New England Patriots : Wide Receiver position is weaker than you think

Fighting for a role

Rounding up the depth chart at wide receiver are four players who have combined for one catch. Matthew Slater is the most notable one, but he hasn’t played a game at WR since 2011. Like Patterson, Slater is known for his contributions on special teams. The New England Patriots also have Braxton Berrios, Devin Lucien, and Riley McCarron.

Berrios was drafted in the sixth  round out of Miami in the 2018 draft. Lucien was re-signed by New England just this past week. He has been a practice player for New England since 2016. Riley McCarron is also another practice squad player.

Now, I’m sure once the rosters have to get cut down, the Patriots will release a few of the players at the bottom of the depth chart. Lucien and McCarron could stay on the practice squad. This does not take away from the fact that the WR position this year is very weak.

With Edelman out, Brady will need to throw to someone else not named Chris Hogan or Rob Gronkowski. Other teams will take away his two top options and force Brady to go to some of the lesser, inexperienced Patriots.

With all the uncertainty at the WR position, this is where losing Danny Amendola will hurt the team the most. Amendola was a huge part of the Patriots’ success last season, especially since Edelman missed the whole year with a torn ACL. The Patriots don’t even make it to the Super Bowl if it wasn’t for the great performance Amendola put out on the field in the AFC Championship game against Jacksonville.

If the Pats were able to keep Amendola in New England this past offseason, the outlook for this season wouldn’t be as blurry as it currently stands.

The trade of Brandin Cooks will also be brought into question here as well. After just one season in New England, Cooks was traded to the L.A. Rams earlier this offseason. A first round pick was plenty for the young receiver, but Brady and Cooks seemed to have a good connection last season. That connection was only going to get better, and it will be missed this year as well, given the state of the wide receiver position in 2018

Brady missing the OTA’s will ultimately come back to haunt him and the team. He could’ve used that time to build chemistry with some of the newer players. Brady has a lot of work to do once training camp gets underway and the preseason begins.

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Once Julien Edelman comes back from his suspension, things should get easier for Brady and the New England Patriots offense. Until then, Brady will have the weight of the offense on his shoulders yet again. He has proven time and time again that he can throw to just about anyone. Let’s hope the same could be said for this group of current wide receivers in 2018.