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Factoid

Aaron Dobson / Patriots drafted wide receivers

Aaron Dobson was a healthy scratch for the second week in a row last night. An intriguing sleeper in the offseason now looks an awful lot like a bust. That's become a trend for the Patriots, who don't seem to be able to select wide receivers in the annual draft. (Maybe they've given up; they didn't select one until the seventh round this season.) They cut Josh Boyce, drafted two rounds after Dobson, in the preseason.

Going back 20 years (so, a few years before Belichick took over as head coach), New England has selected 19 wideouts in the annual draft. Just three success stories in that time: first-rounder Terry Glenn, second-rounder Deion Branch and current No. 1 Julian Edelman (who maybe shouldn't count since he played quarterback in college). David Givens had a couple of serviceable years, but even he never reached 900 yards or scored more than 6 TDs in a season.

Chad Jackson, Taylor Price, Brandon Tate -- fantasy coaches can recall getting excited about all of these players in the preseason in past years, thinking they might develop into Tom Brady's top wide receiver. Sure looks like Dobson will turn out to be just the latest disappointment.

New England's drafted wideouts since 1994 are presented below.

PATRIOTS DRAFTED WIDEOUTS, 1994-2014
YearRdPlayerCollege
20147Jeremy GallonMichigan
20132Aaron DobsonMarshall
20134Josh Boyce Texas Christian
20127Jeremy EbertNorthwestern
20103Taylor PriceOhio
20093Brandon Tate North Carolina
20097Julian EdelmanKent State
20085Matt SlaterUCLA
20062Chad JacksonFlorida
20045P.K. SamFlorida State
20032Bethel Johnson Texas A&M
20022Deion BranchLouisville
20027David GivensNotre Dame
19997Sean MoreyBrown
19982Tony SimmonsWisconsin
19976Tony GaiterMiami (Fla.)
19961Terry GlennOhio State
19942Kevin LeeAlabama
19946Darrell MitchellTexas Tech

--Andy Richardson

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