Drake Maye’s deep ball and 4 more things that will define Patriots minicamp

Welcome to the end of the beginning The Patriots mandatory minicamp will open Monday with all players expected to assessment for the association s final three practices this spring The Pats will hit the field for three straight days then take a five-week break before returning for the start of training camp in late July To date practices have been optional for veterans while rookies have been working for roughly a month straight since their own minicamp last month Head coach Mike Vrabel has been reinforcing his new values daily instilling habits at practice in the weight room and during meetings This week s minicamp will offer the clearest peek yet of the Patriots with an offseason of overhaul now behind them Here s what the Herald will be looking for in Foxboro Drake Maye s deep ball Over the three Organized Unit Sessions OTA practices open to reporters Maye got better He trimmed his turnovers He spread the ball around He made pre-snap checks to new plays working the controls of Josh McDaniels offense to exploit aggressive defense Provided Maye s command of the system continues to strengthen the largest part telling part of his Year progress will be his accuracy to the intermediate and deep areas of the field These are the money throws the passes that separate the good quarterbacks from the greats and the greats from the perennial All-Pros Feasting on checkdowns and screens will beef up Maye s completion percentage but hitting more downfield passes should indicate an expected Year leap is on track Last year Maye ranked bottom- on intermediate passes and deep throws by Pro Football Focus s adjusted completion percentage an accuracy measurement that factors in throwaways dropped passes and spikes In college Maye had a tendency to overshoot downfield receivers and threw behind a sparse receivers running intermediate journeying routes so far in OTAs Were these misses random noise or a signal of something deeper More importantly what will minicamp bring Who s out wide Foxboro MA - June - New England Patriots Stefon Diggs and Ja Lynn Polk during Patriots OTA's at Gillette Stadium Photo By Matt Stone Boston Herald Undrafted rookie receiver Efton Chism has been the buzz of spring He s shifty elusive and has picked up the playbook expeditiously according to the Herald s Doug Kyed Specific of Chism s opportunity has been a function of other receivers missing practice and or sitting out band drills Stefon Diggs Kendrick Bourne and Ja Lynn Polk to name a sparse but there s no question Chism has run with his reps If Chism continues to rep alongside Maye which he did last week pressure will mount on the aforementioned receivers plus DeMario Douglas Kayshon Boutte Mack Hollins and Javon Baker Diggs and third-round rookie Kyle Williams are the only players who should be considered roster locks followed closely by Hollins and Douglas Otherwise snaps are up for grabs and this position battle is only just beginning O-line combinations Not even the Patriots know yet how they will fill out their top offensive line come Week Thus far veteran free-agent addition Wes Schweitzer and former first-round pick Cole Strange have taken the majority of snaps in front of Maye at left guard It may be one of the least exciting positions to watch but scant will be more essential to Maye s protection and performance Playing behind a leaky offensive line last season Maye was dogged by relentless pressure The Patriots tried to dam their leaks at both offensive tackle spots by signing Morgan Moses and drafting Will Campbell at No overall But questions persist inside specifically at left guard and with new center Garrett Bradbury Continuity at these spots will indicate confidence from the coaches but remember the staff is also cross-training players like Strange who has occasionally repped at right guard during organization drills and is among a multitude of O-linemen with something still to prove It s hard to really identify the linemen It s a lot of pass-protection it s a quick whistle and there s no pads on Vrabel stated last month So again Cole s working extremely hard The versatility that he ll be able to display is something that will be critical Pass rush potency Defensive tackles Milton Williams and Christian Barmore are the rock upon which Vrabel has decided to rebuild the Patriots defense Related Articles Patriots mailbag Is there a next Julian Edelman Jakobi Meyers on roster Patriots assistant coaches helping to form Josh McDaniels offense Patriots assistant Zak Kuhr guiding defense as interim coordinator in OTAs Patriots LB Jahlani Tavai sidelined until training camp with new injury Patriots defense Mike Vrabel s coaching benefitting Will Campbell If Vrabel s history in Tennessee is an indication he will trust them to generate consistent pressure within a four-man rush and the Patriots will finish with one of the lower blitz rates in the league Under Vrabel the Titans also made a habit of rushing four creatively dropping an edge defender and replacing his rush by blitzing a linebacker safety or cornerback However the Patriots choose to organize their pass rush the bottom line is this do they have enough to pressure quarterbacks with only four Williams and Barmore at the peak of their powers should form one of the NFL s better pass-rushing duos But flanking them Harold Landry posted the league s worst pass-rush win rate among regular edge defenders in per PFF and Keion White produced one sack in his final games last year The Pats did bolster their edge depth this offseason adding K Lavon Chaisson and fifth-round rookie Bradyn Swinson On paper this defensive front should handle a shaky starting offensive line in competitive periods If they don t it s fair to wonder whether the Patriots pass-rush plan will need tweaking or the roster will need reinforcements Kicking competition Andres Borregales has done everything he can to lock up the starting job The sixth-round rookie out of Miami made all four field goal attempts between and yards in the only OTA practice open to media last week Meanwhile John Parker Romo his veteran competition floundered going -of- for the second time in as a multitude of weeks Borregales leg strength is powerful but it will be his consistency that wins him the job and keeps him around the league So far so good