How Should The Patriots Handle Their Cluttered WR Room?

The Patriots did exactly what they needed to do in the draft, especially after a couple of misses during free agency: stock up on offensive talent, including grabbing two wide receivers in the draft. With a new era at quarterback starting up, having a good receiver room is imperative. While they still lack a true top option, this offseason put them in that direction.

What the Pats have right now, though, is a LARGE receiver room, with a whopping 11 receivers. Making the right decisions as to which subset of these players will comprise the final room will make a huge difference as to how the offense looks in 2024. Here are my recommendations for how the Patriots can decide who makes the roster.

Sign Without Hesitation: Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, Jalynn Polk, Javon Baker

Kendrick Bourne is going to be the cornerstone of this receiver room with his combination of upside and experience. He has been one of the most talented and reliable Patriot wideouts since he came aboard in 2021, and his versatility, reliability, and sound route running will continue to be valuable for the Patriots - whose offense dropped off significantly after Bourne's injury last year.

Douglas' 2023 draft day, when he was taken late in the sixth round, was likely the closest he'll ever get to the cut line of this roster. In a wide receiver room that somewhat lacks speedsters and stellar raw athletes, Douglas has been a breath of fresh air. His athleticism and agility, especially his ability to change direction, has been an issue for every defense he faced last year, and will be essential to open things up for Maye and Brisett in 2024.

Polk is the latest swing at an early-round receiver and the first of the new era. In terms of what we've seen in college, he looks extremely promising. He has excellent hands, and his length on the field gets amplified by his ability to make catches on the stretch.

He's not the fastest guy, with a 40-yard time of 4.52 seconds, but his spatial awareness, agility, and route-running skills make his game speed much higher. He's also no stranger to the big moment and had some of his best games and in do-or-die situations for Washington.

Interestingly, Javon Baker was drafted at a very similar frame to Jalynn Polk, at 6'1", 208 lbs to Polk's 6'2", 205 lbs. While Polk's strength is his consistency, Baker's strength is his explosiveness.

His ability to spin and evade defenders after the catch, his explosiveness, and his high success rate on 50:50 balls, allow him to rattle off big plays - last year at UCF, he averaged a whopping 22.5 yards/reception. While he wasn't the most consistent in terms of his game-to-game output, his nine-catch, 173-yard, 1 TD game against Georgia Tech in their bowl game showed his ability to take on a larger role.

On The Border: JuJu Smith-Schuster, KJ Osborn, Tyquan Thornton

I was very close to putting Osborn in the lock category - the only trepidation there is that he hasn't played in a Patriots uniform yet. He has been ever-so-consistent for the Vikings and walks into camp as probably the most proven and consistent player on the team other than Kendrick Bourne. He's arguably the most reliable route runner on the entire offense and a player who has the ability to simplify the offense by providing safe options underneath, while also having occasional big-play ability.

We haven't seen him play without a true number one by his side like Justin Jefferson, and he hasn't had to be the top guy - but the way the room is looking right now post-draft, he won't have to be. At 4 million dollars, his contract may have one of the best values on the team.

Thornton is on this list because we still haven't seen what he can do when healthy. With the injury history and lack of production, it's easy to forget the fact that the guy has a 4.23-second 40-yard dash time. He has shown flashes of his speed on the field, but hasn't quite shown consistency in terms of sure hands and route running - if he can finally have a fully healthy camp and start the season on the field rather than the sidelines, his rookie contract could be worth giving him one more shot.

Smith-Schuster's 2023 season was a massive disappointment, especially relative to his contract. His figure of 29 receptions, 260 yards, and just 1 TD was lackluster, even in the context of the Patriots' offense. He had bad drops in critical moments and was never really able to take charge of the receiver room. The reason he's on this list lies in the fact that in terms of career accomplishments and overall ceiling, he far exceeds the rest of the WR room.

He'll need to show marked improvement from 2023 and an ability to lead in training camp to wind up on this roster. Because of this deep room, I expect the Patriots to roster 6 WRs, but even so, JuJu is far from a lock.

Falls Short Barring A Crazy Training Camp: Jalen Reagor, TJ Luther, Kawaan Baker, Kayshon Boutte

TJ Luther and Kawaan Baker, while they have some interesting skill sets, haven't been able to really make a mark in the NFL, and will likely end up being camp bodies. Reagor does have the NFL experience to contend for a roster spot, and while he was inconsistent overall in 2023, he had some decent moments, and will either contend for the sixth roster spot or be a great practice squad body.

Boutte came into last year's camp with a lot of promise and showed some promise in the preseason, but it didn't carry over to the regular season. From a pure talent standpoint, I do think that he still has potential, but with the gambling issues adding even more uncertainty around him, I don't think he'll be able to climb over the cut line this year.

The Bottom Line

My projected WR room for 2024: Bourne, Douglas, Polk, Baker, Osborn, and Thornton, may lack a proven signature weapon, but it has multiple people who have the potential to elevate to that role in Alex Van Pelt's offense. With that deep of a group, Maye and Brissett will have lots of options (but also, a lot of chemistry to build up), and training camp will be a good indicator as to who will end up standing out.

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