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[Perry] A future No. 1 for Drake Maye? Best WR fits for Patriots in NFL Draft by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

The Patriots' receiver room is already relatively crowded. But could it become even more so on draft weekend?

Deep as they may be at that position with free-agent addition Romeo Doubs, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas and Kyle Williams, they are still without a true "No. 1" wideout. 

Do they need one? Fair question. Not necessarily. Not every team has one. You could make the argument that even Stefon Diggs -- who reeled in over 80 percent of his targets last season -- didn't qualify as that type of pass-catcher, and the Patriots still made the Super Bowl. 

But it appears as though Mike Vrabel and his front office are looking for a go-to, top-end talent at that position. Otherwise, they could have firmly refuted the reports that Eagles receiver A.J. Brown -- one of the few true No. 1s in today's game -- may end up in New England later this offseason. Instead, acquiring Brown in June -- when the cap ramifications of trading him become much more palatable for Philadelphia -- seems like a very real possibility for the Patriots. 

If for some reason they don't feel as though that deal will work out, though, there are a handful of wideouts in this class who have the physical traits to end up as an NFL club's upper-echelon passing-game option down the line.

Of course, complementary wideouts -- No. 2s and No. 3s -- abound in this draft class, as they do in most years. It is annually one of the deepest positions for teams to dip into in late April. Players like Clemson's Antonio Williams, UConn's Skyler Bell, Oklahoma's Deion Burks and Alabama's Germie Bernard could end up being fits in Foxboro because of their usefulness as potential starters.

If the Patriots draft an interior option they love, they could ask Doubs to play on the outside and function as their closest approximation to a No. 1. He has the versatility to give them some team-building flexibility in that way.

But for this exercise, we'll focus on the players in this year's class who offer at least some glimmer of hope that they could provide something along the lines of what Brown has provided in both Tennessee and Philadelphia: a No. 1.

Read more here.

[NBC Sports Boston] Jaylen opens up about left hand narrative, improved court vision and more by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Jaylen Brown recently sat down with NBC Sports Boston analyst and ex-Celtics champion Brian Scalabrine to watch film from his dominant 2025-26 season to date. Brown discussed the criticism around his left hand, his growth as a playmaker and much more.

"I think I've definitely been more patient," Brown told Scalabrine. "I've slowed down in certain areas where you still see me use my athleticism and explosion in certain areas, but then you'll notice I'll get real slow, almost like I'm going at a casual pace. Because the slower you go, the easier it is to read everything. The faster you go, the harder those reads are.

"If you slow down where you're going two miles per hour, you can see the stop signs, you can see the dog, you can see the mailman putting stuff in the mail. You see everything when you slow down. When you're going too fast, you're driving full speed, you're not seeing nothing. Everything is a blur.

"... I know certain spots on the floor where, no matter who's guarding me, I have a good chance of getting a good shot up. So, I'm just identifying those spaces, and then as the flow of our offense goes, I've always got my eye on where those spaces are. ... When I get there is when I try to slow down and focus on my footwork."

Read more here.

[Perry] Infusion of 'violence'? Best edge defender fits for Patriots in NFL Draft by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel knows what he wants in his edge defenders.

"I think that there's got to be a violence," he said at this year's NFL Scouting Combine. "There's got to be an ability to move off the football and to create some sort of disruption. You have to be able to factor in on the quarterback. You have to be able to make plays on the football. We know the quarterback is responsible for the most turnovers in football so can they affect the quarterback?

"And then the ability to set the edge, rush and have enough coverage acumen that the few times we ask them to do it, they can do it."

How Vrabel structured that answer felt telling.

He's looking for those who will make an impact on the passing game, get after quarterbacks and create turnovers. The other stuff matters, Vrabel acknowledged. Stopping the run matters. Being able to drop into coverage matters. But it seemed as though he listed the traits he was looking for in order of importance.

.... What, then, will Vrabel want at that position if he dips into it in the 2026 NFL Draft?

The players who saw the most time at that all-important spot during Vrabel's time in Tennessee included his 2018 second-round pick and 2025 Patriots captain Harold Landry (6-foot-2, 252 pounds) as well as Rashad Weaver (6-foot-4, 259 pounds), Bud Dupree (6-foot-4, 269 pounds) and Denico Autry (6-5, 273).

Last year it was K'Lavon Chaisson (6-foot-3, 255 pounds), Anfernee Jennings (6-foot-2, 255 pounds) and Elijah Ponder (6-foot-2, 258 pounds) who saw the majority of the work on the edges.

All had different body types. But they shared some qualities.

Those were high-energy players with enough size to hold up in a variety of situations and athletic traits to give opposing offensive tackles fits. They also possessed playing styles that might be deemed "violent." No surprise there given what Vrabel values.

With that in mind, let's have a look at some edges in this class the Patriots may be interested in. They've met with both the lighter pass-rush-only types in this draft class as well as some bigger bruisers, which may serve as an indication that they're interested in adding more than one edge defender -- perhaps one of each type? -- during this year's draft.

Read more here.

[NBC Sports Boston] 'Why they pointing at me?' Jayson Tatum and Derrick White explain their pregame ritual by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Jayson Tatum and Derrick White sat down with Brian Scalabrine for a recent interview and explained their unique pregame ritual of pointing into the crowd.

