Bill O’Brien is taking a needed gamble on Patriots offense

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien will be making wholesale changes.

Bill O’Brien is betting on himself in his second stint as the New England Patriots offensive coordinator.

The former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach spent the last two years on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff running the Crimson Tide offense. It wasn’t always perfect, but he did play a part in Bryce Young being the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner and the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, it will be back to the drawing board this time around up in Foxborough.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer appeared on NBC Sports Boston to touch on what O’Brien could be doing in completely revamping the Patriots’ offense.

“I think it’s going to be a hybrid of a lot of different things. I think it’s going to have some stuff that they did at Alabama that Mac (Jones) is going to be comfortable with, because Mac was at Alabama. … (O’Brien) coached Deshaun Watson in Houston, he coached Bryce Young the last couple years at Alabama, so he’s got a lot of different ideas. I think he’s got really great perspective because he does have the bones of the Patriots offense, but he’s gonna be able to do some things that I think are on the cutting edge of where the sport is going.”

This hybrid approach feels like a complete departure from what the Patriots had been running.

In time, I think this could work, but this will be Mac Jones’ fourth offense in as many seasons.

Bill O’Brien is betting on himself to improve the New England Patriots’ offense

This is the right approach for O’Brien, 100 percent. Why would he remain steadfast to the things that haven’t been working in New England since Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels left? It has been over a decade since O’Brien last worked for Bill Belichick. Given that offense is not Belichick’s side of the ball, it would be wise of him to empower O’Brien to make the difference the Patriots need.

Obviously, catering a passing attack that suits Jones’ skill set should be at the top of the list. However, Jones has quickly fallen out of favor with New England fans after his sophomore slump campaign. While I can understand the frustrations he experienced a season ago, his sideline antics were somewhat unbecoming of a franchise quarterback. Fortunately, he has time to get this right.

Furthermore, O’Brien didn’t draft Jones. Although they share common teachers in Saban and Belichick, O’Brien does not have any allegiances to Jones. If second-year pro Bailey Zappe progresses like many of us think he will, he could potentially overtake Jones as the New England starter should he struggle at the helm of this newfangled Patriots offense for extended stretches.

Overall, I think we all need to be in support of what O’Brien is trying to do here. This is more in the vein of him taking over at Penn State and Houston that it was succeeding Steve Sarkisian at Alabama. It is not a total rebuild, but he does have to rebuild the New England offense. Past indicators suggest that O’Brien will succeed in this endeavor, but the jury is still out on Jones.

As long as the Patriots honestly confront their offensive issues and limitations, they will be fine.