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.
Veteran re-emergence?
Jordan Matthews is another receiver who made his way to New England this offseason via free agency. Matthews will be entering his 5th season in the NFL. He has proven to be a reliable player, as he has played in at least 10 games in each of his 4 NFL seasons.
This past season with Buffalo was his worst yet, as he played in 10 games and posted a career low in receptions with 25, yards with 282 and just one touchdown. Brady will also look to build a connection with the young receiver as well.
2018 will be Phillip Dorsett’s second season with the Patriots. Coming to New England via trade with the Indianapolis Colts, the third year wide out played in 15 games while catching 12 balls for 194 yards and no touchdowns. The concern level here isn’t as high as it is with other players at the WR position, as already having a year in the New England offense helps out a lot. Brady will be looking to the 25-year-old more often than you would think, especially in the first 4 games of the season with Edelman out.
Cordarrelle Patterson is yet another new name for the New England Patriots.
Acquired in a trade with the Oakland Raiders in March earlier this year, Patterson has most notably made a name for himself in the NFL with his electric kick and punt return abilities. Patterson will be entering his 6th season in the NFL in 2018. He has played in all 16 games in his career.
The transition to New England will be tough, as he has previously played with the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders. His best season was 2016 with the Vikings, as he caught 52 passes for 453 yards and 2 touchdowns. Patterson is a very fast player and can get downfield rather quickly, so hopefully Brady will be looking to chuck it deep for Patterson this season.
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.