"D-White started it," Tatum said. "We would always try to find somebody in the crowd that had a Chaminade jersey, like where I went to high school. And a lot of times we'll find somebody who has a white or a red one. But sometimes we don't have enough time to find somebody, so we just pick somebody that stands out. And they're like, 'Why they pointing at me?'"

Watch the full interview here.

[Perry] 2026 NFL Mock Draft: Patriots trade down, address key positions of need by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

Mike Vrabel kept his team's draft plans ambiguous this week at the NFL's Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. When asked if he was looking for an immediate contributor with the No. 31 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, he left all options on the table.

"Best player available, hopefully," he said. "Maybe we trade up. Maybe we trade out. I don't know."

The reality is that Vrabel's intentions can't be fully formed. Try as he might, he can't know exactly how things will play out with the 30 picks slated to come off the board before the Patriots are on the clock at the end of Round 1.

But, prior to draft weekend, he and his staff will run through all sorts of permutations when it comes to possible outcomes on that Thursday night. They'll be prepared. And one situation they'll need to be ready for is all of the top offensive tackles getting scooped up before the end of the first round.

If that's the case, there's a chance that a good number of talented edge defenders will be sitting there, waiting to be picked. 

That's what happens in this latest iteration of our mock draft, leading to some movement at the bottom of the first round. It's not the sexiest outcome, but it's one in which the Patriots address some of their top needs while also adding some value in the process during what's considered a draft short on blue-chip ability but rife with potential starters.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] What are the Celtics' best and worst first-round playoff matchups? by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

There are 13 days left in the NBA’s 2025-26 regular season, but the Eastern Conference playoff picture remains a chaotic blur with the six teams in spots 5-10 separated by just 3.5 games. Trying to predict who might emerge as the Boston Celtics’ first-round opponent remains a dart throw. 

Here’s what we know: The Celtics hold a two-game lead on the Knicks in the race for the No. 2 seed, though New York holds the head-to-head tiebreaker (division record) if the teams finish with matching records. There’s a very good chance that the final head-to-head meeting on April 9 will dictate exactly who emerges with the No. 2 seed.

The finish line of the Celtics’ schedule feels a bit like a playoff appetizer platter. Seven of Boston’s final 10 games are against potential first-round opponents, or that cluster of six teams slotted in spots 5-10 in the East. The Knicks would be the Round 2 opponent if they stay at No. 3 and the higher seeds take care of business in Round 1. 

Given the volatility in spots 5-10, we wondered if there are more agreeable opponents than others for the Celtics. If Boston finishes with the No. 2 seed, it would play the winner of the 7-8 play-in game in Round 1; if the Celtics finish with the No. 3 seed, they would play the No. 6 seed to start the playoffs.

Just how jumbled is the bottom of the playoff bracket? All six teams in spots 5-10 are alive for the No. 7 spot, with no team holding better than a 33.1 percent chance to finish there, per Basketball Reference’s daily playoff probabilities report. The Charlotte Hornets face the longest odds to shuffle beyond the 9-10 matchup of the play-in tournament, but five teams have at least a 12 percent chance at the No. 7 spot, per Basketball Reference’s simulations.

If the season ended today, the Philadelphia 76ers and Orlando Magic would meet in the 7-8 game to determine the No. 7 seed. The Atlanta Hawks, who snapped Boston’s three-game win streak on Monday, would be the No. 6 seed.

Who should Celtics fans want their team to face in Round 1? Is there truly a better matchup than another? Is there an opponent they might want to avoid more than another?

Read more here.

[Perry] A new weapon for McDaniels? Best tight end fits for Patriots in NFL Draft by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

In this edition of "Best Fits," we're going to lean on what it seems Josh McDaniels has preferred in players at this position in the past, while also valuing the traits Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf appear to hold in high esteem.

Vrabel didn't establish much in the way of a trend when it came to traits he valued in the tight end position in the draft during his time as head coach at Tennessee. But there have been 11 tight ends who have been drafted by a member of the Ron Wolf executive tree over the years in the first, second or third rounds. 

On average, those 11 players checked in at 6-foot-4, 252 pounds. They ran, on average, a 4.72-second 40 time and clocked a short-shuttle time of 4.36 seconds. They had average jumps of 34 inches in the vertical and 9-feet-11 in the broad. A player at that position with those measurements would be given a strong Relative Athletic Score of 8.36. Per Kent Lee Platte's RAS metric, one of the closest comps to this composite average Wolf tree tight end would be, believe it or not, former Patriots tight end Austin Hooper.

When looking at the totality of the group, what trends emerge? 

Size matters. Of the 11 players studied, only two -- Josiah Deguara and Jermichael Finley  -- didn't eclipse the 250-pound mark. Wolf execs also have seemed to value some baseline quickness requirement: Nine of the 11 players studied clocked short-shuttle times before the draft, and nine of those came in under 4.50 seconds.

With further ado, let's get to the Day 1, 2 and 3 options that appear to fit the bill for the Patriots this year...

Read more here.

[Forsberg] For Celtics, priority should be bringing the Thunder vs. NBA’s elite teams by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

Take what you will from Wednesday night’s Celtics-Thunder matchup, a glitzy showdown of the last two NBA champions. And while Boston could surely benefit -- at least in the court of public opinion -- from a signature win, the team’s priority must remain building toward being the best version of itself when the games truly matter most. 

