Sometimes the league moves swiftly; maybe they figure they owe Tom Brady one, or maybe it was just a slow week at NFL offices. Anyway, Josh Gordon applied for reinstatement just a couple of weeks ago, and the league is welcoming him back. Conditionally.
There are apparently other hoops he'll need to jump through; he can't yet practice with the team, or play in the third preseason game. (Like that matters.) But he can rejoin the team for meetings and individual workouts. Barring some kind of incident/setback, most likely he'll be out on the field for Week 1.
First question everyone will ask is where to rank Gordon. We're working on the Monday update right now, so there won't be an official answer until we see how the rankings shake out. With Gordon, given his history -- he's played in only slightly more than a season's worth of games (22) in the last five years -- you've got to build in some kind of risk of another suspension, or stepping away from the game, or whatever people want to call it. Nobody can guarantee any player will play 16 games, but with Gordon those guarantees would be extra hollow.
On the field, though, there's top-25 potential -- maybe higher. Last year he had a nine game stretch, beginning with his second game in New England (he played limited snaps the first game) where he averaged 4 catches for 75 yards and caught 3 TDs. Back then New England also had Rob Gronkowski and Chris Hogan, and both Julian Edelman and Phillip Dorsett were healthy. Now those first two guys are gone and the second two are nursing thumb injuries. The Patriots other receivers (wideouts and tight ends) are either suspended, hurt, or unproven.
Is Gordon starting in Week 1 that unlikely? Not really. He's more talented than New England's other pass catchers, more experienced and accomplished than all of them but Edelman, and knows the offense better than most of them, too.
I think he starts to become interesting about 25 wide receivers into a draft. Better, probably, than some of the guys I'm slotting ahead of him, but less likely to play all season, and less certain to be featured. But pretty good.
Strictly looking at Patriots receivers, Edelman is the only guy you can realistically draft ahead of him. N'Keal Harry, Dorsett, Jakobi Meyers, Demaryius Thomas or Dontrelle Inman or Maurice Harris -- no. Some talent there, hopefully a future No. 1 for those of us who already selected Harry in dynasty. But in 2019, Gordon looks like a better bet than all of them.
--Andy Richardson