On February 3, the New England Patriots had 9/1 odds of appearing in Super Bowl LV. To be fair, this was likely a little on the optimistic side. After all, Tom Brady had shown signs of decline — or at least his team’s scheme had — as he spent much of the season dumping the ball off as drives stalled. Yes, the Patriots won the AFC East last year, but how likely were they do that again, with their skill players a year older and the rest of the division (especially Buffalo) a year better? In the aftermath of the departure of Tom Brady, Kyle Van Noy and Jamie Collins — and the addition of Brandon Copeland at linebacker — and in the aftermath of the draft, the Patriots now just have 20/1 Super Bowl betting odds of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next year. Take a look at our thoughts about the Patriots’ fortunes after the draft.
New England Patriots 2020 Super Bowl Odds & Analysis After Draft
Jarrett Stidham appears to be the QB1
New England could have drafted Utah State’s Jordan Love with the 23rd pick in the draft. Love was the fourth-rated quarterback in the 2020 draft, but New England passed on him. Indeed, the Patriots went through the entire draft without a quarterback. They did bring in J’Mar Smith from Louisiana Tech and Brian Lewerke from Michigan State as undrafted free agents, but those are the more likely successors to Cody Kessler in the third-string slot, while Brian Hoyer is the veteran backup, should Stidham struggle.
Will Kyle Dugger be the safety the Patriots need?
Bill Belichick has proven to be a wizard of player acquisition, but one exception to that rule has been the performance of the defensive backs that he has chosen in the second round. This includes the likes of cornerbacks Terrence Wheatley, Darius Butler, Cyrus Jones and Duke Dawson, and safeties Tavon Wilson and Jordan Richards. The Pats chose Dugger in the second round despite the fact that he played Division II ball at Lenoir-Rhyne. He is a linebacker-type safety who will play up in the box like Patrick Chung, who is on the downward arc of his career for the Patriots.
Josh Uche could move to a linebacker role
Uche looks a lot like Tedy Bruschi looked, stacking up 16.5 career sacks at Michigan. He’s undersized as a defensive end for the NFL, but he could move to take a spot like Bruschi filled — as did free agents Jamie Collins and Elandon Roberts, who have left down, so Uche fills a need on the depth chart, and his 4.75 time in the 40 means he could help on special teams as well. However, he did not play much in his first three years at Michigan and only appeared in about half the team’s plays on defense last year.
Anfernee Jennings shows the Patriots are serious about retooling their defense
Jennings played at Alabama, and Nick Saban is high on Belichick’s list of people he respects. Jennings plays physical ball and sets the edge on the outside. He has a more rugged playing style than Chase Winovich, who could appear on the other side of the formation from Jennings. He could also take on the job of downhill blitzer. There were a lot of quality outside linebackers in the draft, so waiting until the third round made sense here. Expect Jennings to appear in special teams as well.
The Patriots went and got a new tight end…
…but not until late in the third round. Devin Asiasi came with the 91st pick, but he was only the second tight end picked overall. The Patriots swapped three picks to move 10 slots to pick Asiasi (getting a fifth-round pick back). He has the size to work as an inline blocker, but his 4.73 time in the 40 means that he could pop into special teams as well. He only started one season in college, so this is a bit of a flyer.
