Patriots' Brutal Ranking Shows Team Still Has Work to Do

The New England Patriots have certainly added some significant pieces this offseason, which isn't surprising considering they had more cap room than any other team in the NFL heading into free agency.

However, in spite of the Patriots' acquisitions, it's clear that they still have plenty of work left to do, as plenty of holes remain up and down the roster.

Pro Football Focus recently released its latest set of power rankings, and New England's low placement made it obvious that the Pats are not yet highly-regarded.

Bradley Locker of PFF ranked the Patriots 28th, and his reasoning is very sound.

"General manager Eliot Wolf deserves praise for quickly upgrading the worst roster in football from a season ago," Locker wrote. The Patriots’ once-maligned defense should be better in 2025, courtesy of Milton Williams (91.7 PFF pass-rushing grade), Carlton Davis (72.1 PFF coverage grade) and Robert Spillane (87.3 PFF run-defense grade). But large-scale concerns linger on an offense that sat 29th in scoring drive rate a year ago. The Patriots will need to add more than just Stefon Diggs (79.7 PFF receiving grade) and Morgan Moses (69.2 PFF pass-blocking grade) if they want Drake Maye to leap in Year 2."

It's true. The vast majority of New England's additions this offseason have been on the defensive side of the ball, and while the Pats definitely needed help defensively, the Patriots had many more issues on the offensive end.

Obviously, New England can address those problems in the NFL Draft this week, but as the Pats' recent draft misses have proved, it's difficult to fill a ton of gaps with draft picks.

There is still time for the Patriots to swing some trades, but that's easier said than done. We'll see if New England can strike big the rest of the way.