overhype the rookie running back. But he looks like a big play waiting to happen, and there's a chance he'll so something special or explosive whenever he gets the ball in his hands.
He's also an excellent blocker in pass protection, which led to the scuffle in the joint practice that left Vrabel bloodied. Watching him break off a big run or race to the end zone on a wheel route would be fun, but we also want to see Henderson deliver some big blocks on Friday.
We'll get our first real look at Campbell and his arms in NFL action against a Commanders defense that could roll out the likes of Dorance Armstrong, Von Miller, old friend Deatrich Wise, Javon Kinlaw, and Jacob Martin come the regular season. We'll see if any of them play Friday night, but Campbell should get plenty of run as the Patriots get their rookie left tackle as much on-the-job experience as they can ahead of Week 1.
Campbell has had his struggles in practice, which is to be expected from a 21-year-old playing one of the toughest positions in the game, but he had a strong joint practice Wednesday.
We'll see if his pass-blocking is as shaky as some are saying, and if his run-blocking is as good as some are saying on Friday night.
Wilson has been the most impressive rookie at Patriots camp and has earned the praise of coaches and veterans alike for his work ethic and versatility. He's lined up as both starting center and left guard, and is trending toward starting somewhere on the offensive line come Week 1.
Brown has been the top backup to Garrett Bradbury, and got a lot of run with the ones when the veteran got hurt. We'll probably see a lot of him Friday night.
With veteran Morgan Moses on a pitch count this summer, we'll see a lot of Jacobs and Bryant at right tackle. Morgan played through a number of injuries with the Jets last season, but it will be imporant for the Patriots to have a good backup ready to go for the 34-year-old.
He's been a bit boom or bust in camp, with some explosive big plays and some frustrating dropped passes. But the Patriots need some TNT out of the receiver position and Williams could provide that as a rookie.
He remains a longshot to make the 53-man roster, but a few third-down catches or big returns by the undrafted receiver in the preseason will help his cause to make the team or join the New England practice squad. He's also been real solid at getting separation in the red zone in practice, so don't be surprised if Chism finds the end zone on Friday.
Both are fighting for a roster spot, and chances are only one will get another season with the Patriots. Odds are both could be set free before the season.
Polk had some good practices last week, and Baker had a solid Monday that earned him first-team reps in Tuesday's walkthrough. But both are going to need to really show out the rest of the way to have a chance. The return of Mack Hollins is going to really make it difficult for both to get a second season in New England.
Scott is in a battle with Jaheim Bell, Jake Westover, and CJ Dippre to be the team's No. 3 tight end after Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper. Scott, who went undrafted out of Ohio State, has played the best of that bunch this summer.
The Patriots are pretty set at running back with Rhamondre Stevenson, Antonio Gibson, and Henderson. But Larison is an undrafted rookie trying to make his way in the NFL, so we'll likely see a lot of him Friday night.
The UC Davis product had a touchdown run in the in-stadium scrimmage last week. We'll see if he can do that again in the preseason opener.
Tune in to Friday's Patriots-Commanders preseason clash on WBZ-TV -- the flagship station of the New England Patriots. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. with a special presentation of the Tom Brady statue unveiling ceremony, and continues at 7 p.m. with Patriots GameDay. Kickoff is set for just after 7:30 p.m., and we'll wrap it all up with Patriots 5th Quarter after the game!