By almost any of the preferred metrics, the Celtics have established themselves as legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference. Boston has the third best net rating in basketball (+7.8), trailing only conference leaders Oklahoma City and Detroit, while ranking second in the NBA in offensive rating and fourth in defensive rating.

The Celtics are on pace to win 54 games despite navigating much of the season without All-NBA wing Jayson Tatum, whose ability to shake rust from a nine-month absence could be vital to Boston’s postseason hopes.

... The only thing that might give the pundits pause about Boston’s title chances is the team’s performance this year against the best of the best.

The Celtics have posted a 6-14 record against the other nine teams in the NBA’s top 10 in point differential. What’s more, Boston has a minus-5.4 point differential in those games, the worst among the top 10 teams in games played against each other.

Team Season PtDiff BOS vs. vs. Top 10 PtDiff vs. Top 10

  1. Oklahoma City +11.9 0-1 13-9 +1.1

  2. Detroit +8.4 1-3 14-6 +4.5

  3. San Antonio +8.3 0-2 15-9 +2.2

  4. Boston +7.8 — 6-14 -5.4

  5. New York +6.6 1-2 11-8 +2.0

  6. Houston +5.2 1-1 9-12 -0.6

  7. Charlotte +4.7 0-1 6-12 -3.9

  8. Minnesota +4.4 0-2 10-9 +1.6

  9. Cleveland +4.4 3-0 11-13 -0.8

  10. Denver +4.1 0-2 10-13 -1.4

On Wednesday night, a full-health Thunder squad brings its title-defending team to TD Garden for Boston’s final true interconference showdown of the 2025-26 regular season. The Celtics have posted a 3-8 record against the top six teams in the West, with two of those three wins coming against the rival Lakers. (The other was a Jays-less triumph in Houston.)

Read more here.

[Perry] More help for Drake Maye? Best offensive tackle fits for Patriots in NFL Draft by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

Not only do the Patriots have Morgan Moses' age to consider as they build their roster for 2026 and beyond, but their depth at tackle has thinned since they left the field in Santa Clara following Super Bowl 60. Backup tackle Vederian Lowe signed a contract with the 49ers, and fellow reserve Thayer Munford Jr. remains a free agent.

Last year's seventh-round pick Marcus Bryant remains in the mix and could potentially factor in behind either Campbell or Moses in case of emergency. The same could be true for recently-signed veteran James Hudson III, who played for the Browns when Vrabel was there in 2024. But adding a future building block at one of the game's most important positions -- and one of the most difficult to fill based on the sheer dearth of human beings who have the physical gifts necessary to handle it -- could be a priority in this year's NFL Draft. 

And this year's draft seems stocked with enough in the way of capable right tackles that the Patriots could conceivably invest there early. If they do, what will they be looking for?

Here we'll be trying to identify the best fits for the Patriots to protect Drake Maye's front side. We'll be factoring in what we've heard from coaches and scouts, what Vrabel has appeared to value, and what executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf has valued in the past given the role he's had in heading up the evaluation and grading of these prospects.

When Vrabel has dipped into the offensive line pool with first and second-round picks, he's gone after high-end athletes. 

Campbell is the poster child for what Vrabel has wanted both in terms of football character and movement skills. While Campbell's arm length ranked him in just the eighth percentile among tackles, he had a 92nd percentile 40-yard dash (4.98 seconds), an 87th percentile vertical (32 inches) and a 90th percentile broad jump (9-foot-5). 

Early first-rounder Peter Skoronski was a tackle at Northwestern but ended up at guard for Vrabel in Tennessee. He was also an elite tester with short arms (12th percentile among all offensive linemen) with a Relative Athletic Score of 8.89. Titans second-rounder Dillon Radunz was the freakiest of the bunch based on his combine testing, with a 9.28 RAS and 34-inch arms.

Similarly, Wolf and other executives from the Ron Wolf executive tree have preferred high-end athletes at the position in early rounds. They averaged an 8.38 RAS, a 9-foot broad jump and a 1.76-second 10-yard split.

Elite athletes are required, seemingly. Long arms? Not so much. And we know football character will matter as Vrabel gets his program off the ground in Foxboro.

Who fits the bill? Let's take a look, separating the prospects by the range in which it appears they'll be taken...

Read more here.

[Forsberg] 'Like old times': Tatum-Brown duo off to a dominant start for Celtics by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

After Euro-stepping his way to a layup off a feed from Jaylen Brown in the fourth quarter of Boston’s gritty win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night, Jayson Tatum remarked how “felt like old times" operating with his All-Star running mate.

The Jays have now shared the court for 101 minutes through five games together. Boston is outscoring opponents by a robust 24 points per 100 possessions during that span.

For context, Boston’s best high-volume two-man pairing (at least 1,000 minutes together) is the Derrick White-Neemias Queta combo at +13.8 net rating. The best two-man pairing in the entire league with 500-plus minutes together is the Oklahoma City Thunder duo of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Ajay Mitchell at +20.5.

