The New England Patriots hired Josh McDaniels as the team’s offensive coordinator (again) on Tuesday. Here’s who it affects for better, and worse, moving forward.
Winners
QB Drake Maye: Josh McDaniels has never worked with a quarterback with Maye’s dual threat ability. The closest he came was with Cam Newton in the 2020 season, although Newton was a shell of his former self — especially after suffering from Covid. The coordinator will likely lean into that 2020 playbook to use Maye’s mobility to his advantage in order to maximize the quarterback.
The rest of the plan will be seen on the field, but McDaniels seems to be a fan of his new quarterback, who will get an experienced play caller and someone who has an extensive and successful history of working with QBs.
WR Kendrick Bourne: Signing with the Patriots back in 2021, Bourne had a career-year under McDaniels tutelage posting bests in receptions (55), yards (800), and touchdowns (5). It’s been downhill since from Bourne after McDaniels’ departure, but perhaps the coordinator can get Bourne, who already expressed his excitement on social media, back on track now two years removed from an ACL tear. If he can, it would be a big boost to New England’s passing attack.
TE Hunter Henry: Similar to Bourne, Henry had plenty of success under McDaniels in 2021 posting a career-high nine touchdowns. In three years since, Henry has found the end zone a combined 10 times. The veteran already proved to be a favorite target of Maye last season and now could become a focal point of New England’s red area offense yet again.
RB Rhamondre Stevenson: A rookie in 2021, Stevenson played in just 12 games under McDaniels while averaging 4.6 yards per carry. The best way McDaniels could help his top projected back, however, is by managing his workload. New England will likely return to role-specific backs (early-down, third-down) under McDaniels which should help keep Stevenson fresh as the year goes on. That could also lead to Antonio Gibson taking on third-down responsibilities.
Losers
WRs Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker: The move to McDaniels is not music to any rookie or second-year wide receivers’ ears as his system is known to be difficult to learn for young players at the position. Perhaps Polk could carve out a Jakobi Meyers-type role moving forward, but it’s tough to see a long-term future for Baker moving forward.
Alex Van Pelt and T.C. McCartney: Prior to McDaniels’ hiring, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney both remained as staff members from last year whose standing with the team was unknown. But with the hiring of McDaniels, Van Pelt will officially not return as offensive coordinator. Whether McDaniels wants to keep either coach on staff is unknown, but if they do it will come with a demotion.
TBD
WR DeMario Douglas: It’s no secret to those in New England that Josh McDaniels’ previous offenses were built around slot receivers such as Julian Edelman and Wes Welker. The slot has been held down the past two years by Pop Douglas, who may not be built for a high volume-type role over the middle of the field. Time will tell the role McDaniels carves out for Douglas, who remains a useful player, but it may be more of a Danny Amendola-type role than Edelman.
