The New England Patriots are going into battle in 2008 with the same three running backs that helped them go 16-0 in the regular season last year.  The Patriots are hoping that this is the season that Laurence Maroney breaks out.  He has all of the tools you look for in a feature back as he is fast, strong and he has good hands.  But, Maroney has been a little bit injury prone in his career so the Patriots will be sure to let Sammy Morris and Kevin Faulk give him more of a rest than most feature backs get.  Maroney played in 13 games (6 starts) for the Patriots last season and he carried the ball 185 times for 835 yards (4.5 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  He also caught 4 passes for 116 yards (29.0 avg).  Look for Maroney to go over 1,000 yards rushing this season and for the Patriots to get him the ball more in the passing game.  Maroney has now played in 27 games (6 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 360 times for 1,580 yards (4.4 ypc) with 12 TD runs.  He also has caught 26 passes for 310 yards (11.9 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Sammy Morris was very impressive last season before he suffered a serious season ending injury after six weeks.  Morris played in 6 games (2 starts) for the Patriots last season and he carried the ball 85 times for 384 yards (4.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs.  He also caught 6 passes for 35 yards (5.8 avg).  Look for Morris to get a lot of tough yards between the tackles for the Patriots this season as he likes to run hard between the tackles.  Morris has now played in 100 games (25 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 459 times for 1,853 yards (4.0 ypc) with 17 TD runs.  He also has caught 118 passes for 827 yards (7.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.

Kevin Faulk is one of the better third down backs in the NFL despite his advancing age.  He always seems to make the big play when the Patriots really need it.  Faulk played in 16 games (8 starts) last season for the Patriots and he carried the ball 62 times for 265 yards (4.3 ypc).  He also caught 47 passes for 383 yards (8.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Look for the Patriots to limit his carries this season but for him to catch more passes in 2008.  Faulk has now played in 122 games (32 starts) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 694 times for 2,663 yards (3.8 ypc) with 11 TD runs.  He has also caught 323 passes for 2,818 yards (8.7 avg) with 11 TD grabs.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  B

The Patriots have cut 38-year old punter Scott Player who was to battle Chris Hanson for the starting job in training camp.  The Patriots were not pleased with Hanson’s performance last season and he will have to hold off undrafted rookie Mike Dragosavich to keep the starting job.  The smart money is on Hanson to retain his starting gig.

Tom Brady just confirmed what I felt all along last season, that he is the best QB EVER!  He might not have the strongest arm in the NFL and he’s not the swiftest runner….but he always seems to get the ball to his receivers on time.  Not only that, but he spreads the ball around to keep all of his receivers involved in the game and that puts tremendous pressure on the defense.  Brady played started all 16 games last season and he completed 398 of 578 passes (68.9%) for 4,806 yards with 50 TD passes and only 8 interceptions (117.2 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 37 times for 98 yards (2.6 ypc) with 2 TD runs but a lot of those were kneel downs at the end of games.  Brady showed what he was all about two years ago when he didn’t have any good receivers and he still led the Patriots to the playoffs and they almost upset the World Champion Colts on the road in the AFC Championship.  Brady has now played in 112 games (110 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 2,294 of 3,642 passes (63%) for 26,370 yards with 197 TD passes and 86 interceptions (92.9 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 276 times for 533 yards (1.9 ypc) with 5 TD runs.  Look for Brady to have another MVP type season in 2008.

Behind Brady the Patriots have a bunch of young QBs battling for the job.  Matt Cassel, Matt Gutierrez and rookie Kevin O’Connell will duke it out in training camp and the pre season to see who will be the #2 QB.  Matt Cassel has the most experience in the NFL but it still isn’t enough to know if he could handle the job if something happened to Tom Brady.  In fact, Cassel wasn’t even a starter at USC.  Cassel played in 6 games (0 starts) last season for the Patriots and he completed 4 of 7 passes (57.1%) for 38 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 interception (32.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 4 times for 12 yards (3.0 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Cassel has to be the favorite to win the backup job but he’s only a slight one.  Cassel has now played in 14 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 22 of 39 passes (56.4%) for 253 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions (71.8 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 12 times for 28 yards (2.3 ypc) with 1 TD run.

Matt Gutierrez made the Patriots as an undrafted free agent last season.  He didn’t get to play much but the Patriots like him enough to give him a chance to battle for the backup job.  Gutierrez played in 5 games (0 starts) for the Patriots last season and he completed his only pass attempt for 15 yards.  He also carried the ball 5 times for -13 yards (-2.6 ypc) but they were all kneel downs.

Rookie Kevin O’Connell has the most potential of the backups.  He is a dropback passer just like Brady is and his arm is more than strong enough to make every throw needed to succeed in the NFL.  Look for him to be the #2 QB for the Patriots by mid-season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A+

The Patriots couldn’t pass up Bo Ruud in the 6th round as he was a playmaker at Nebraska.  He’s 6’2″, 234 pounds and he runs a 4.85 40.  Ruud played in 46 games (33 starts) at Nebraska and he made 216 tackles, had 4.5 sacks, 25 tackles for a loss, forced 6 fumbles, recovered 2 fumbles, broke up 13 passes and he intercepted 5 passes that he returned for 208 yards (3 TDs).  Ruud will likely be a special teams player and backup linebacker as a rookie but he has potential for much more in the future.

Not many experts thought that Slater would get drafted as he was a backup defensive back the last couple of years at UCLA.  But the reason the Patriots took him is because he’s a special teams ace.  Last year he averaged 29.0 yards per kickoff return and three of the returns went for TDs.  He is 5’11″, 195 pounds and he runs a 4.4 40.  This was a good move for the Patriots this late in the draft as Slater could make a impact as the kickoff returner this season if he can beat out Ellis Hobbs for the job.

The Patriots drafted Jonathan Wilhite way too high based on his 4.49 speed.  He is only 5’9″, 183 pounds and he has problems with big receivers and running backs as he’s not a sure tackler.  He projects to nothing more than a nickel or dime back because he also has brick hands.  Wilhite played in 37 games (22 starts) at Auburn and he made 101 tackles, broke up 15 passes, had 3 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and recovered 1 fumble.  A lot of better corners were on the board when the Patriots made this pick.  It’s one thing to draft for need….but you have to take the best player available when your pick comes up and Wilhite definately was not that.

The Patriots wanted to start grooming a young QB just in case something happens to Tom Brady and that’s why they selected Kevin O’Connell in the 3rd round.  He’s a big guy at 6’5″, 225 pounds and he can flat out zing the football into tight spaces.  He also is fast as he runs a 4.65 40.  O’Connell’s only real weak point in that he gets injured a lot.  He played in 39 games (33 starts) at San Diego State and he completed 664 of 1,151 passes (57.7%) for 7,689 yards with 46 TD passes and 34 interceptions.  This was an outstanding pick by the Patriots as O’Connell will likely pass up both Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez on the depth chart quickly.

Shawn Crable will likely play outside linebacker for the Patriots and he’s a heatseeker.  He is 6’5″, 241 pounds and he runs a 4.65 40 which is very fast for a player his size.  The Patriots wanted to get younger at linebacker and Crable and Mayo is a good start.  Crable played in 47 games (21 starts) for Michigan and he made 148 tackles, had 43 tackles for a loss, 16 sacks, forced 4 fumbles and recovered 2 fumbles.  Crable will likely be a backup linebacker and special teams player but he appears to be a future impact player at outside linebacker for the Patriots.  This was a good pick for them.