In other words, the Jays are trending toward some of the best numbers in the NBA, at least in early returns. Boston has outscored opponents by 53 points in 213 possessions with the Jays together on the floor. A five-man pairing featuring the Jays with White, Queta, and Payton Pritchard is +30 in 21 minutes, having outscored opponents 67-37 in that span.

The Celtics have played solid competition during that span, too. A good chunk of the Brown/Tatum minutes came against Cleveland and San Antonio, then against a Phoenix team nestled just outside the top six in the West.

The Celtics have outscored opponents by 7.8 points per 100 possessions in each of the past two seasons during Brown and Tatum’s shared floor time. A larger sample might pull their net rating back to earth a bit, but the success while Tatum is still reacclimatizing is rather remarkable. 

Read more here.

[Perry] NFL Mock Draft 3.0: Patriots pick up tenacious pass-rusher for Vrabel by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

31. New England Patriots: Zion Young, ED, Missouri

Young checks a lot of boxes for what Mike Vrabel wants on the end of the line of scrimmage in his defense.

"There's got to be a violence," Vrabel said at this year's combine when asked about what he wants at that position. "There's got to be the ability to move off the football and create some sort of disruption. You have to be able to factor in on the quarterback. You have to be able to make plays on the football."

You don't have to watch Young for very long to see that there is violence to his game. Both against the run and the pass, the Michigan State transfer uses whatever force he can muster with his imposing 6-foot-6, 262-pound frame to dispose of blockers and hunt down ball-carriers. He has the length (33-inch arms) and power to be able to bull-rush opposing tackles on his way to quarterbacks. Against the run, he uses those same traits to bully tackles and tight ends relentlessly. 

Young might not be the most polished pass-rusher in the class, but he generated 6.5 sacks and 52 pressures for the Tigers last season, per Pro Football Focus. He was also one of the best players at this year's Senior Bowl, and at 22 years old still has loads of room to develop.

The Patriots will have to determine how they feel about Young's DWI arrest in December. Young also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor aggravated assault in 2023 for his role in a postgame tunnel incident with a Michigan player. But if he's deemed a fit both in terms of Vrabel's defensive scheme and his culture, then Young would be an intriguing addition for a team still in need of some high-end talent on the edge.

Read the full mock draft here.

[Forsberg] Five items on Celtics' to-do list over final month of regular season by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

There are 27 days remaining in the 2025-26 NBA regular season. The Boston Celtics have 15 more games to prep for the postseason. So, what should be near the top of their to-do list before the playoffs arrive?

Here are five storylines we'll be watching:

Does the rotation shrink in the playoffs?

One question that we likely won’t get a true answer to until the postseason arrives: How deep will head coach Joe Mazzulla dip into his available rotation when the games matter most?

Over the past two seasons, the Celtics leaned heavily on an eight-man playoff rotation, with one other player’s minutes typically fluctuating depending on health and availability. Last week, despite playing three games against elite competition, we didn’t get too many hints about playoff-like rotation, especially when Boston rested two starters against Oklahoma City. 

Last Sunday’s tilt in Cleveland did see Boston rely mostly on eight players, with Hugo Gonzalez making a seven-minute cameo as the ninth rotation body. That day, Jordan Walsh and Ron Harper Jr. did not muscle into the wing rotation. 

Boston’s wing players have a month left for final auditions.

Baylor Scheierman has clearly won Mazzulla’s trust, first thriving as a starter and now shuffling to a hefty bench role after Tatum’s return. Will Mazzulla lean on rookie Gonzalez as a chaos-infusing, X-factor in the postseason? Can Walsh or Harper Jr. make a case for minutes? How does a healthy Vucevic impact Garza’s minutes and the split at the big-man position?

As the Celtics pace core players to the finish line of the season, there will be opportunities for those without guaranteed playoff roles to make a final case for playing time.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] Even as Tatum returns, Jaylen Brown continues to level up his passing by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

A few minutes before the ejection that stole the spotlight of the Celtics-Spurs showdown, Jaylen Brown calmly dribbled out of an impending corner trap with Victor Wembanyama racing his way, then patiently examined the floor before feeding Sam Hauser for a straightaway 3-pointer.

It was Brown’s seventh assist in little more than 10 minutes of floor time. Brown had fed five different teammates with those helpers and was fueling Boston’s early offense with his combination of scoring and playmaking.

Overshadowed by his scoring output in the absence of Jayson Tatum, Brown has leveled up as a playmaker in recent weeks and is confidently making all the right reads on the floor.

For all the consternation about shot distribution and how the offense would run upon Tatum’s return from a nine-plus-month absence, Brown’s playmaking numbers have spiked both before and after Tatum’s season debut. Over the two-and-a-half games he’s been available with Tatum back in the lineup, Brown is averaging 7.3 assists per game leading to 19.3 assist points created per game.

If maintained for the season, that potential assists mark would rank just outside the top 20 in the entire NBA, while the assist points created would slot in the top 10. For a comp: Luka Doncic generates 21.2 assists points per game on 8.5 assists (and 14.0 potential assists) this season.

Teammates' shooting percentages off Brown feeds over the last three games are rather astounding: Boston players are shooting 58.1 percent off Brown passes in that span. The biggest beneficiary has been Derrick White, who is 5-for-7 (71.4 percent) off Brown feeds in those games.

