Joe Judge Returns to NE to Coach Offense, Not Special Teams

NFLcom - The New England Patriots are aiming at bringing a familiar face back to Foxborough.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported the Pats are working toward hiring former Giants coach Joe Judge as an offensive assistant, a source with knowledge of the talks confirmed.

Albert Breer of The MMQB first reported news of the reunion.

Judge worked in New England for eight seasons (2012-2019), the last five as special teams coordinator. In 2019, Judge added the title of wide receivers coach, providing the impetus for his return as an offensive assistant.

Speaking for everyone in New England (which I am prone to do) we welcome back Joe Judge. It's always rewarding when one of Bill Belichick's assistants succeeds here, cashes in elsewhere, sets some other franchise back a few years, and then returns to the fold. Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia are two of the Prodigal Sons for whom the Patriots slaughtered the fatted calf. Now Judge. And if I have my way, Bill O'Brien will follow suit. 

The issue here is why he's coming back in any capacity other than Special Teams Coordinator, which he excelled at. I can see where, after spending five years in the position, he might be bored by the prospect and want a new challenge. But sometimes you're simply good at a thing. And he was. As opposed to his duties as coaching the wide receivers. 

I'll concede he might not have had a lot to work with in 2019. And its on his watch that year a 33 year old Julian Edelman produced 1,100 yards and six touchdowns. But when the No. 2 receiver on the team was a running back, no other wideout cracked 400 yards, and he presided over the demises of Mohamed Sanu and Josh Gordon and N'Keal Harry's disastrous rookie season, that's not something to put right at the top of your resume. 

More to the point, the Patriots could use him back at the head of the special teams which were, with the exception of Nick Folk's kicking game, a natural disaster since he left. At least by Patriots standards. Here's how the special teams ranked overall under Judge, according to Pro Football Focus (paywall):

• 2015: 9th
• 2016: 1st
• 2017: 12th (don't know what happened with this outlier)
• 2018: 4th
• 2019: 3rd

Here's how they've ranked since:

• 2020: 12th
• 2021: 7th

It's probably oversimplifying and totally unfair to pin all the failures on current coordinator Cameron Achord, who spent two years under Judge before he was put in charge. But as I think I heard someone in Foxboro once say about something, it is what it is. The Patriots special teams underperformed by the standards of Patriots special teams. Most weeks, they were inferior to the opponents. Which is not only unacceptable on a team that spends more in terms of draft capital and salary in that area than any team in the league, it cost them games this year. 

According to NFLPenalties.com, which surprisingly exists, the most emphasized, disciplined, and coached up unit in the league was anything but. They finished with the:

• 11th most special teams penalties, 16
• 10th most special teams penalty yards: 127
• 9th most special teams pre-snap penalties: 7

And how many drives these penalties kept alive requires research I'm too lazy to do. I just now it's too many. Unforced errors like late in the season Lawrence Guy getting flagged for covering the long snapper while Matthew Judon was desperately trying to get him to shift to the gap, turning a punt into a 1st down, and eventually a score. 

The punting game also took a major step back. Jake Bailey had three punts blocked. There were only five other blocks around the league and no other punter had more than one. After making All Pro in 2020, Bailey regressed to:

• 8th in yards per punt
• 17th in net yards per punt

And because he kicks off as well, it's worth adding:

• 14th in yards per kickoff (50 minimum). Which, granted is a silly stat so feel free to disregard.

The obvious point being that the point of pride that is Belichick's special teams has made huge strides in the wrong direction while Joe Judge was doing the Lord's work of destroying the Giants from within. So he should be assigned to fix it. And hopefully he will. Belichick's coaching staff is very much a collaborative effort, with information flowing from top/down, bottom/up, and side to side. This is an area where they have always had the edge and will need to get it again in order to take the next step. When the perfect man for the job is right there in the building, snapping necks and cashing checks, just let him do what he does best. Problem solved.