3 Patriots who should be cut after preseason Week 1

After the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Texans, here are three potential players New England could cut.

The New England Patriots suffered a 20-9 loss to the Houston Texans in their first preseason game of the year.

Gillette Stadium was brimming with fans waiting to see which rookie or underrated gem would shine the most in semi-competitive action, and there were some much-too-early takeaways from this preseason game.

As expected, the Pats benched most of their starters on both sides of the ball, but still, fans may have been expecting a little more oomph, especially considering last season’s dull offensive outings. Out with Matt Patricia, in with Bill O’Brien, but still a lot of the same old tricks.

Is it too early to cut players from the roster? Yes, yes it is. Are we still going to do it? Yes, yes we are.

Here are three Patriots cut candidates after Week 1 of preseason.

Patriots Week 1 preseason cut candidate No. 3: Kevin Harris, RB

The most glaring takeaway from Week 1 of the Pats’ preseason was this: Boy, does the team need an RB2. (Of course, the caveat is that the Patriots rested their offensive line starters, and the backups had a rough night in the trenches.)

Behind Rhamondre Stevenson, a handful of running backs took the field on Friday night. None of them impressed. 2022 sixth-rounder Kevin Harris had eight carries for 10 yards, 2022 fourth-rounder Pierre Strong had six carries for 21 yards, and J.J. Taylor had four carries for four yards.

Overall, an abysmal first tryout for the backup ball-carrier role. New England may seriously consider pursuing a veteran running back (i.e. Zeke) after this game, at which point one of the underperformers would have to get booted off the roster.

Given the flashes we saw of Kevin Harris, we weren’t too impressed with his effectiveness in short-yardage work, which would most likely be the brunt of his duties in 2023. Harris’ big frame should give him an advantage in powering through piles, yet he got stopped short a few times at the line of scrimmage and ran with less juice and pizzazz than, say, Pierre Strong.

Back in college, Harris enjoyed the most success at South Carolina behind a fullback in a power scheme, a much different offense compared to the Pats. Week 1 of preseason proved Harris doesn’t look too comfortable in New England and could be one of the first to pack his bags.