Though the organized team activities portion of the Patriots' offseason schedule begins this week, we already know a little bit about the 2025 version of the club.
We know Mike Vrabel is dogged on the practice field. We know the team's highest-paid player is taking pride in being one of its hardest workers. We know one of the team's best players has been cleared for football activities after missing most of last season.
But there are still plenty of questions worth asking as the Patriots are set to host their first OTA session that is open to reporters on Tuesday.
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How will Josh McDaniels handle Drake Maye?
Are more RPOs coming to New England? How about designed runs? How, exactly, will Josh McDaniels tailor what he likes to do as an offensive coordinator to the things Drake Maye does well as a quarterback?
That final big-picture question is one of the biggest looming over the Patriots and their second-year quarterback. How that particular query is answered could help determine whether or not the team is able to meet relatively lofty expectations (the sharps in Vegas believe there's a double-digit win team in Foxboro) or not.
Keep in mind, when it comes to the more scheme-specific questions above, McDaniels has shown plenty of willingness to run his quarterback -- never more than in 2020 with Cam Newton behind center. McDaniels was reluctant, however, to incorporate much in the way of RPOs with an RPO-adept Mac Jones in 2021.
We'll have our first look at the McDaniels-Maye pairing Tuesday, so we'll have our eyes out for clues as to how this offense -- and the passing game specifically, since these are not fully-padded practices -- will be constructed moving forward.
Who will man the interior of the offensive line?
After finding out how Maye will be coached, the second-most important question hanging over the Patriots might be this: "How will Maye be protected?"
We have a pretty good idea that Will Campbell will be their left tackle, Morgan Moses will be their right tackle and Mike Onwenu will be their right guard. We also have to presume that veteran signee Garrett Bradbury will be given an opportunity to win the center job since he's started at that position since he entered the league in 2019.
But the team drafted Georgia center Jared Wilson in the third round. Any shot he could be the pivot as a rookie? Or would the Patriots try him at left guard to fill the one job that looks truly wide open and up for grabs?
Other options to play alongside Campbell would include Layden Robinson, Sidy Sow, Cole Strange, Wes Schweitzer and undrafted rookie Jack Conley.
There's no guarantee new offensive line coach Doug Marrone will have a pecking order settled this week. He could be mixing and matching as the linemen get adjusted to a new offense. Additionally, offensive line work at this time of year -- with the workouts taking place in shorts and T-shirts -- is often focused more on conditioning than anything else.
But it will still be worth identifying who's where. This unit helped torpedo consecutive seasons in New England, and the more a new group can work together, the better off that group might be by the time September rolls around.
Which receivers look most dependable?
McDaniels would never turn down talent in his offensive huddle. But over the course of his time in Foxboro, he worked with plenty of next-level athletes who never amounted to much at the receiver position. Why? It was due in part to their inability to be dependable.
If you want to make an impression on McDaniels in a competitive receiver room, now would be a good time to start. It is, as Bill Belichick used to say, a "teaching camp." But the more one player slows down the rest of the group because he's not sure where to be or what to do, the less likely that player is to be depended upon when the competition ratchets up.
There are few sure things in this group. Stefon Diggs will have a role when healthy. Mack Hollins will be on the roster. Kyle Williams, a third-round pick, will be given every opportunity to contribute.
DeMario Douglas and Kendrick Bourne, meanwhile, seem like good bets to make the team, but there will be others pushing for playing time as well. Kayshon Boutte, Ja'Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Efton Chism III, John Jiles, Jeremiah Webb and DeMeer Blankumsee are all currently on the roster.
Because it isn't padded, this is essentially a passing camp. Therefore, players at this position who want to be given a chance at real reps in training camp should seize the myriad opportunities facing them this week.
Who stands out in a deep group of defensive backs?
It's hard to call what the Patriots have at cornerback and safety a "logjam." That term implies there are too many bodies for a select few spots. The reality of today's NFL is that one team can almost never have too many defensive backs.
But those positions are crowded.
Behind Christian Gonzalez and Carlton Davis III at corner are Marcus Jones, Alex Austin, Marcellas Dial, DJ James, Miles Battle, Isaiah Bolden, rookie seventh-rounder Kobee Minor and undrafted rookies Jordan Polk and Brandon Crossley.
Safety is currently held down by a pair of seasoned veterans in Kyle Dugger and Jabrill Peppers. But the Patriots signed veteran Marcus Epps at that spot, brought back veteran Jaylinn Hawkins, and drafted rookie Craig Woodson in the fourth round.
Marte Mapu is a third-round pick who still has intriguing physical gifts, and special-teamers Dell Pettus and Brenden Schooler (an All-Pro talent in the kicking game) provided some athleticism defensively when called upon a season ago.
One could make the argument there are a dozen or more NFL-caliber players between these two positions. Will there be room for them all? Plenty of time to make that call, but it'll be interesting to see whether or not there are any breadcrumbs left during OTAs as to how these players might be deployed moving forward.
Who's available?
This is one of the tricky sections of the NFL calendar for players. It is made very clear to them that attendance this time of year is not mandatory. And yet...
Players know their coaches would like to have them around. Players know coaches are the ones who are oftentimes determining their roles and the number of opportunities they receive before the roster is ultimately pared down to 53. Furthermore, Patriots playing for Vrabel have probably heard that he's trying to build a program that they want to be proud of and protect.
The best way to make a good impression, then? It would probably be to show up for OTAs, even if they're not mandatory.
There will likely be players who can't participate due to injury, but overall attendance -- as well as gauging who may be dealing with physical ailments while also trying to get a sense for just how "all-in" players are in the early stages of Vrabel's program-building -- will be worthy of note.