After hiring Bill O'Brien, what's next step for fixing Patriots' offense?

BOSTON -- With Matt Patricia leading the charge, the Patriots' offense was terrible last year. Now with Bill O'Brien stepping in to provide some steady leadership as the new offensive coordinator, the Patriots have taken a massive step toward respectability.

But O'Brien, despite his decades of experience, can't singlehandedly fix every problem facing the Patriots. And he's got his work cut out for him.

In rejoining the Patriots, O'Brien will be heading a staff that was left almost barren last offseason when Josh McDaniels took three assistant coaches -- wide receivers coach Mick Lombardi, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo, quarterbacks coach and quality control coach Bo Hardegree -- with him to Las Vegas. The loss of those four coaches was never really offset by any experienced hirings, with Bill Belichick moving Patricia into the roles of offensive line coach and play-caller while hiring Joe Judge to work as the quarterbacks coach.

Considering how poorly the offense performed from July through January, it's reasonable to expect Patricia and Judge to be nowhere near the offense in 2023. (Patricia may be nowhere near the team at all.)

That means that O'Brien's first order of business will be building a complete staff. 

It can start on the offensive line. The early read on that may be with Adrian Klemm, who interviewed for the OC job last week. He'll apparently have another interview with the Patriots, and with his experience as an offensive lineman and offensive line coach/run game coordinator, he would likely make sense to fill the O-line coach role left vacant by Patricia. A Klemm hiring would also help running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri, who was and is very inexperienced in that role. (After spending one year as a graduate assistant with Alabama, Sunseri was a defensive assistant in New England in 2020 before becoming running backs coach in 2021, taking over for Ivan Fears.)

At quarterbacks coach, O'Brien may be able to handle those duties, which would put him in close proximity to Mac Jones. Those two will need to be on the same wavelength for the offense to click, so it may be an ideal setup. O'Brien has simultaneously held the roles of head coach and general manager for an organization, so OC/QB coach shouldn't be an overwhelming double duty for him to pull. (That season with HC/GM duties in Houston was a disaster, sure, but O'Brien did call plays for part of his head coaching tenure in Houston, and he did work as OC/QB coach with New England, showing he's capable of wearing multiple hats.)

The Patriots managed the loss of Lombardi by keeping Troy Brown in the wide receivers/kick returners coach role that he had in 2021. But if the Patriots want to bolster their offensive coaching staff, look for them to call upon either Shawn Jefferson or Keenan McCardell -- both of whom interviewed for the OC job -- for a potential spot on the staff. With Jefferson in Arizona without a head coach, he could be the likelier candidate.

There's also a question of how the tight ends coach situation plays out, with Nick Caley's contract reportedly expiring. He was passed over for the offensive play-caller job last year, and he interviewed for the Jets' OC position this offseason. If he leaves -- for a coordinator job or a lateral move -- New England, it'll leave another hole on the roster in need of filling.

Clearly, the coaching staff has several pieces that need to be fit together before the 2023 season begins in earnest.

Then there's the matter of roster building. The key offensive free agents include:

WR Nelson Agholor
WR Jakobi Meyers
T Isaiah Wynn
RB Damien Harris

While it's safe to assume Nelson Agholor's days in New England are over, it'll be interesting to see how highly the Patriots value Jakobi Meyers. In an offseason with more enticing free agents at the position, the Patriots could have held out some hope that Meyers would sneak under the radar. But Meyers might actually be the best receiver in this year's free-agent crop, so keeping him in Foxboro will cost some money. If they lose Meyers, then maybe Agholor returns. If they lose both, they'll need to make a signing and/or draft pick to complement the corps of DeVante Parker, Tyquan Thornton and Kendrick Bourne. (That assumes, of course, that Bourne is out of whatever doghouse he was in for the duration of the 2022 season.)

Personnel-wise, the Patriots are OK on the interior of their line, with Cole Strange, David Andrews and Mike Onwenu. The outside spots are a bit of a question mark. Trent Brown did not have a good season working under Patricia, and Isaiah Wynn was even worse. With Brown -- who has a year left on his deal -- there's evidence that he can perform very well with good coaching. With Wynn, it looks like he'll go down as a first-round bust for Belichick.

Finding quality offensive tackles is among the most difficult tasks in the NFL, and the Patriots will be looking to definitely find one but maybe two this offseason, after requiring the services of Marcus Cannon and Conor McDermott quite a bit this past season. (At one point, Belichick said, "Thank God we have him" in reference to McDermott, which spoke to how dire the situation was.) The 14th overall pick could be put to use toward that end. 

At tight end, both Jonnu Smith and Hunter Henry are set to return, but the Patriots probably want another player in that position, even if it's just in a blocking role.

And then there's the quarterback. Presumably, Mac Jones will be the starting quarterback. He got a raw deal with the coaching staff in year two, and the hiring of O'Brien provides him with an early-career reset of sorts. The results should be in line with his rookie season, and the numbers should be better than they were in his rookie 2021 season. It is largely forgotten because of how ugly the 2022 season was, but Jones was considered a highly intelligent, very capable quarterback as recently as a year ago. He'll be aiming to get back on that path.

Of course, there's always the fantasy fan fiction story in which Tom Brady returns to New England, reunites with the Bills Belichick and O'Brien, and ends his career where it began. While Brady may think highly of O'Brien ... that one still feels far-fetched. Possible, perhaps. Worth discussing? Not really. Not yet, anyway.

Overall, there's a ton of work to be done, but with O'Brien in the fold, it shouldn't be overwhelming. Some coaching improvements, some roster moves, and -- importantly -- some smart manipulation of the draft and the Patriots should be back to contention in the AFC East. That's the significance of hiring an experienced coach like O'Brien, and it's presumably why the Patriots made that move.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.