The New England Patriots have struggled offensively this season.
They rank 30th in total yards per game and 31st in points scored (17) per game. The young wide receivers, especially rookies Ja'Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, have not developed well at all. The offensive line has struggled with pass protection and penalties. Rookie quarterback Drake Maye has developed nicely, which is hugely important for the future of the franchise. But outside of Maye, there hasn't been much to like about New England's offense in 2024.
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Where does the blame lie?
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who's in his first season in that role, certainly deserves some blame. The play-calling has been suspect in a lot of games. But in fairness, he hasn't been given a lot of talent to work with, and that's the front office's fault.
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But if the Patriots do decide to make an offensive coordinator change in the offseason, who could be some potential candidates for the job? Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer joined NBC Sports Boston's Patriots Pregame Live on Sunday to go through a list of names.
"There may be some pound of flesh that needs to be extracted for what everyone went through this year, so maybe it's one of the coordinators, and I'm not saying necessarily it's going to be Van Pelt, but if it is, there are some of the usual suspect," Breer said. "(New York Giants head coach) Brian Daboll, if he winds up getting fired. Josh McDaniels, maybe you go back to Nick Caley or even Jerry Schuplinski out on the Rams staff.
"But if you want to hit reset and start over, I got three names you can look at here. Brian Fleury is the tight ends coach in San Francisco. He's considered sort of the next one in the line of Kyle Shanahan assistants. He interviewed for the Patriots' offensive coordinator job last year. I was told that Jerod Mayo and the people in the room were very impressed with him. So if you were looking to get a piece of the Shanahan program, that'd be one name.
"Klint Kubiak -- the Saints' staff in all likelihood will turn over after interim coach Darren Rizzi is done with the season. So could Klint Kubiak be available? If he is, that might be a name to look at. And then (recently-fire Chicago Bears offensive coordinator) Shane Waldron is another one, who, his stock is low right now. But based on where (the Patriots) are, you might have to buy low on somebody.
"He's somebody with ties to the region. He played at Tufts. He worked for the Patriots before, worked with Charlie Weiss out at Notre Dame, and he's somebody who's got a lot of experience as an offensive coordinator and was responsible for the reclamation project of Geno Smith there in Seattle a couple years ago."
More Patriots coverage
The Patriots still have three more games left in the regular season, including two games against the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills. If the offense shows genuine improvement in these final three matchups, maybe the coaching staff will remain mostly intact going into the 2025 campaign.
But if there's no improvement, or if the offense declines further, then it would make sense to look at outside options for the offensive coaching staff. It's extremely important for the Patriots to pair Maye with the right offensive coordinator.
