New England Patriots: 3 Players to watch vs. Lions in Preseason Week 1
RB Sony Michel
Sony Michel did as Rihanna says and “shined bright like a diamond” for the New England Patriots when he was healthy down the stretch and into the playoffs. He showed signs of dominance, including breaking the rookie touchdown record in the playoffs. He is now the centerpiece of an offense led by Tom Brady, which tells you all you need to know about his talent.
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Michel was just shy of 1,000 rushing yards in the regular season last year, which shows he’s highly capable of hitting that threshold if healthy. The reason there is excitement for his time in the first week of the 2019 preseason is his usage in the passing game that has been highly touted all week long.
The Georgia product was used very rarely in the passing game as a rookie and, while he won’t become the main guy at that spot in 2019, it’s still exciting to see if he can be more of a positive than a negative when Brady and company need to move the ball through the air.
If so, that becomes another dimension to the offense that absolutely no one was prepped for and can be a huge advantage to the Patriots. Even if he just plays a drive, it’s worth watching as they more than likely try to force this once or twice and see how he does in game action.