Read more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel

signing Jarrett Stidham Buffalo Bills Jersey , are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitions"WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL Free AgencyPatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots Free Agency CoverageRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveNew,3commentsRead more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel signing, are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitionsEDTShareTweetShareShareRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveIsaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY SportsDuring the season, Monday is usually the day to look back and assess what happened in the NFL over the course of the weekend. And while the 2019 regular season will not open until early September, there are still plenty of opportunities to analyze what is going on around the league — especially now, that the first week of free agency is in the books. Let’s quickly recap it to see what the New England Patriots did or did not do.Free agents re-signed by the PatriotsNew England entered the offseason with 17 players headed towards unrestricted free agency. So far during the process, the reigning world champions brought only three members of their 2018 roster back into the fold:Despite starting slowly into his first season with the Patriots, Jason McCourty carved out a role as a starting cornerback opposite All-Pro Stephon Gilmore and played some outstanding football late in the year. Phillip Dorsett and John Simon, meanwhile, were predominately role players. That being said, they were still valuable rotational members of New England’s 2018 team and could see their roles grow next season.Free agents signed by other teamsWhile New England re-signed three players, double that left the team via free agency. And considering some of the contracts they were handed, the club should see at least two compensatory draft picks headed its way in 2020:The biggest names on the list of free agency losses are undoubtably Trey Flowers and Trent Brown, who joined the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, respectively. Given the size of their contacts, the two will likely net New England two third-round picks next year — all while leaving big holes to fill at their positions, however.The rest of the group consists of de facto starting defensive tackle Malcom Brown, kickoff returner and depth wide receiver/running back Cordarrelle Patterson, primary swing tackle LaAdrian Waddle, and oft-injured cornerback Eric Rowe. Brown’s contributions will likely be replaced by the recently acquired Mike Pennel, while the roles of Patterson and Waddle have no clear-cut successors yet. Rowe is the least worrisome loss of the six.Free agents still on the open marketThe biggest group among New England’s free agency class are the players still unsigned as eight man have yet to join a team. Some of them are prime candidates to return to the Patriots at one point:While Chris Hogan and Danny Shelton have reportedly been in discussion with other clubs, the remainder of the group is having a quiet free agency period so far. Of course, two of the players — punter Ryan Allen and kicker Stephen Gostkowski — are prime candidates to return to New England soon.Outside free agents acquired by the PatriotsAs usual, New England headed into free agency rather slowly before making a flurry of moves further down the line. In total, six players were brought in:As noted above, Mike Pennel is expected to help fill the role formerly held by Malcom Brown — which in turn could make him the free agency acquisition with the biggest potential to make an impact early on. The others, meanwhile, are mostly depth and special teams options: ex-Patriot Brandon Bolden and Terrence Brooks project as core members of the kicking game units, withBruce Ellington and Maurice Harris fighting for jobs at wide receiver. Matt LaCosse Color Rush Byron Cowart Jersey , meanwhile, could fill the role as the club’s top blocking tight end formerly held by Dwayne Allen.Players traded for by the PatriotsWhile the Patriots were not as busy on the trade market as last year, they still made one transaction:Acquiring Bennett was first announced before the legal tampering period even began one week ago, but the move was not made official until Wednesday — that’s when the market opened. The 33-year-old will help the Patriots replace Trey Flowers’ production and role as a starting edge defender.Restricted free agents tenderedBefore the start of free agency, New England also tendered both of its restricted free agents:Jonathan Jones saw inconsistent playing time in 2018, but proved himself a valuable chess piece during the Patriots’ playoff run. Josh Gordon, meanwhile, was also tendered despite his future still in doubt: the wide receiver, who served as one of New England’s top-two when available last year, remains indefinitely suspended. However, it seems as if the club has him in its plans for at least the 2019 season.Contract options exercisedNew England had one player on its roster who had an option clause in his deal heading into 2019, and it was — to nobody’s surprise — picked up:Slater appeared in all 19 of New England’s games in 2018 and was on the field for 67.5% of the club’s special teams snaps. Once again proving himself one of the best gunners in all of football, he finished the season with 14 tackles and fielded multiple kicks to give the Patriots’ defense good field position — twice that happened during the club’s playoff run. Seeing the club pick up his option was just a formality. The Patriots rookie quarterback is off to a great start." Patriots AnalysisNFL preseasonPatriots 2019 NFL Draft CoverageHow Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham and WR Jakobi Meyers compare to other preseason stars under Bill BelichickNew,7commentsThe Patriots rookie quarterback is off to a great start.EDTWhat are preseason stats good for? Absolutely