Patriots Remain Towards Bottom of Recent Power Rankings

The New England Patriots have been one of the most-discussed teams of the offseason, and have been one of the popular picks to go from worst in their division to a playoff team in a loaded AFC. New head coach Mike Vrabel is a proven winner from his time with the Tennessee Titans, and now returns to the franchise he helped win three Super Bowls as a player to help lead them back to their days of glory.

Despite the fact that the Patriots have improved on paper, the Patriots will still have to prove their way up the power rankings around the NFL media landscape. Logan Ulrich ranked New England as the No. 24 team in the NFL ahead of training camp beginning.

"The Patriots have been the busiest team in football, overhauling most of last year's roster that mustered only three wins," Ulrich writes. "New HC Mike Vrabel has been the impetus for most of that change as he puts the stamp on the team."

Ulrich adds that most of the excitement is centered around second-year quarterback Drake Maye and the offense.

"The Patriots have a budding young QB in Drake Maye, improved the talent around him at pass catcher with veteran WR Stefon Diggs, third-round WR Kyle Williams and others, reinforced the offensive line with first-round LT Will Campbell, veteran C Garrett Bradbury and RT Morgan Moses, and (DEEP BREATH) added a wave of talent to overhaul a defense that was alos bad last year, but overshadowed by the struggles on offense," Ulrich writes.

The Patriots will have an uphill battle trying to go from worst to first, considering the Buffalo Bills have owned the division for the last half-decade. However, they can absolutely be the second-best team in the division and take one of the three wild-card spots in the playoff picture.