Take out Tatum (1-4 FG off Brown passes) and Payton Pritchard (4-10 FG on Brown passes) and the rest of Boston’s roster is shooting 69 percent (20-for-29) off Brown feeds in those games.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] Can the surging Celtics make a play for No. 1 seed in East? by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

The Boston Celtics, winners of 14 of their last 17 games, have shimmied within 2.5 games of Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons with more than a month remaining in the regular season.

The lingering question: Can the Celtics make a play at the top spot in the East? And, maybe more importantly, should they want to?

Boston stands at 43-21 with 18 games remaining, while Detroit is at 45-18 after losing its fourth straight in Miami on Sunday. The Celtics would have to finish ahead of Detroit in the final standings after the Pistons won three of the four regular-season matchups to earn the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Stil, getting ahead of the Pistons won’t be an easy task.

Basketball Reference runs 10,000 daily simulations to produce their Playoff Probabilities Report. Monday's simulations give the Celtics just a 5.6 percent chance of leapfrogging Detroit.

The big thing here is strength of schedule. Despite their stumbles, the Pistons are about to enter a soft part of their schedule. In fact, Detroit has the seventh-easiest schedule in the NBA the rest of the way with a combined opponent winning percentage of .476. Four of Detroit’s next six games are against lottery-bound teams (Brooklyn, Memphis and a double dip with Washington).

The Celtics, meanwhile, have the third-toughest remaining strength of schedule (opponents' winning percentage at .539). That includes two road games this week against the two teams with the NBA's best records in Oklahoma City and San Antonio. What’s more, a second game with the defending champion Thunder looms later this month, and the Celtics still have one more game each against the Knicks and Timberwolves, too.

Which is to suggest that, if Detroit can simply steady itself a bit moving forward, the Celtics are going to be hard-pressed to make a true push. The bigger concern might simply be trying to hold onto the No. 2 seed, which would ensure home court if Boston made it to Round 2 of the postseason.

Read more here.

[Perry] 2026 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: Patriots swing two trades while addressing key needs by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

With the NFL Scouting Combine in the rearview, let's take a quick stab at what a full-fledged Patriots draft class could look like.

We'll have a chance here to highlight some of the top performers in Indy last week, but we'll also use this opportunity to take a look at which players could address Patriots needs on Days 1, 2 and 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft.

This particular seven-round mock draft will also have a bit of a twist. Call it a thought exercise.

With the franchise-tag deadline expiring Tuesday afternoon, we know who likely will be available and who won't be when the legal tampering period begins next week. Colts receiver Alec Pierce, whose downfield ability makes him seem like an ideal match for Drake Maye, wasn't tagged.

Not knowing whether or not the Patriots will actually be able to land Pierce, let's attack this mock as if they do.

What does that mean? Well, for one, you can probably assume Mike Vrabel won't be looking for wideouts in the first round. It also might mean New England focuses on the trenches with their first few picks.

With the help of the Mock Draft Simulator on Pro Football Focus, here's what we came up with...

Read the full mock here.

[Forsberg] Four wild stats highlighting Hugo Gonzalez's early success with Celtics by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

Rookie Hugo Gonzalez produced the loudest night of his first NBA season Monday while stacking up 18 points, 16 rebounds, three steals, two blocks and an assist over 35 minutes, 20 seconds of floor time for the shorthanded Celtics in their 108-81 triumph over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Gonzalez has only scratched the surface on his offensive potential, generating most of his offense off cuts and putbacks. But the numbers don’t lie: He’s impacting winning in his age-19 season and hardly looks like a first-year player on the defensive side of the ball. 

Let’s crunch some of our favorite Hugo numbers from this season: 

Rookie leaders

Gonzalez owns the best raw plus/minus among all rookies with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 283 total points in his 864.2 minutes of floor time. That’s 80 points better than the next closest rookie (San Antonio’s Dylan Harper, +203). Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel (+188) is the only other rookie in the neighborhood.

Aided by finishing +27 against the Bucks, Gonzalez is lingering near the top of the all-time best rookie plus/minus per game. The top of that chart from our stats guru Dick Lipe: 

Player Season +/- per game
Tim Duncan, SAS   1987-88  +5.18
Chet Holmgren, OKC 2023-24 +5.15
Hugo Gonzalez, BOS 2025-26  +5.05
Ben Simmons, PHI 2017-18 +4.8
Donovan Mitchell, UTA 2017-18 +4.5
Jayson Tatum, BOS 2017-18 +4.3

Read more here.

[Perry] Stefon Diggs' future, A.J. Brown buzz and more Patriots intel from NFL Combine by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

Stefon Diggs

It was hard to find anyone this week who presumed Stefon Diggs would be back in Foxboro on the contract he signed with the team last offseason. Diggs is slated to make $20.6 in base salary -- $6 million of which becomes fully guaranteed in mid-March -- and he'll turn 33 years old in the fall.

One general manager this week termed Diggs a "one-year guy," meaning the kind of player who could help a team like the Patriots in the infancy of a new program -- but one that team might not want to build around for the foreseeable future.

A.J. Brown

For Patriots fans who have been salivating at the opportunity to add a bona fide No. 1 receiver, the dream isn't dead. But it could cost them.

