The Patriots’ pass catching crew has been slim pickings over the last decade, but following New England’s first preseason game they have the opposite problem: a surplus of receivers with no clear odd-man-out.
We’re really not that far removed from the disaster of N’Keal Harry, the stagnant tandem of Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, and the gone-and-quickly-forgotten likes of Nelson Agholor and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Many of these guys were nice fellas, but there was a stretch there when the Patriots couldn’t draft, trade for, and sign a receiver to save their lives.
New England went five seasons without a receiver accruing 1,000 yards. Think about that, during that time, the league added a game, meaning those numbers should have inflated. They shrunk.
So, this preseason’s “issue” is what we’d call a “champagne problem.” Who makes sense in which roles on this roster, and when do front office honcho Eliot Wolf and head coach Mike Vrabel split with a loose end?
Last week, Vrabel said he’s open to keeping seven receivers on the 53-man roster. That rundown would likely include A.J. Brown, Romeo Doubs, DeMario “Pop” Douglas, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism III, and Kayshon Boutte.
Seven receivers? That’s a lot of mouths to feed, even coming off a year where the receivers were proud to share the love.
This room is a different group of guys. Brown isn’t Stefon Diggs in his early 30s, trying to prove his worth after a torn ACL. Romeo Doubs is new to the team, coming off his most productive year from a Green Bay offense in which the ball also got spread around.
“My job isn’t to try to make everybody happy,” quarterback Drake Maye said at camp this week. “My job is to have the offense move up and down the field and score points.”
Okay, but unhappy receivers don’t typically make for a functional locker room.
Eyes were on Boutte Thursday, the vertical threat who enters his final contract year looking suddenly redundant thanks to an offseason trade for All-Pro wideout Brown. Boutte reportedly requested a trade earlier in the year but has fully participated through training camp, and maintained a cheerful – if transparent – demeaner with the media. He was probably hoping to put something compelling on tape Thursday night for another team if the Patriots don’t require his skills this season, but backup quarterback Tommy DeVito looked like he forgot he was on the field with him for the entire first quarter in which he played.
Hollins was a much more active target for DeVito. He got four targets in his one quarter of play, with two receptions for 24 yards. He’s is probably a lock for the roster even if he’s playing in a meaningless game. He’s on a team-friendly deal and he brings variety to the room: he’s a big, long body and an effective blocker
Brown, Doubs, and Douglas were all inactive Thursday, so let’s pencil them onto the roster, as well. Douglas has been a standout in camp when taking reps with Maye.
Williams may be the most curious case in the room. He was a third-round 2025 pick – the only receiver picked during Vrabel’s tenure. He’s been very inconsistent throughout training camp and he’s mostly run with backups. Last year, the 5’11 receiver tallied just 209 receiving yards during the regular season. He played the first half with DeVito and looked like a no-show through much of it…until he ran a beautiful route on 3rd-and-6th for a 12-yard touchdown. That score shook something loose in DeVito, who found him a 25-yard connection on a deep route down the left sideline during the next drive, then went to him again on the next snap, albeit incompletely.
“I really, really know that Kyle is going to help us,” Vrabel said last week. “His speed is going to help us. And I don't want to use this and get this to be overblown, and I'm going to use the word scheme or – He's got a skill set, right? We're going to find ways to get him the ball, and it may be outside of just the normal installation plays, but that's my responsibility, that's Josh [McDaniels]’s responsibility, that's Todd [Downings]’s, responsibility is to put him in those positions where we see the speed that showed up last year. And so, I know that he is going to be a large part of what we're going to do, and those opportunities will continue to come.”
Williams’ wheels are well-documented. He hit 21.78 mph on a 72-yard touchdown he scored as a rookie, according to Next Gen Stats. It’d be great to see him find more consistency in McDaniels’ offense, rather than acting as a guy who flashes here and there, and it would be really nice to get a better sense of his chemistry and timing with Maye. That just wasn’t in the cards Thursday.
And so, we arrive at the Little Chism that Could – and did, in his rookie year. The 5’10 scrappy receiver clawed his way onto the roster last summer as an undrafted free agent and even played snaps in the playoff run to Super Bowl 60. He made his mark in the preseason last year with two touchdowns scored in his two game appearances.
Chism’s 2026 preseason debut was a bit more subdued that than performance: he went 3-3 on targets and posted 20 yards, but was also flagged for an illegal block. His position may come down to the question of what he can provide on special teams, and cornerback Marcus Jones is a premier punt returner in the league. The Patriots could also gamble on releasing him, then re-signing him to the practice squad, betting that other teams won’t claim him.
Williams had a moment he needed this summer. Chism has work left to do. And there are still others in the fight: Cameron Dorner and hybrid back Lan Larison showed moxie, too. The Patriots may have a logjam at wide receiver, but it’s certainly a nicer headache to have a packed fridge than a cupboard that’s bare. Could seven receivers make the roster? As Vrabel said, sure. But is that the best use of precious spots? Probably not. And so, the plot thickens, with two games left before the real deal.
