So I'm talking mainly about this group of players: Bourne, Parker, Meyers, Agholor, Harry, Henry, Smith, White.
Let's say that they still run a bunch, and that Mac improves on his 2021 numbers and throws for 4,200 yards (roughly 400 yards improvement) and 30 td (improvement by 8). We know that guys not in the group I listed above will get SOME yards and maybe a TD or two, so let's say that this group above accounts for 4,000 yards and 28 td.
Bourne: 800 yds, 5 td
Parker: 600 yds, 4 td
Meyers: 650 yds, 2 td
Agholor: 400 yds, 4 td
Harry: 150 yds, 2 td
Henry: 700 yds, 8 td
Smith: 350 yds, 2 td
White: 350 yds, 1 td
TOT: 4,000 yds, 28 td
Now that would represent a good passing offense. Not elite, but good (of course there would be an additional 200 yds and 2 td coming from random guys not on this list, so the team total passing offense would be solid). FWIW, Rodgers passed for 4,115 yards last year. 4,200 passing yards would have put Mac 10th in the NFL last year, and 32 td would also have been 10th. So yeah, if Mac throws for 4,200 yards and 32 td while not turning it over much and completing a good percentage, that's a really good passing offense.
If this was the distribution, we could look at the whole and say it's a good OVERALL passing team, yet not a single guy really stands out. Moreover, we could look at a bunch of these guys and say they were "disappointments". For example, if the Pats got 600 yards and 4 td out of Parker, I think a lot of people would be disappointed in that production. Harry getting 150 would be worse than his 2021 season, so obviously would be disappointing. White's 350 would be a down year for him so that would be a disappointment. Jonnu only getting 350 yards, while up from 2021, would still be less than what he got his two prior seasons in Tennessee, which is partly why NE signed him, so that would be disappointing. Agholor at his contract only getting 400 yards? Major disappointment. I'd even say that Bourne, coming off an 800 yard season in 2021, seems primed for a much bigger year in 2022, so I'd even suggest that 800 yards and 5 td might constitute a disappointment. Maybe Meyers and Henry would be the only ones not in the "disappointment" category, but I'd say Meyers' 650, coming off an 866 yard season in 2021, would still be a disappointment. Henry's 700 yards and 8 td would be about what we'd expect, so maybe not a disappointment.
Here's the point. The Patriots could have a very successful passing offense next year, putting up very good numbers across the board, and yet so many individuals could be considered "disappointments". And obviously if you moved the numbers around to give one guy more yards, that means fewer for someone else and that other guy becomes even more of a disappointment.
There's only one ball to go around, and there's no way that, even if the pass offense is excellent, that a bunch of guys won't be considered to be disappointments.
Let's say that they still run a bunch, and that Mac improves on his 2021 numbers and throws for 4,200 yards (roughly 400 yards improvement) and 30 td (improvement by 8). We know that guys not in the group I listed above will get SOME yards and maybe a TD or two, so let's say that this group above accounts for 4,000 yards and 28 td.
Bourne: 800 yds, 5 td
Parker: 600 yds, 4 td
Meyers: 650 yds, 2 td
Agholor: 400 yds, 4 td
Harry: 150 yds, 2 td
Henry: 700 yds, 8 td
Smith: 350 yds, 2 td
White: 350 yds, 1 td
TOT: 4,000 yds, 28 td
Now that would represent a good passing offense. Not elite, but good (of course there would be an additional 200 yds and 2 td coming from random guys not on this list, so the team total passing offense would be solid). FWIW, Rodgers passed for 4,115 yards last year. 4,200 passing yards would have put Mac 10th in the NFL last year, and 32 td would also have been 10th. So yeah, if Mac throws for 4,200 yards and 32 td while not turning it over much and completing a good percentage, that's a really good passing offense.
If this was the distribution, we could look at the whole and say it's a good OVERALL passing team, yet not a single guy really stands out. Moreover, we could look at a bunch of these guys and say they were "disappointments". For example, if the Pats got 600 yards and 4 td out of Parker, I think a lot of people would be disappointed in that production. Harry getting 150 would be worse than his 2021 season, so obviously would be disappointing. White's 350 would be a down year for him so that would be a disappointment. Jonnu only getting 350 yards, while up from 2021, would still be less than what he got his two prior seasons in Tennessee, which is partly why NE signed him, so that would be disappointing. Agholor at his contract only getting 400 yards? Major disappointment. I'd even say that Bourne, coming off an 800 yard season in 2021, seems primed for a much bigger year in 2022, so I'd even suggest that 800 yards and 5 td might constitute a disappointment. Maybe Meyers and Henry would be the only ones not in the "disappointment" category, but I'd say Meyers' 650, coming off an 866 yard season in 2021, would still be a disappointment. Henry's 700 yards and 8 td would be about what we'd expect, so maybe not a disappointment.
Here's the point. The Patriots could have a very successful passing offense next year, putting up very good numbers across the board, and yet so many individuals could be considered "disappointments". And obviously if you moved the numbers around to give one guy more yards, that means fewer for someone else and that other guy becomes even more of a disappointment.
There's only one ball to go around, and there's no way that, even if the pass offense is excellent, that a bunch of guys won't be considered to be disappointments.