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 | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | G | Tgt | No | Yds | TD | FF |
2021 | Jakobi Meyers | 17 | 126 | 83 | 866 | 2 | 29 |
2021 | Kendrick Bourne | 17 | 70 | 55 | 800 | 5 | 32 |
2021 | Nelson Agholor | 15 | 64 | 37 | 473 | 3 | 72 |
2020 | Jakobi Meyers | 14 | 81 | 59 | 729 | 0 | 53 |
2020 | Damiere Byrd | 16 | 77 | 47 | 604 | 1 | 67 |
2020 | N'Keal Harry | 14 | 57 | 33 | 309 | 2 | 98 |
2019 | Julian Edelman | 16 | 153 | 100 | 1117 | 6 | 7 |
2019 | Phillip Dorsett | 14 | 54 | 29 | 397 | 5 | 71 |
2019 | Jakobi Meyers | 15 | 41 | 26 | 359 | 0 | 98 |
2018 | Julian Edelman | 12 | 108 | 74 | 850 | 6 | 21 |
2018 | Chris Hogan | 16 | 55 | 35 | 532 | 3 | 70 |
2018 | Cordarrelle Patterson | 15 | 28 | 21 | 247 | 3 | 77 |
2017 | Brandin Cooks | 16 | 114 | 65 | 1082 | 7 | 15 |
2017 | Danny Amendola | 15 | 86 | 61 | 659 | 2 | 44 |
2017 | Chris Hogan | 9 | 59 | 34 | 439 | 5 | 63 |
2016 | Julian Edelman | 16 | 159 | 98 | 1106 | 3 | 14 |
2016 | Malcolm Mitchell | 14 | 48 | 32 | 401 | 4 | 50 |
2016 | Chris Hogan | 15 | 58 | 38 | 680 | 4 | 60 |
2015 | Julian Edelman | 9 | 88 | 61 | 692 | 7 | 35 |
2015 | Danny Amendola | 14 | 87 | 65 | 648 | 3 | 46 |
2015 | Brandon LaFell | 11 | 74 | 37 | 515 | 0 | 80 |
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