New England Patriots : Wide Receiver position is weaker than you think
By Justin Keene
Tom Brady has a new group of wide receivers this season, and only a few have worked with him before, which makes this one of the weaker New England Patriots units heading into training camp.
With training camp right around the corner, the New England Patriots look to start another championship run. However, there are a lot of uncertainties heading into this season.
Of course, there’s the whole issue between Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, but that’s a topic of discussion for another day. With Julien Edelman suspended for the first month of the season, the wide receiver position is dangerously weak.
Tom Brady is going to have his hands full this season. With his favorite target out 4 weeks, he is left with a receiving core of uncertain, unproven players. Chris Hogan is now the Patriots No. 1 wide receiver. Brady and Hogan have great chemistry and did very well together last year, so Hogan is the least of my worries. After Hogan is where things get scary.
Let’s not forget about Rob Gronkowski, perhaps the greatest tight end in NFL history. Obviously, Brady and Gronk have a great relationship. Gronk is a force to be reckoned with, but with his injury history, the New England Patriots need to keep him healthy at all costs. I’m sure Gronk will get a healthy dose of targets during the first 4 games.
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Teams are going to prepare for him, and defensive coordinators will do whatever they can to stop him. With all the attention on Gronk (and possibly multiple defenders), this will allow for a WR to emerge and step up to the plate.
Malcolm Mitchell is about to enter his third season in the NFL, all with New England. Mitchell has last seen the football field in Super Bowl 51 and was an important part of the historic comeback. After missing all of 2017 with a knee injury, Mitchell was looking forward to coming back in 2018 healthy and ready to help this team.
With more issues with his knee, Mitchell’s status for the 2018 season is in doubt. There have also been rumors that the team is looking to trade/ move on from the young wide receiver.
Newly signed wide receiver Kenny Britt is starting the season on the PUP list. He appeared to tweak his hamstring during OTAs earlier this year. The good news however, is that he should be activated and practicing soon. The sooner he can get on the field the better, as the 10-year veteran needs to build up chemistry and repertoire with Brady.
Given the fact that Britt is a veteran, he should be able to pick things up rather quickly.