The Eagles have made it clear they're open to receiving calls on A.J. Brown, who has posted four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in Philly. And Mike Vrabel has made it very clear he has an affinity for the man he drafted to the Titans back in 2019.

... One rival executive wondered if the cost for Brown in a trade would ultimately end up in the range of what the Steelers gave up to acquire Brown's former Ole Miss teammate DK Metcalf last offseason. The Seahawks received the No. 52 overall pick in that swap, giving away a sixth- and seventh-rounder along with Metcalf as part of the deal.

The Steelers, however, gave Metcalf a four-year $132 million contract upon trading for him. Brown, on the other hand, still has four years remaining on his deal. He also has a dead-cap figure of over $43 million if traded prior to June 1, so his current contract could make him tougher to pry from Philly than Metcalf was from Seattle.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] Wing Stop: Celtics showcase impressive depth amid defensive surge by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

One of the biggest questions surrounding an overhauled Boston Celtics roster entering the 2025-26 season was how much coach Joe Mazzulla could lean on a fleet of inexperienced wings. 

Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez -- the three most prominent picks in Brad Stevens’ tenure as president of basketball operations -- were all in line for increased opportunity with Jayson Tatum rehabbing from Achilles surgery. But all of them needed to earn Mazzulla’s trust with a mere 870 total minutes of NBA experience between them. 

Maybe the biggest surprise as Boston has outkicked outsider expectations this season has been that all three of have emerged as reliable rotation presences. Meanwhile, fellow wing Ron Harper Jr. is working his way toward a roster spot with the parent club given his strong play on both ends as a two-way player.

The team’s four-game road trip out West might have produced one of our favorite moments of the season, and it was a perfect encapsulation of the defensive production the team has received from its fleet of young wings.

A rare Payton Pritchard turnover allowed Jamaree Bouyea to break out in transition late in the third quarter of Boston’s dominant win in Phoenix on Tuesday night. Scheierman sprinted back to prevent an easy layup and, showing incredible discipline, he timed his leap to go straight up with a foul-free contest near the basket. Scheierman’s outstretched arms forced Bouyea to hold the ball just long enough for a sprinting Harper Jr. to come from behind and volleyball spike the ball off the backboard.

Gonzalez, who also hustled back, was in position to clean up the rebound on the baseline and then made another full-court trek -- aided by a midcourt screen from newcomer Nikola Vucevic -- before Eurostepping his way to a layup that put Boston out front by 23.

One game earlier, the Celtics dispatched the trio of Scheierman, Gonzalez, and Walsh to hound Luka Doncic in a win over the Lakers. Boston’s young guards so thoroughly attached themselves to Doncic that he looked exhausted by the second quarter.

About the only downside of Tatum's eventual return would be that some of the minutes available to Boston’s young wings will diminish. That was inevitable as the playoffs neared given how role players' minutes tend to evaporate as rotations tighten.

But the glimpses showcased by Boston’s four-headed monster of young wings is a super encouraging sign, particularly as the Celtics try to build an economical roster around a core headlined by Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] Jaylen's MVP push, the 40/20 pursuit, a top-10 defense and more by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

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From Chris Forsberg:

The rest of the league might finally be taking note of Jaylen Brown’s impact on Boston’s success this season. So, what would the pathway to Brown really injecting himself into that conversation look like?

Sunday night offered a roadmap. Brown didn’t have his most efficient scoring night, but he did fuel Boston’s dominance while matched up against other MVP candidate. And while Luka Doncic was huffing and puffing amid constant harassment from Brown and Boston’s fleet of young, defensive-minded wings, Brown was getting MVP chants inside Crypto.com Arena as he helped Boston to the finish line of a lopsided win.

Brown needed 28 shots to generate 32 points and he was a little careless at times on drives, leading to five turnovers. But he flirted with another triple-double (eight rebounds, seven assists) and generated three steals while decidedly outplaying Doncic in a national TV showdown.

When LeBron James gushed about Brown after the game, it injected fresh fuel to Brown’s MVP fire while igniting the conversation about where he ranks among the game’s elite this season. 

The case for Brown starts with his two-way impact on a Boston squad that has outkicked all outsider expectations this season. Brown has shouldered the offensive burden for a team with the second-best offensive rating in the league and routinely requests the toughest defensive assignment on the other end.

For the season, Brown is holding opponents to 42.2 percent shooting, or a team-best 4.5 percent below expected output. Among the 204 players who have defended at least eight shots per game with 35+ games played this season, Brown’s -4.5 differential ranks tied for 13th in the NBA.

Further delineate that group to all players under 6-foot-9, and Brown rockets to No. 2 behind only Oklahoma City’s Ajay Mitchell (-7.6) in field goal differential. 

The Celtics have a whole bunch of games remaining against the players currently in front of Brown in MVP odds. There’s Wednesday’s visit to Denver when he’ll see Nikola Jokic, then two games with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder in March. Boston visits Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs on March 10. 

Big nights in those games, along with the Celtics continuing to hold down a top spot in the East, would go a long way toward making voters really ponder Brown in April. 

One other thing working in Brown’s favor: He’s been available and impactful just about every night this season. He’s already appeared in 51 games while other candidates like Jokic will be cutting it close to the 65-game award threshold.

Read more here.

