The New England Patriots could be starting a new era in earnest now that Mike Vrabel will be their head coach.
Vrabel demonstrated an ability to maximize somewhat underwhelming rosters during his time with the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023, and he will again have an underwhelming roster to work with, at least for now, in New England.
Patriots insider Mike Giardi recently called Vrabel the “absolute right guy for this organization at this time,” but he also expressed one significant concern.
“My reservation here, his offensive vision in Tennessee wasn’t awesome. They never were that sort of cutting-edge offense,” Giardi said, via Patriots on CLNS Media. “… Obviously when you have a quarterback like Drake Maye, there’s a high ceiling here.”
“My reservation here, (Vrabel’s) offensive vision in Tennessee wasn’t awesome. They never were that cutting edge offense.”
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With Tennessee, Vrabel never had a top-level quarterback. Ryan Tannehill did well there during the 2019 and 2020 seasons, and ended up making one Pro Bowl, but he was never close to being among the league’s elite.
The Titans rode running back Derrick Henry, and it was good enough to get them to the AFC Championship Game after they upset the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round.
Now, the one major piece Vrabel will have to work with is Maye, who showed considerable promise as a rookie quarterback.
They don’t have the personnel to play dominant offensive football, and thus Vrabel will have to figure out another way to guide the Patriots back to respectability.
For most of Vrabel’s time with the Titans, they were consistently among the NFL’s leaders in rushing attempts and toward the bottom of the league in passing attempts, and that isn’t likely to get it done in the current AFC.
NEXT: Drake Maye Names 3 WRs That He Would Like To Play With
