After trading for Brandin Cooks, the Patriots are sure overloaded at wide receiver. Julian Edelman catches a zillion balls, and Chris Hogan and Malcolm Mitchell are also viable players. Is there room for all these pass catchers on one roster?
New England’s offense, at least in recent years, has made heavy use of tight ends and running backs. Tom Brady tends to spread things around. So it will be difficult for any of these wide receivers to pile up big numbers – especially touchdowns.
The Patriots put up big passing numbers. They will do so again this season. But in each of the last three seasons, their wide receivers have finished with bottom-10 numbers. That’s collectively, as a group, and using the fantasy scoring system of 6 points for touchdowns and 1 point for every 10 yards.
While Cooks is really talented, I’m not crazy about him for this year. He will really take off statistically, I think, when the Patriots phase out Edelman. I could happen at the end of the season. Edelman turns 31 this month, and his contract expires at the end of the season. Could be time for New England to give him the Wes Welker treatment.
| TEAM WIDE RECEIVER PRODUCTION SINCE 2014 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | No | Yards | Avg | TD | Points |
| Pittsburgh | 697 | 9,654 | 13.9 | 71 | 1391.4 |
| Green Bay | 697 | 9,014 | 12.9 | 79 | 1375.4 |
| Atlanta | 751 | 9,981 | 13.3 | 55 | 1328.1 |
| NY Giants | 663 | 8,794 | 13.3 | 67 | 1281.4 |
| Arizona | 679 | 9,115 | 13.4 | 61 | 1277.5 |
| New Orleans | 711 | 9,493 | 13.4 | 54 | 1273.3 |
| Denver | 728 | 9,314 | 12.8 | 52 | 1243.4 |
| Detroit | 663 | 8,403 | 12.7 | 51 | 1146.3 |
| Miami | 651 | 8,120 | 12.5 | 53 | 1130.0 |
| Indianapolis | 607 | 8,406 | 13.8 | 48 | 1128.6 |
| NY Jets | 625 | 8,248 | 13.2 | 50 | 1124.8 |
| Jacksonville | 619 | 8,048 | 13.0 | 53 | 1122.8 |
| Oakland | 619 | 7,559 | 12.2 | 58 | 1103.9 |
| Dallas | 519 | 7,150 | 13.8 | 60 | 1075.0 |
| Baltimore | 619 | 8,013 | 12.9 | 44 | 1065.3 |
| San Diego | 595 | 7,838 | 13.2 | 46 | 1059.8 |
| Washington | 596 | 8,101 | 13.6 | 40 | 1050.1 |
| Tampa Bay | 552 | 7,746 | 14.0 | 44 | 1038.6 |
| Seattle | 580 | 7,433 | 12.8 | 45 | 1013.3 |
| Carolina | 502 | 6,891 | 13.7 | 52 | 1001.1 |
| Cincinnati | 569 | 7,676 | 13.5 | 38 | 995.6 |
| Houston | 598 | 7,515 | 12.6 | 37 | 973.5 |
| Chicago | 575 | 7,329 | 12.7 | 40 | 972.9 |
| Philadelphia | 563 | 6,919 | 12.3 | 44 | 955.9 |
| New England | 603 | 7,041 | 11.7 | 41 | 950.1 |
| Buffalo | 494 | 6,698 | 13.6 | 43 | 927.8 |
| Minnesota | 558 | 6,879 | 12.3 | 29 | 861.9 |
| Cleveland | 552 | 6,958 | 12.6 | 26 | 851.8 |
| San Francisco | 521 | 6,443 | 12.4 | 33 | 842.3 |
| Tennessee | 439 | 6,011 | 13.7 | 39 | 835.1 |
| St. Louis / Los Angeles | 470 | 5,855 | 12.5 | 28 | 753.5 |
| Kansas City | 487 | 5,558 | 11.4 | 22 | 687.8 |
—Ian Allan