The Patriots' crowded WR room brings tough decisions ahead

AtoZ Sports

Kyle Crabbs discusses how recent free agency additions for the New England Patriots leaves the wide receiver room very crowded and what that could potentially mean for recent draft picks that are lower on the depth chart

Transcript

00:00If your favorite team is looking for a little bit of upside to add to their wide receiver room this

00:04fall, you may want to keep this surprising NFL franchise on speed dial. I'm Kyle Krabs with A

00:14to Z Sports, and when I talk about offensive juggernauts across the league, you probably

00:18think about teams like the Philadelphia Eagles, the Buffalo Bills, and the Baltimore Ravens,

00:23in addition to a number of other teams that have put up excessive point totals in the past couple

00:29of years. One team that is not a part of that club, that may actually have a more difficult

00:34cut-down decision at the end of training camp than some of the teams that we mentioned at the

00:40wide receiver position, is the New England Patriots. The Patriots, in the midst of a coaching change and

00:46a spending spree, have brought in a couple of free agent wide receivers that pushes the domino effect

00:52all the way down the depth chart and influences a couple of recent draft selections that may now

00:59be at risk of not even making the team in 2025. This group is, of course, headlined by Stefan Diggs,

01:06but don't sleep on Mac Hollins, who has become a very reliable special teams and role player

01:11for a number of different teams. He continues his AFC East tour after playing with both the Bills and

01:18the Dolphins with this stop now in New England. And when you also consider New England just this year,

01:24added Kyle Williams in the third round of the 2025 NFL draft.

01:29Plus has names like Pop Douglas and Keyshawn Butte as a part of the mix. The numbers game is

01:35not going to lend itself very well to New England keeping all of their young wide receivers. And they

01:41may ultimately have to punt on one of the two draft choices that this team made in 2024 at the position.

01:49That, of course, is Jalen Polk and Javon Baker. These were second and fourth round draft choices just

01:55one year ago. When you do the headcount of New England's wide receiver room, these two rookies

02:00from last season are very low on the total poll, which puts them at risk of potentially being the

02:07ones that are the odd man or men out. And in that case, your team, if looking for some upside and some

02:14developmental swings of the bat at the position, should have New England on speed dial to place the

02:20phone call to make sure that you don't let these players hit the waiver wire. If the Patriots have

02:25to cut one of these two top 125 draft picks from 2024, they could probably get a reasonable sell

02:33high opportunity despite the fact that these guys hardly caught the football this past season in New

02:38England. It is a testament to the job that has been done in revamping both the ceiling and the floor

02:44of New England's wide receiver room around quarterback Drake May as he enters into his

02:50second season. But with this much surplus of young players around the new mainstays of the wide

02:56receiver room, the math game is inevitable and how New England chooses to solve that problem

03:02may be expedited by a team that's willing to swing the bat on one of the bets New England placed

03:08in the draft in 2024.

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