With a disappointing end to the season in 2009, the Patriots have to make some moves if they want to compete for a championship in 2010. So far, they’re heading in the wrong direction, and that direction is sideways. They’ve re-signed nose tackle Vince Wilfork and linebacker Tully Banta-Cain—both necessary moves, but where is the upgrade? And, if we’re just going to look at who they are re-signing, think about this: many ’09 Pats are still on the market as unrestricted free agents, notably RB Kevin Faulk, CB Leigh Bodden, G Steven Neal, and TE Benjamin Watson. So not only have the Patriots not made any improvements, they’re losing—or at least missing, for now—some really key players. Here’s what concerns me the most about the Patriots’ upcoming season:

1. Bill Belichick cannot coach this team by himself. As of today, the Patriots have the best head coach in the NFL, yet no offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator. I don’t know if this is some kind of ego thing for Belichick, as if he doesn’t need help/doesn’t want anyone second guessing his decisions, but I hope that’s not the case. Having people question your decisions makes you a better decision-maker overall. If the president didn’t have his Cabinet, where would we be? If Bill wants to take the defense, fine. He’s always been a defense-oriented coach, but by no means can he be the offensive playcaller. He’s already missed out on what I considered a golden opportunity to bring in Charlie Weis (he ended up with the Chiefs), who was offensive coordinator under Belichick for all three Patriot Super Bowls, and now Bill’s options are pretty limited. I honestly don’t know what makes a good offensive coordinator, or who would be a good fit in New England, but Belichick needs to start making some calls (on the phone).

2. The health of Wes Welker, who will be returning from a torn ACL and MCL. I don’t question his dedication or work ethic, so if there’s anyone who will rehab his ass off, it’s Wes. We saw Brady come back from his knee injury and produce, and I hope the same will hold true for Welker. His injury, especially the ACL, is a tricky one, and no one’s sure when he’ll be ready to play again. Everyone knows how important he is to the Patriots, and we’ll need him back next season.

3. The offensive line is nothing to brag about. Although Brady wasn’t sacked tons of times this season, you can’t say he had tons of time in the pocket either. Here’s a stat for you: in 2008, with Matt Cassel under center, the Patriots O-line allowed 8.1% of all Cassel’s dropbacks to go as sacks. This year, with the Chiefs, Cassel was sacked on 7.9% of all his dropbacks. What does this mean? Cassel got sacked less with the Chiefs than he did with the Patriots. I’m not sure about you, but something tells me that having an offensive line better than the Chiefs would be a good idea. Personally, I think this is an issue of age. The average age of Patriots’ starting offensive line this year was 31. The average age of the starting O-line in the past four Super Bowl teams—the Saints, Colts, Steelers, and Cardinals—were 28, 29, 26, and 26, respectively. Even on the Pats’ Super Bowl teams of ‘01, ’03, and ’04, the O-line was 25, 26, and 27 years old, respectively. And not only does this result in limited time in the pocket for Brady, an aging and poor offensive line also affects the run game, and must have had something to do with the Patriots weak rush attack. In 2009, they were 23^rd in the NFL in yards per rush attempt. People can blame Lawrence Moroney all they want, but he’s a good back when he finds a hole. Most mock drafts have six tackles going in the first round this year, and I’d love to see one of them go to the Pats.

4. Defense needs an upgrade. Like I said earlier, Vince Wilfork was a nice signing, but how is he any improvement over last year’s mediocre defense? Losing him would have been a negative, but simply bringing him back isn’t really a plus. We missed out on signing Julius Peppers, which would have been huge for this team, since he is perhaps the most talented D-lineman in all of football. But just as important as bringing in someone supremely talented like Peppers is finding some veteran leadership. The lack of leadership on defense was a big point of contention last season. Belichick even went so far as to convince Junior Seau, again, to come out of retirement for the sole purpose of giving the young and inexperienced defense someone to look up to. That’s why we should sign free agent safety Darren Sharper. It’s a long shot, because he’ll probably end up re-signing with the Saints, but it would be a hell of a signing. He’s a smart player who can be the spark for the Patriots lackluster defense. He would certainly bring more to the table than Seau, who started a total of zero games this season, and accumulated a total of zero sacks. What I don’t want to see is the Patriots draft a defensive player early in the draft, thinking he will be a good addition to the team in 2010. We have enough youth with plenty of room to mature on the defensive side of the ball. Jarod Mayo, Brandon Meriweather, Ron Brace, Darius Butler, and Pat Chung all have legitimate potential on this team. They just need to mature, and preferably in the presence of a Bruschi-like or Seau-like player who can actually still play.

5. Our receiving corps is a big question mark. The value of Randy Moss is always debatable, and with Wes Welker dealing with rehab all off-season, who knows what we’ll get in 2010? All season, I was disturbed by how heavily Brady relied on Welker, and I feel like there is a serious lack of receiving threats. I think Sam Aiken will have a big year, and I still believe Julian Edelman will be a great NFL player, and I’m excited to see what Brandon Tate will do this year. But still, another weapon would be nice. Anquan Boldin (I know that’s thinking pretty big), who just signed with the Bears, would have been ideal, but now that he’s off the table, I would look either to the draft or to Brandon Marshall, who is currently being tendered by the Broncos for a first round pick. If the Pats are willing to both relinquish a first round draft pick and to put up with Marshall’s antics, he would be a great addition.

There are several things that the Patriots should be looking to do this offseason, both in free agency and in the draft. As far as the draft is concerned, the Pats have a plethora of picks in the first few rounds and should look first and foremost to upgrade their O-line. Second, a wide receiver. Personally, I love Mardy Gilyard out of Cincinatti. But other options include Arrelious Benn out of Illinois or Jordon Shipley from Texas. Third of all, I’ve been hearing talks of the Patriots possibly drafting Tim Tebow, and I think it’s a great idea. A good pickup in the second or third round, the Patriots could use Tebow in a variety of ways. If they like his quarterbacking skills, Brady could be his mentor, and Tebow would really be learning from the best. Or, they could use his power and athleticism at full back or tight end, or even as a wildcat QB. Everyone knows about his intangibles, and I just think that any team should be able to find a place on their team for a player like Tim Tebow.