Mandatory Pigskins

 Ah! Mandatory Minicamp has arrived in New England, along with the pine pollen and so many bugs I can't help but regret my lifelong war with spiders. The enemy of my enemy is my friend; isn't that how it goes? Still. Eight legs. And what's with those eyes? Anyway, spring has sprung. It's the season of eternal hope and that's how every football season starts. With hope.

And fear. 

Matter and antimatter. Hope and fear. Can't have one without the other.

But let's save fear (and spiders) for another day, shall we?

This is the time of the year when that guy you forgot was on the roster shines like a gridiron supernova for a day or two. Hey, before you can have a career day in a playoff game you have to have a career day in practice. Practice makes perfect. A journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. 

Or maybe it's just a small data sample. Still, if you have Tre Nixon catching the Super Bowl-winning touchdown pass as one of your Patriots Prop Bet for 2022, well, I get it. Hard to pass up 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 odds. Hey, I buy PowerBall tickets at the store, too.

 

Does that mean I'm not excited by news from Day 1 of Patriots Minicamp that Mac Daddy Jones, aka Griddy McCorkle, aka Dime Doctor Jones, was 25 of 26 in team drills? Of course I'm excited! That's pigskin intel, baby! M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P! M-V-P! 

Too soon?

Really, who knows anything after Day 1 of Minicamp?

I do think, though, if I'm a defensive coordinator around the league, I'd be looking for film on the Veer Offense after Bill Belichick said the Patriots would not be running it. (Never change, Bill.) I know what he said, and he said it with his usual condescending sarcasm but really, you have to wonder, don't you? I mean, every time the Patriots would run the I-formation fullback dive/quick trap play on 3rd and short, I'd think, "That's the very first play I learned in JV football back in the day." I'm just saying Belichick knows that even as time goes by, the fundamental things still apply. Yes, the Veer is a small college/high school offensive system. And Mac Jones is hardly the ideal triggerman for the Veer…

So, yeah. I'd at least check out the wiki page. Bill gonna Bill. Football fans west of the Connecticut River do not want to see a smirking Belichick at the podium explaining how they incorporated Veer concepts into the RPO play that scored the winning touchdown.

Wait! 

I want to see that. 

What was I saying?

Oh, right! The Patriots will DEFINITELY NOT be running the Veer Offense in 2022. 

That's just crazy talk.