Polls: Can Pats’ offense be better than historically bad in ’24?

After wandering the desert for seven long months, the NFL has returned to our lives. The 2024 regular season kicks off in little more than 48 hours and the New England Patriots open the year Sunday at 1pm in Cincinnati.

Who cares how dim the Pats' prospective chances might be according to every single person you hear speak or every publication you read...

But if hope can spring eternal at the start of every baseball season, why can't it be the same on the gridiron?

Today we'll set the focus on the offense, now that we know who is leading the charge. (Keep scrolling beyond the first poll, there's four in total).

9-year vet Jacoby Brissett will be the man under center to begin the season. He's thrice started at least 11 games in an NFL season, with his career best for passing yards being 3,098 and his career-high for passing TD at 18.

So rather than traditional stat projections, we're keeping it pretty vague at the position, just like the Pats did.

As for the unit's playmakers, it begins with Rhamondre Stevenson. Two years ago, he popped as a dynamic back who rushed for over 1,000 yards while hauling in 69 receptions out of the backfield.

Last year, as New England's only threat offensively, Stevenson found the path a little tougher going as defenses keyed in on him, while injuries limited the third-year back to 12 games.

Can Rhamondre bounce back this year?

And finally, someone's gotta catch passes for this team, and chances are it'll be a lot of new faces doing so. While Kendrick Bourne should reacclimate nicely into the offense once healthy enough to do so, and Pop Douglas will still be operating out of the slot, I anticipate 2nd round pick Ja'Lynn Polk to be a focal point of New England's passing attack.

Who do you think will emerge from the receivers room to lead the way?