New Patriots offensive coordinator has tough job in front of him
New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo is working on filling out his coaching staff, and continued that process on Thursday with the hiring of Alex Van Pelt to be the team's new offensive coordinator. Van Pelt spent the past four seasons working with the Cleveland Browns, and as offensive coordinator in 2023 helped revive the career of veteran Joe Flacco.
As challenging as that job may have been, he is going to have an even more daunting task in trying to revive the Patriots offense.
New England's offense finished the 2023 season 31st in the NFL in total points (just 13.9 per game), including one humiliating stretch in the middle of the season where they lost games by scores of 10-6, 10-7 and 10-0.
The quarterback situation took the bulk of the blame as neither Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe proved to be capable NFL starters, but there was a disturbing lack of playmakers around them. The offensive line was also decimated by injuries and a lack of quality depth.
The good news for the Patriots is that with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft they should be in prime position to come away with one of the top quarterbacks in the class. LSU's Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner, seems to be the most likely option at that spot, assuming USC's Caleb Williams and North Carolina's Drake Maye go in the top-two spots as expected.
A new vision for the offense and a potential franchise quarterback will certainly be a nice foundation to start rebuilding the unit, but there are still a lot of areas that need to be addressed to make this offense into something competitive in just one year.
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