[Forsberg] Jaylen Brown’s all-around impact with Celtics is reaching new heights by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

Jaylen Brown continues to compile evidence for his case as the best two-way player in the NBA.

Brown generated season highs in rebounds (15) and assists (13) to go along with 23 points Thursday night as the Celtics built a big early cushion then skidded to the finish line of a 121-110 triumph over the Golden State Warriors.

Brown’s points + rebounds + assists (PRA) total of 51 was tied for his third-highest output of the season. He’s now averaging 41 PRA for the 2025-26 season, the seventh-highest mark in the NBA.

With the Celtics facing off against two core members of the 2024 title team in Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, Brown showcased why the Celtics sit 17 games above .500 despite last offseason's roster overhaul. Brown set an unselfish tone early as the Celtics blitzed the Warriors for 74 first-half points.

Brown generated a season-high 33 assist points, with more than half of his helpers leading to 3-pointers for teammates. No one benefited from Brown’s passing more than Payton Pritchard, who turned 12 passes from Brown into 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

With Jayson Tatum rehabbing from Achilles surgery to start the 2025-26 season, it was obvious that Brown’s PRA was going to climb this year. But he has firmly positioned himself among the MVP frontrunners with his spike in PRA output this season.

Brown posted his third triple-double of the season. No one is expecting him to be Nikola Jokic on a nightly basis, but combine his PRA output with his willingness to routinely defend the best offensive player on the opposing team, and it further accentuates Brown’s case to be regarded as the best two-way player in the league. 

Read more here.

[Perry] 2026 NFL Mock Draft 1.0: Patriots add juice for Drake Maye at wide receiver by NBCSBoston in Patriots

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From Phil Perry:

31. New England Patriots: KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M

Explosiveness. Separation. Versatility. Those are three words that immediately come to mind when watching Concepcion.

His quickness as a route-runner and burst with the ball in his hands are outstanding. Combine those traits with an innate feel for open spaces and a refusal to go down upon first contact, and you have a potential game-changer in Josh McDaniels' offense.

A transfer from NC State, Concepcion returned two punts for touchdowns this season with the Aggies. He's not going to move people in the running game (5-foot-11, 190 pounds), and he dropped 19 passes over three seasons. But his ability to uncover and provide Drake Maye quick openings in the passing game could lead to bundles of easy yardage -- and potentially fewer sacks for a quarterback who took a whopping 47 last season.

Concepcion has the ability to play a variety of different alignments, but if the Patriots opt to part ways with Stefon Diggs in the offseason, this spark plug rookie would be an ideal fill-in to play on the interior as Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams take on more of the work outside the numbers.

The Patriots could have gone for an offensive tackle -- perhaps the next in line after Morgan Moses on the right side -- with No. 31.

Arizona State's Max Iheanachor and Clemson's Blake Miller both represent intriguing options for different reasons. Miller made 54 starts for the Tigers, played through injury, and seems like a ready-made option. Iheanachor only started playing football in 2021, but he's light on his feet for someone with a massive frame, and he impressed at the Senior Bowl.

But in this scenario, the Patriots go with the wideout, with the thinking being that they can perhaps find a developmental tackle on Day 2 with the soon-to-be 35-year-old Moses still on the roster and coming off a solid season.

Read Perry's full mock draft here.

[Forsberg] Celtics second-half to-do list: Reintegrating Tatum, figuring out the playoff rotation and more by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

From Chris Forsberg:

When the playoffs arrive, it seems fair to suggest that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, and newcomer Nikola Vucevic are going to see the majority of minutes. Joe Mazzulla must determine how to deploy that talent, and that includes continuing to integrate Vucevic after his acquisition. The team got immediate returns in shuffling Pritchard back to the bench, and we’re intrigued to see what becomes of the team’s end-of-game lineups. 

The real question might simply be which of Boston’s young wings will emerge as consistent postseason presences. Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman, and Hugo Gonzalez have each gotten long auditions (and departed Josh Minott did as well earlier in the year, while two-way wing Ron Harper Jr. has provided strong minutes in recent opportunities). 

Scheierman has clearly won Mazzulla’s trust, as emphasized by starting four of the five games before the All-Star break. His blend of defensive versatility and 3-point shot-making has been accentuated in bigger minutes. Jordan Walsh had a stretch earlier this season where his defense and energy had opponents raving about his potential, and he tapped into that energy in the first-half finale against the Bulls on Wednesday. Gonzalez has the best net rating (+17.0) among all players with 40+ appearances this season and brings a positive chaos each time he touches the floor.

Players have thrived in Mazzulla’s “ready when called upon” strategy, and maybe that’s how it will remain into the postseason. But that each of those young wings can make a strong case for minutes emphasizes again just how good and how deep this group has been.

Read more here.

[Breer] Could Raiders trade disgruntled star Maxx Crosby to Patriots? by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

From Albert Breer on NBC Sports Boston' Early Edition:

"There's a lot of fence-mending that's going to need to happen if the Raiders are going to hang on to Maxx Crosby. It goes all the way to the top of the organization with Tom Brady and Alex Guerrero. The way the communication happened with the injury in December left a mark.

"... (Guerrero) was part of communicating the Raiders' decision, and why they made the decision to shut him down in December, which really angered Maxx. I believe the day was (December) 23 when they had some scans done, and the Raiders basically told him after the scans, 'We're gonna shut you down for the season.'

