Of the top positions of need for the 2023 New England Patriots, wide receiver is arguably the most intriguing. Receivers are like the football equivalent of the home run, always representing a certain potential wow factor or sex appeal to fans. The team has made several moves to bolster the receiver room or bring some punch back to the offense in recent years, from the splashes of Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor in 2021 free agency, to trading for DeVante Parker and drafting Tyquan Thornton last year, to essentially swapping JuJu Smith-Schuster in for Jakobi Meyers this offseason.
Yet you’d likely find few people from inside Gillette Stadium to the fans in the stands who believe the team is done overhauling or adding to the receiver room. And understandably so, given the lack of a true number one target. Then the question is, which way will they find their new number one guy?
6 Rings & Prospect Things: Receivers
They’ve already gone the free agent route with Smith-Schuster and Mike Gesicki (a wide receiver in tight end’s clothes) this offseason. The trade route doesn’t seem like it will yield a number one pass catcher as Denver has said they have no plans to trade Jerry Jeudy, and DeAndre Hopkins’ prior relationship with offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is reportedly a holdup in acquiring the talented receiver. So, if recent meetings and offseason activity are any indication, the NFL Draft will most likely yield the addition outside the team needs and fans covet.
If you need a moment because you’re having a N’Keal Harry flashback, it’s understandable.
While nothing is given, it seems as though the team is covering all bases and preparing to dip back into the well-stocked pond of talent that the 2023 NFL Draft seems to be at receiver. The 2023 class may not be as rife with game-changing talent as recent drafts that have populated the league with number ones aplenty, but there are some high-end talents available and likely to be drafted in the first round.
Fans may be fearful of the team whiffing with the pick like in 2019 when studs like Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown and DK Metcalf were drafted shortly after the Pats took Harry from Arizona State at the end of the first round. But the team, if it identifies a fit, can’t and won’t be afraid to try again. They have a need and can’t build a team based on fear, regret or reputation. And wouldn’t it be nice if the Pats shook the bad receiver drafting reputation once and for all?
So who are the potential first-round prospects they’ve met with and shown interest in thus far? First is Zay Flowers, the Boston College senior who they’ve shown interest in for some time now, from coaching him up at the East-West Shrine Game to having people in attendance at his BC Pro Day recently. Flowers is a sharp route runner with quickness, speed (ran a 4.43 40 at the combine) and playmaking ability who languished on an Eagles team that underperformed in recent years, so we may have not seen the peak of his potential just yet.
Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba is arguably the top receiver in the class. He met with the Patriots at the combine in Indianapolis and said the meeting went well. The Buckeyes standout is praised by many to have great hands and be a tremendous route runner working primarily out of the slot, but lacks elite speed should that be a Pats prerequisite.
USC’s Jordan Addison has been added to the mix recently. The Trojan star was the 2021 Fred Biletnikoff Award winner while he was with Pitt as the nation’s top receiver (the award went to Tennessee’s Jailin Hyatt last year if you were curious).
Viewed as a complete package, Addison said on a recent episode of “The Rich Eisen Show” that he’ll be meeting with the Patriots this week, and that he also had a formal conversation with New England at the combine and it, get this, “went well.”
Also likely to be drafted in the first round is TCU’s Quentin Johnston, the largest of the first-round pass catchers this season standing at 6’ 4” and weighing close to 210 pounds. Those measurables are similar to N’Keal Harry, to whom some in Pats Nation compare the Horned Frog. Johnston was a huge part of TCU’s offense that led them to the college football championship game…where they got stomped by Georgia, no fault of Johnston’s obviously. And while he didn’t put up the stats that Smith-Njigba or Addison did last season, he has impressed enough with his size and skill combo to bring, of all people, Matt Groh and Bill Belichick to his pro day.
The Pats have also met and spoken with some other wide receivers who will be selected at the 2023 draft, but these four are the consensus first-rounders. It should be noted that the Patriots attend plenty of pro days, often coach plenty of players at showcase games like the East-West Shrine and the Senior Bowl, and can host up to 30 players for interviews and medical evaluations before the draft, so nothing is set in stone. The question that remains isn’t whether the Pats will draft a receiver, but will they dare brave the waters of taking a receiver again in the first round after getting burned just four years ago?
Tune in April 27 to find out!
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