Along with their veteran safety, another recent draft pick who showed well in Thursday night’s preseason finale was Mapu. As mentioned, Mapu began his pro career as a hybrid safety, but the new staff has converted him to a traditional inside linebacker. Mapu’s ability to cover running backs and tight ends, either out of the backfield, in-line, or flexed out wide, stood out. He also had three tackles against the run, including a stuff, playing at the second level of the defense.
Barring a trade, Dugger likely sticks around now that he’s catching on more physically and mentally, while Mapu could make the roster as a coverage linebacker and special teamer.
– According to Vrabel, the team is waiving undrafted rookie QB Ben Wooldridge. Wooldridge made the most of his preseason reps in the first two games, but going wire-to-wire vs. the Giants was more inconsistent for the undrafted rookie. Wooldridge had three passes batted down at the line and some bouts with erratic ball placement. That said, he mostly made solid decisions, with the pick-six being more on the receiver not sitting vs. zone than on the quarterback, from this vantage point. Plus, Wooldridge made “plus” throws to John Jiles (dig in dagger concept) and Jeremiah Webb (blaze out, go ball) on the Pats lone TD drive. There were roughly half a dozen throws where Wooldridge’s accuracy was less than ideal, and the batted passes are a repeat issue. It’s interesting because he’s listed at 6-foot-3 and has a smooth throwing motion, which usually lends itself to solid accuracy. We’ll see if Wooldridge returns on the practice squad.
– The Patriots started this game with Jared Wilson (LG) and Ben Brown (C) on the interior offensive line, two linemen who could factor into their starting five this season. After a shaky preseason opener, Wilson has settled down with plus blocks in pass protection (1-on-1 vs. Elijah Chatman) and in the run game (generated movement) in his 10 snaps. Brown was less consistent with a delayed pickup on a line stunt (batted pass) and a missed block at the second level on a draw. Brown’s ability to block on the move and in space remains a question mark, while Wilson will get tested by post-snap line movement if he starts right away.
– WR Javon Baker might’ve done enough with his practice flashes at receiver and special teams contributions, making another play as a gunner in punt coverage on Thursday night. However, the tape on offense remains shaky for Baker, who had back-to-back negative plays with a run TFL (missed crack block) and an offensive pass interference penalty. Baker’s second target was thrown behind him, but the first one could’ve been caught by finishing through contact, and he wasn’t creating noticeable downfield separation vs. the Giants backups. Baker was one of my favorite picks from the 2024 draft class, but the receiver film remains inconsistent.
– Based on participation, rookie tackle Marcus Bryant is the Pats top swing tackle, followed by holdover Vederian Lowe (OT4), with Bryant playing seven snaps at left tackle and three plays at right tackle on Thursday night. Bryant has enough play strength and foot speed to be a solid backup, but his pad level remains uneven, allowing bendy edge rushers to dip underneath him. He was also called for an illegal formation penalty after lining up in the backfield at left tackle. Lowe had a clean sheet in pass protection with snaps at both tackle spots (18 at RT, 17 at LT).
– G Caedan Wallace replaced Wilson at left guard, playing the rest of the way on Thursday night (49 snaps). Wallace mostly held his own with some impressive reach and second-level climbs. His timing and body control on double teams and second-level climbs need fine-tuning at guard, but he has the range and power. Wallace only allowed one hurry when a rusher got into his outside edge (bull rush) on one of the batted passes. Overall, Wallace might be worth continued development at guard. His shortcoming is that he’s a one-position backup on the interior.
– Fourth-year pro Cole Strange repped at center in his 32 snaps, where he continues to look like a developmental player at the pivot. Strange has flashes at center, mainly an impressive zone reach block on the nose tackle shaded in the A-Gap, where he completely turned out the defender, but he was also on the scene for two run stuffs and allowed a QB hit. From this perspective, his hold was more on Wallace, who came off a double team too quickly. Strange could swing to all three interior spots, which gives him positional versatility, but he’s a project at center and lost reps to Brown this summer.
– WRs Jeremiah Webb and John Jiles flashed at times this preseason, but the Giants coverage mostly had the upper hand on downfield routes. Jiles is a sturdy hands catcher with some size, while Webb has some speed to separate downfield. It would be nice to get both receivers back on the practice squad, especially given the run of injuries at the position.
– TE/FB Jack Westover is the favorite to make the roster as the third tight end/fullback. Westover had a nice zone lead block on a nine-yard rush early in the game, and his ability to adjust on the fly as a lead-blocker has caught the eye. That said, the depth behind Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper was disappointing this summer, with nobody emerging as a pass-catching threat from the Westover, Bell (waived), Scott, Dippre, and Fotheringham (waived) group. Tight end will be a need we discuss in the 2026 offseason.
– QB Pressures: Sow (3 hurries), Strange (QB hit), Jacobs (hurry), Lindstrom (hurry), Conley (hurry), Wallace (hurry).
– S Craig Woodson continues to progress as a versatile backend coverage defender. Woodson forced an incompletion on a deep corner route from his perch at post safety, played perfect trail technique to undercut a deep crosser by the tight end to help force a sack, and chased down WR Gunner Olszewski to limit the damage. Woodson is assimilating well as a coverage defender, making him a solid complement to Peppers.
– Rookie DT Joshua Farmer began flashing more over the final two preseason games with his length and power to dent the pocket. Farmer made a nice run stuff by press-and-shedding to discard the right guard and powered through the right guard to log his pressure. Farmer has some tools to work as depth on the interior behind Barmore, Williams and Tonga.
– DT Jeremiah Pharms Jr. tied for the team lead with three pressures. He has played more in the preseason than a regular contributor normally would, but someone has to play, and he has been impactful in his snaps.
– Undrafted rookie EDGE Elijah Ponder logged two pressures with a ghost-rip move and a speed-to-power rush that dented the edge. Ponder has good length and some juice off the edge, while the coaches have praised his contributions on special teams.
– LB Jack Gibbens is a physical downhill run defender who can press blocks and fit gaps in the run game. He could be a situational run-stuffer alongside starter Robert Spillane, replacing smaller coverage linebackers in goal-line and short-yardage packages.
– QB Pressures: Gibbens (sack), Pharms (3), White (3, QB hit), Peko (3, QB hit), Ponder (2, QB hit), Farmer (1), Ritizie (1), Swinson (1), Blidi (1).
– Coverage: Minor (7/5/79 yards/TD/PBU), Polk (7/5/58 yards), Gibbens (2/1/50 yards/TD), Pettus (3/3/16 yards), Bolden (2/1/14 yards), Epps (3/3/14 yards/2 TDs), Riley (1/1/13 yards), Battle (3/2/12 yards/TD), Dugger (4/2/11 yards/INT), Rice (1/1/11 yards), James (1/1/5 yards), Crossley (PBU), Mapu (PBU).
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