Pigskin Phantasm

 It's dream time in the NFL.

Yeah. And this is your wake up call.

The Patriots play their third and final preseason game tonight and what we see on the field may or may not resemble the team we see kick off their regular season on September 11 in Hell - I mean - in Miami. (If you're a Patriots fan, you know I was right the first time.) Over the next week, some dreams will end and some dreams will change addresses. Over that same time frame - and well into the regular season - the hopes and dreams of Patriots Nation will rise and fall like tides driven by a psychotic moon that's off its meds. 

Maybe Einstein was right when he said God doesn't play dice with the universe but I have a feeling he does when it comes to football fans (and no, He doesn't care about baseball, no matter what you may have heard). Fate, as always, is the hunter.

Conventional wisdom (that's an oxymoron, isn't it?) had Nelson Agholor on the trade block heading into camp but lately it's been the suddenly enigmatic Kendrick Bourne, who was set to have a "Deebo Samuel-like season" (somebody else said that) in 2022. 

Unless Josh McDaniels, with whom Bourne flourished in 2021, wants this confusing narrative thread added to the 2022 Vegas Raiders storyline, I think I'd be a little surprised if Bourne is traded. I haven't been a lot surprised by anything Bill Belichick does since 2002. In fact, trading Bourne following his breakout 2021 campaign seems peak Belichick.

Related: I've really liked what I've seen from Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who appears to be everything N'Keal Harry was supposed to be, aka, the poor man's Anquan Boldin. Can Belichick find a spot for him on the Final 53 if Bourne isn't traded? That math looks difficult and I was told there'd be no math, so let's move on, shall we?

Rumors have swirled around disappointing OT Isaiah Wynn early exit from Foxborough over the last week, as well, though to be fair, that feels like an annual occurrence. Disappointing being a relative term for someone who's been a starting left tackle in the NFL. The value proposition (can Belichick get anything more than a bag of magic beans for Wynn?) and the operational implications (do you put Mike Onwenu at RT and, um, someone else at RG or keep Onwenu inside and go with, um, someone else at RT or well, you get the picture) following a trade make it difficult to predict one way or the other. 

There are also position groups on the Patriots where they may actually have too many good players to keep; at safety, defensive linemen, and running back.

At safety, a relatively safe assumption the Pats keep Devin McCourty, Adrian Philips, Kyle Duggar, and Jabril Peppers. Brenden Schooler is a favorite of local pigskin pundits and bobbleheads to make the roster as a core special teamer, which could mean Cody Davis will be looking for another job. Meanwhile, Joshuah Bledsoe has been showing out in the preseason after his redshirt rookie season. Brad Hawkins would probably make it through waivers to the practice squad (and maybe I only care about Hawkins because I routinely took him on Day 3 in my 2022 mock drafts). So, okay, I guess I'm only worried the Pats could lose Bledsoe without any return on their investment. 

Quick Aside: Fans are always making trades that fail to take into account salary cap implications (because that's boring, and again, I was told there'd be no math and yes, okay, I should've believed those people who told me to stay in school and don't do drugs), let alone the talent equity involved, so why not? How about Wynn, Bledsoe, and a 2023 Day 2 pick to the Chicago Bears for their unhappy camper, pro bowl LB Roquan Smith? 

The defensive line is a quagmire of young, unproven talent. It would appear that Lawrence Guy, Christian Barmore, Davon Godchaux, and Dietrich Wise are locks, but veterans Henry Anderson, and Carl Davis, Jr. could be looking for new schools for their kids with younger options in the pipeline, including Daniel Ekuale (who showed he can play last year but starts the season on the suspended list), Jeremiah Pharms, Jr.. and rookies DaMarcus Mitchell, LaBryan Ray, and Sam Roberts, all of whom have had their moments this summer.

Is there a trade market for aging defensive linemen? I've got to think the answer to that question is no. 

As for running back, I've seen some fan chatter on social media about trading Damien Harris. I get that Rhamondre Stevenson is a shiny object and could be the RB1 for a number of NFL franchises, but I think those proposing a trade are forgetting Damien Harris is an absolute stud. I'm just not convinced Belichick could get something for equal (or hopefully greater) value in trading away Harris, given the fungible nature of the running back position in the NFL. 

Counterpoint: Is the new "outside zone" offensive scheme suited to Damien Harris? Given the power concepts that the Alabama and New England offenses shared it's easy to see why Belichick drafted Harris and why Harris has flourished in Foxborough. Until this summer, when the recurring theme from training camp has been that the Patriots cannot run the football. Obviously, more than Harris' fit with the scheme could be involved. The offensive line has been a work in progress with Trent Brown moving to the left side and Wynn being in and out of the lineup on the right side, while starting a rookie at guard in Cole Strange as David Andrews works his way back from offseason surgery. The offensive scheme is new for them, too. Still, it does seem like the few successful running plays I've seen reported usually feature Stevenson's name. And yes, I realize that is a very small data sample. Still, if I'm wrong (a recurring phenomena) about the value proposition, and some other team makes Bill the right offer, I could see him moving on from Harris.

Well, as my Pigskin Yoda is fond of saying, we'll see how it goes. For now, the wake up call can wait just a little longer. The dream is still alive. At least until the final gun from tonight's preseason game.

Go Pats!