In the "Lightning Round" questions on the last page of the magazine, the final question involved asking us what or who we'd given up on. I said Patriots receivers. It feels like ages since they've had a relevant one. And it kind of has been.

I'm talking about wide receivers; at times, Hunter Henry was relevant a year ago, and of course Rob Gronkowski had some great seasons. But in recent years, New England wideouts have been a big disappointment -- whether drafted, signed as free agents, or otherwise acquired.

I looked at the team's top 3 wide receivers each season since 2014, so a nice group of 21 wideouts. In those seven years, Julian Edelman had three top-25 seasons (PPR), and Brandin Cooks had one. Nobody else has. Jakobi Meyers (pictured) sneaking up to 29th last season is their best other recent performance.

In the table, showing the team's 3 best wide receivers in each of the last seven years, top-25 finishes are in bold.

TOP-3 NEW ENGLAND WIDE RECEIVERS, 2015-PRESENT
YearPlayerGTgtNoYdsTDFF
2021Jakobi Meyers1712683866229
2021Kendrick Bourne177055800532
2021Nelson Agholor156437473372
2020Jakobi Meyers148159729053
2020Damiere Byrd167747604167
2020N'Keal Harry145733309298
2019Julian Edelman16153100111767
2019Phillip Dorsett145429397571
2019Jakobi Meyers154126359098
2018Julian Edelman1210874850621
2018Chris Hogan165535532370
2018Cordarrelle Patterson152821247377
2017Brandin Cooks16114651082715
2017Danny Amendola158661659244
2017Chris Hogan95934439563
2016Julian Edelman16159981106314
2016Malcolm Mitchell144832401450
2016Chris Hogan155838680460
2015Julian Edelman98861692735
2015Danny Amendola148765648346
2015Brandon LaFell117437515080

Last year, New England splurged in free agency, signing Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor. A story yesterday indicates that Agholor is currently running 4th on the depth chart at OTAs, so that's a signing that hasn't worked out so great. They brought in DeVante Parker, which seems like a solid move. Talented guy, and a top 3 of Parker, Meyers and Kendrick Bourne might have potential.

Just don't get too excited, because the performance of these players hasn't merited it.

--Andy Richardson