New England Patriots: How the Additions of Cooper and Bennett Change the Offense

This week the New England Patriots acquired Jonathan Cooper and Martellus Bennett. These additions will bring balance to their offense as they prepare for yet another Super Bowl run.

When your quarterback is Tom Brady, it would seem prudent to create an offense that is predicated on the ability of your Hall of Fame quarterback to throw the ball. The New England Patriots definitely realized that in 2015 as they had the 3rd highest pass to run ratio in the NFL. A strategy that proved effective for the most part as the Patriots went 12-4 and won the AFC East again. However when the Patriots faced more stout defenses in the AFC playoffs, their lack of a run game hurt them as teams were able to forgo run defense and solely focus on getting to Brady.

The addition of Jonathan Cooper and Martellus Bennett to the Patriots offense will going to go a long way to keep teams from being able to simply tee off on #12.

Related Story: Jones Trade Worth It for Arizona

New England ranked 31st in the NFL in yards per rush in 2015 (3.6 ypa) as a lack of talent at running back and injuries to their offensive line derailed their running game. The Patriots are notoriously frugal in free agency, thus their decision not to bring in any of the high priced running backs and without a first round draft pick in 2016, it doesn’t seem realistic that they will add much talent at the running back position. When you consider these factors, it is clear that the moves to acquire Cooper and Bennett are going to be key in New England’s strategy to an improved running game in 2016.

Cooper, a player that the Patriots reportedly coveted before the 2013 draft, has not lived up to his selection of seventh overall that year but that doesn’t mean it was a bad deal for New England. In fact, the trade to acquire Cooper is helpful in a number of ways for the Patriots.

First, and most obvious, New England gets a player that they thought a lot of coming out of the University of North Carolina. Second, Chandler Jones will be a free agent after the 2016 season, and most likely would not have been playing in New England in 2017. So the Patriots were, in effect, getting something for Jones before he left for nothing. Third, the Patriots also receive a 2nd round pick in the 2016 draft – a draft that they are already going into without a first round pick.

It is difficult to evaluate Cooper as a player because he has been injured for the majority of his young career. He spent his entire rookie year on IR, came in rusty in his sophomore season before missing the last few games due to a wrist injury and missed games due to a knee injury in 2015. While it is certainly not encouraging for Patriots fans to see this long list of injuries, there are many evaluator’s that are encouraged by what little they’ve seen of Cooper.

While I believe that the addition of Cooper is in part to improve New England’s run game, I think it is also made, in part, because the Patriots know that interior pressure rattles Tom Brady. The trade that really shows that the Patriots are interested in improving their ground game is the Bennett acquisition.

New England will be the fourth stop for Bennett during his eight year NFL career. Seen as something of a malcontent, Bennett’s talent and measurable’s have intrigued NFL teams since he entered the league in 2008. With his acquisition, the Patriots are getting a player that has proven to be effective in the passing game (90 receptions in 2014) as well as an above average run blocker (ranked 17th by Pro Football Focus). It is within Bennett’s versatility that the Patriots will see an improvement in their running attack.

The NFL has always been and will continue to be a game of match-ups. The team that can create a mismatch and take advantage of that mismatch will win on any given play. The Patriots have become experts at this in the last decade.

For example, if an NFL offense comes out in “12” personnel (one back, two tight ends and two receivers) it usually means that the opposing defense will counter with its base package (four defensive backs and either three or four linebackers depending on scheme).

Against most teams, this would make total sense as 12 personnel is typically a formation that an offense would run out of but this is where the Patriots have an advantage after the addition of Bennett.

Pairing Bennett with Rob Gronkowski, the best tight end in the history of the game, creates a mismatch in that most team’s base defenses do not have the speed to cover both tight ends in addition to the Patriots wide receivers.

So naturally a defense would adjust to add one, or even possibly two defensive backs, in order to cover all of the receiving threats on the field, right?

If that is the case, the addition of Cooper and Bennett give the Patriots the versatility to run straight at the smaller defensive players on the field. Most teams go into games against the Patriots with an emphasis on “stopping Brady” and because of that, the Patriots are going to travel the path of least resistance and run right at them.

More nfl spin zone: Patriots thought long-term in Chandler Jones trade

I love the moves that the Patriots have made this week. Get ready to see them running a lot of no-huddle once they have gotten the defense into a bad situation and expect them to average closer to 4.5 yards per carry in 2016.