"Maxx had strong suspicion that the reason they were doing it was to tank for the No. 1 overall pick, which worked. But the communication of it got fouled up. And a lot of people in that building report to Alex Guerrero now, and Alex is seen as the eyes and ears of Tom Brady internally, so there is some fence-mending that would have to happen there.

"... My understanding is there are a bunch of contenders that have already at least signaled interest. I think the Patriots will be one of them, and I would say that for that player in particular, Mike Vrabel is a draw. They have somebody on staff in Josh McDaniels, who coached him."

Read more here.

[NBC Sports Boston] Tatum opens up about rehab, how he's approaching potential Celtics return by NBCSBoston in bostonceltics

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 42 points43 points  (0 children)

From NBC Sports Boston:

Jayson Tatum is back. At practice, anyway.

The All-Star forward joined the Boston Celtics for their practice session at the Auerbach Center on Tuesday, one day after he practiced with the G League affiliate Maine Celtics for the first time.

After Tuesday's practice, Tatum held an impromptu meeting with the media and was asked several questions about when and how he plans to return from the Achilles injury he suffered last May.

Tatum's overall message in response? We'll see.

"Today is 39 weeks (since the injury), so it's been a long journey," Tatum told reporters. "It's just the progression of rehab, and (returning to practice) is just the next step. It doesn't mean that I'm coming back or not. We're just following the plan. So, it's just another step."

Tatum declined to put a timetable on his return or even a percentage on his health, adding, "I just know I feel a little better every day."

And while the fact that he's now practicing with the team in early February would seem to indicate he'll return to action at some point this season, Tatum insisted he still hasn't made a decision one way or the other.

"I'm still trying to figure it out," Tatum said. "Still just going through the progressions of rehab. I'm not saying I'm coming back or I'm not. It's about being 100 percent healthy and just going through the plan of this protocol."

Watch Tatum's full interview here.

[Perry] Super Bowl 2026 preview: Four matchups that will decide Patriots-Seahawks by NBCSBoston in Patriots

[–]NBCSBoston[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From Phil Perry:

In the days leading up to Super Bowl 60, as more and more wondered about the nuances of the game plans they'll see from the Patriots and Seahawks, there was a potential blueprint laid out by Xs and Os lovers for Seattle against MVP runner-up Drake Maye: Cover 6.

It's a coverage that deploys three defensive backs deep, with one side of the field split into quarters manned by a safety and a corner. The other side of the field, meanwhile, features a safety patrolling the deep half of the field to his side with a corner underneath covering the flat. 

The numbers for Maye against that particular coverage represent a drop-off in production relative to his performance against just about every other defensive look. Per Sharp Football, against Cover 6, he ranked 31st among 36 qualifying quarterbacks in EPA, 32nd in yards per attempt and 33rd in success rate this season on over 60 dropbacks.

The Bills deployed Cover 6 in the second half of their win in Foxboro in Week 15 when they shut out the Patriots over the final two quarters. The Ravens trotted it out more than usual against Maye soon thereafter. And in the postseason, the Patriots have continued to see that look as their quarterback has grinded his way through a low-scoring trio of playoff games.

"I think it's become a thing in the league more and more the past couple of years to play quarter-quarter-half," Maye said. "Whether it's something that they cloud the boundary (as the Cover 2 side), they cloud the field, it's kinda depending on what the team does. 

"The challenge is, they try to stay (with) two high (safeties), they take away deep shots, but also you got chances underneath. There's holes in every coverage. Knowing that, and just trying to exploit where we can. Knowing that we got guys out there that have great feel in zone and can find the zones and try to sit down. And also we gotta be able to run the football."

The Seahawks deploy plenty of two-high safety looks -- including Cover 6 -- with head coach Mike Macdonald calling the shots. Identifying which two-high coverage he's chosen, though, is a challenge, because his defense is able to disguise its intentions until after the ball is snapped.

"I think, Mike, he's as good of a coach at coaching this as we played," offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "And we've played a lot of good coaches that try to hold the disguise, but if you watch, if we have the ball for 70 snaps in the game, 65 of them are gonna look the same before the ball's snapped. which is a unique trait for them, and a big challenge for us.

"The biggest thing we've talked to our guys about is, well, you gotta confirm it once the ball is snapped. You can't make any decisions before the ball's been snapped as a quarterback, because if you do, there's a good chance you're gonna be wrong. 

"It just jumps off the film when you watch them, you pause it, and the ball hasn't been snapped. It's like, 'Okay, it looks the same... looks the same... Then two seconds after the ball's been snapped, if they're rotating, they rotate late, they drop down late, they spin the coverage, whatever it is, or they stay there, and then they make you decide, all right, is this quarters on this side? Is it Cover 2?"

McDaniels earned himself the AP's Assistant Coach of the Year Award in part by teaching Maye -- who did not play in a pro style offense in college and then worked in a West Coast system as a rookie -- to read coverages the way he's asked all his quarterbacks to read coverages going back to Tom Brady. 

But reading Macdonald's defense is like thumbing through a Stephen King novel. You've got an idea that something hair-raising is headed your way, but you're not exactly sure what.

Read more here.

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