Nailed It (Mostly): My 2024 Patriots Bold Predictions in Review

From Rhamondre Stevenson’s stalled season to Joe Milton’s surprise start, I revisit my 2024 Patriots bold predictions and grade how they held up.

Let’s take a look at my bold predictions prior to last season:

1) Rhamondre Stevenson will rush for 1,200 yards.

Well… he finished with 801.

After Week One, I was feeling pretty good. Stevenson ripped off 120 yards in the opener against the Bengals, and I was ready to strut around like peacock. Week Two? Another 81 yards against Seattle. Two games in and he had 200 yards. Maybe I should have made the prediction bolder.

But those yards in the first two weeks masked the fact that he had fumbled once in each game. The fumbles would keep coming, but not the yards.

Was it coaching? Play-calling? Did the league figure out Jerod Mayo and Alex Van Pelt’s game plans after two weeks?

Which leads me to my next prediction from last year.

2) Alex Van Pelt will be one-and-done as offensive coordinator

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The Patriots ranked 30th in total yards and averaged only 17 points per game—ranking only ahead of the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. They ranked dead last in the league with 176 passing yards per game.

It didn't help that Van Pelt had a quarterback for the first five games who was afraid to throw the ball more than ten yards downfield. He also had an offensive line who couldn't block a lick.

I don't think Van Pelt shed any tears on the way out the door. He is now with the Los Angeles Rams in the role of Senior Offensive Assistant.

3) Jerod Mayo will NOT be the head coach the next time the Patriots finish above .500

Ding! Ding! Ding!

That was a pretty bold prediction at the time, I think. At the time, the thought was Mayo would have a long leash as the head coach of the Patriots. He had been groomed by owner Robert Kraft to be the heir apparent to Bill Belichick for some time.

Kraft gushed at Mayo's introductory press conference about how he had a pretty good track record picking head coaches, and how he had learned to trust his gut on such matters. Kraft loved Mayo and Mayo knew it–figuring he had "Thunder" wrapped around his finger.

It became obvious early, however—see Matt Judon showing up his new head coach on Day One of training camp—that Mayo had no control of the locker room. Before the end of October, I was comparing the season to Bobby Valentine and the "Chicken and Beer" Red Sox and speculating Mayo could be gone at the end of his first season.

4) Drake Maye will be starting by Week 5, if not sooner

Remember when people were talking about redshirting him because the O-line was such a disaster? Others said maybe he’d start the last four games after the bye.

Turns out, he was ready Day One.

Turns out I was off by one week, although I should have been right. I wanted to be right.

I confidently predicted the change after Week 4, when I wrote articles titled End of the Jacoby Brissett Era and Play Drake Maye Now. I was trying to will my prediction correct.

No one with the Patriots read my articles.

Even though it was obvious Brissett was playing scared and far too conservative, Mayo stuck with him until Week 6 against Houston.

I'll still take a W on this one.

5) Joe Milton will start a game for the Patriots this year... and win

This was my boldest prediction, in my opinion, and I wish I wasn't right. Why are my psychic powers so powerful??

Okay, fine, I wasn’t technically 100% right. Drake Maye played the first series in the season finale against Buffalo, but Milton played the rest.

Going into the game, the Patriots had the first overall draft pick wrapped up. All they had to do was lose against Buffalo.

Instead, Milton had the best game of any New England quarterback all season. He completed 22 of 29 passes for 241 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed for a touchdown. And he did a backflip. Can you do that, Drake?

The win dropped New England from #1 to #4 in the draft and basically bought Milton a one-way ticket out of town. The Pats shipped him to Dallas with a 7th-rounder for a 5th-round pick. Not exactly a blockbuster return.

Final Tally

Four out of five. The only thing I whiffed on was Stevenson.

Spoiler: I might try again on the Stevenson one this year and make the prediction even bolder.

Stay tuned—my 2025 bold Patriots predictions are coming later this preseason.