What's The Biggest Need For Patriots At NFL Draft?
BOSTON (CBS) -- While the NFL is gearing up for Super Bowl 50, the New England Patriots are already on to the 2016 season.
Their season came to an end just over a week ago with a 20-18 loss to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. Instead of preparing for a trip to San Francisco, the Patriots are now hard at work exploring ways to improve for next season.
That includes preparations for the NFL Draft, which will take place from April 28-30. New England won't pick until the second round, losing their first-round selection as part of their DeflateGate punishment, but could still fill a few holes on their roster with their five remaining picks (plus the additional compensatory picks they're expected to receive).
While many will point to the offensive line as their biggest area of need after watching Tom Brady get pummeled by the Broncos, ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss believes the need is much greater at running back and wide receiver.
"The offensive line, if you get [Nate] Solder back and have some development with your interiors linemen, I think they're OK there. They played pretty well against the Chiefs in the divisional round, so I think we're looking at [the AFC Championship loss] and sort of putting it all on that," Reiss said on Sunday night's Sports Final on WBZ-TV. "Get a couple of good running backs and they're not far from where they need to be."
Reiss said New England's inability to run the ball came back to haunt them in Denver.
"It reminded me of the Super Bowls against the Giants when the offensive line really struggled and the entire offense was paralyzed because of it," said Reiss. "The one-dimensional nature off the offense and the fact they couldn't run the really ball came back to haunt them. You go on the road with a silent snap count, and those offensive linemen were playing with handcuffs behind their backs. They couldn't combat what Denver was giving them on defense."
Watch Reiss' full discussion with WBZ-TV's Steve Burton in the video above. Tune in to WBZ-TV's Sports Final and Sports Final OT every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m.!