everything.I’m enamored with the New England Patriots’ rookie class and wanted to see where fourth round quarterback Jarrett Stidham and undrafted wide receiver Jakobi Meyers stacked up against other players from past preseasons. So, naturally, I’ve compiled all of the offensive stats from the Patriots’ preseasons under head coach Bill Belichick.Quarterback Jarrett StidhamThrough two preseason games, the Patriots’ fourth round pick has looked exceptional. He hasn’t been perfect by any means, but for every dropped interception by the defender, Stidham has watched receivers drop touchdown passes. He’s shown impressive touch on passes to every level of the field, he’s adjusted to pressure in the pocket, and he’s shown that he has a strong set of tools for Josh McDaniels to work with.Stidham has completed 28 of 43 passes (65.1%) for 372 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions. He has also scrambled 4 times for an impressive 34 yards.The 65.1% completion rate isn’t too impressive- it ranks 15th among the 49 Patriots’ preseason quarterbacks with 25+ attempts- but his 107.9 passer rating ranks 5th:2010 Tom Brady, 50 attempts, 128.4 passer rating2014 Tom Brady, 31 attempts, 123.8 passer rating2003 Tom Brady, 56 attempts, 116.8 passer rating2002 Damon Huard Youth Byron Cowart Jersey , 50 attempts, 108.9 passer rating2019 Jarrett Stidham, 43 attempts, 107.9 passer rating2013 Tom Brady, 44 attempts, 106.0 passer rating2009 Tom Brady, 42 attempts, 106.0 passer rating2017 Jacoby Brissett, 62 attempts, 103.2 passer rating2000 Tom Brady, 32 attempts, 102.9 passer rating2018 Tom Brady, 44 attempts, 101.9 passer ratingOf the top 10 highest passer ratings in the preseason under Bill Belichick, seven belong to Tom Brady. For those interested, Jimmy Garoppolo ranked 11th (2017), 12th (2014), and 15th (2016). All this is to say that Stidham is in great company. It’s not like every back-up quarterback is able to produce at the same level that Stidham has been able to- and he also hasn’t benefit from the traditional week 4 preseason game against numerous players that won’t end up on active rosters.I also think a better measure than “passer rating” is “adjusted yards per attempt”, or AY/A. AY/A converts touchdowns (+20 yards) and interceptions (-40 yards) into yard equivalents and penalizes sack yardage, which is often the fault of the quarterback.Stidham fares even better by this measure.2010 Tom Brady, 50 attempts, 9.9 AY/A2014 Tom Brady, 31 attempts, 9.8 AY/A2019 Jarrett Stidham, 43 attempts, 9.4 AY/A2003 Tom Brady, 56 attempts, 8.2 AY/A2014 Jimmy Garoppolo, 79 attempts Womens Byron Cowart Jersey , 8.0 AY/A2001 Tom Brady, 54 attempts, 7.9 AY/A2006 Matt Cassel, 82 attempts, 7.8 AY/A2009 Tom Brady, 42 attempts, 7.7 AY/A2010 Brian Hoyer, 57 attempts, 7.6 AY/A2006 Tom Brady, 54 attempts, 7.6 AY/AAgain, Brady accounts for six of the top 10 marks, while Stidham is joined by rookie Garoppolo, sophomore Cassel, and sophomore Hoyer. All of these players were at least replacement-level starters. This is again great company, especially since Stidham is so early in his career.Wide Receiver Jakobi MeyersThe undrafted Meyers has quickly ascended into the Patriots’ starting line-up, and it’s understandable to hesitate heaping praise on him. We’ve seen this before, right? Kenbrell Thompkins, Brian Tyms, Chris Harper, Austin Carr. Almost every year there’s an unheralded receiver that racks up 100+ yards and goes on to do...nothing in the regular season.Note: Thompkins absolutely did things in the regular season. Let’s never shortchange how valuable his contributions were to the 2013 Patriots.So why should we have higher expectations for Meyers? Through two games, Meyers has 151 receiving yards which is good for the 12th-most receiving yards in a preseason under Bill Belichick. Right ahead of Meyers is the aforementioned Carr (153 yards) and Thompkins (166 yards).2006 Bam Childress, 214 yards2003 David Patten, 196 yards2011 Matthew Slater, 190 yards2016 A.J. Derby, 189 yards2014 Brian Tyms, 188 yards2002 David Patten, 185 yards2006 Benjamin Watson, 181 yards2002 Deion Branch Authentic Byron Cowart Jersey , 178 yards2011 Aaron Hernandez, 178 yards2013 Kenbrell Thompkins, 166 yards2017 Austin Carr, 153 yards2019 Jakobi Meyers, 151 yards2001 David Patten, 151 yards2000 Terry Glenn, 150 yards (5 games)2013 Aaron Dobson, 150 yards2015 Chris Harper, 150 yards2017 D.J. Foster, 150 yardsThere are some quality players, like Patten, Branch, and Hernandez, along with some players that didn’t emerge, like Childress and Carr.Are there any patterns? Only if you’re willing to draw arbitrary lines. The only players to record 60+ receiving yards in the third preseason game are 2002 David Patten (124 yards), 2003 David Pattern (81 yards), 2006 Ben Watson (97 yards), and 2013 Kenbrell Thompkins (116 yards). That’s generally good company, if Meyers is able to have another strong outing on Thursday.Of the 17 players listed above, Meyers’ 69 yards in the first preseason game trails only 2002 Deion Branch (129 yards) and 2014 Brian Tyms (119 yards) for best debut performances. When looking at the second preseason game, Meyers’ 82 receiving yards trails only 2003 David Patten (95 receiving yards).There’s not much to really take away from comparing Meyers to these other receivers, other than that he’s extremely likely to make the initial roster. He’s also 46 yards away from passing 2002 Deion Branch for the third-most receiving yards in a single preseason under Belichick. He need 64 yards to pass 2006 Bam Childress.Meyers has shown great footwork to get away from coverage at the line of scrimmage, he’s shown a savvy for yards after the catch, a fearlessness across the middle of the field, and a nose for the jump ball. That’s infinitely more valuable for projecting his NFL success than comparing his production to other preseason standouts. Regardless, both Stidham and Meyers are in great company as two of the most productive preseason stars at their position for the Patriots under Belichick.