The Patriots were a bad team last year, a meaningless Week 18 win over Buffalo backups keeping them from the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. But they added a lot to their roster in the offseason, with Stefon Diggs the biggest name.
Diggs is 31 years old and coming off a torn ACL; nobody's perfect. But he should be a big upgrade over what the Patriots have had the last few years, given their numerous swings and misses at the position in drafts.
Diggs was better than you might remember before getting hurt last season. He caught 47 passes for 496 yards and 3 TDs in his eight games, on pace for a 100-catch, 1000-yard campaign. That includes catching 6 passes for 71 yards and a score at New England (pictured). He caught at least 5 passes in all but one of his games. If healthy, he's got plenty of game left.
Even when Bill Belichick was around, the team did a lousy job of drafting wide receivers. Julian Edelman, a college quarterback, was their notable success story; their other best wide receivers were guys brought in as free agents -- Wes Welker, Randy Moss. It's been a pretty long dry spell for them otherwise.
New England hasn't had a wide receiver finish in the top 25 since 2019, six years ago. That was Edelman, and he's their only player to finish higher than 15th at the position since Welker way back in 2012. Prior to him you have to go back to Randy Moss in 2009 to find a notable receiver; that was when new coach Mike Vrabel was still playing.
In the last seven years, the Patriots have otherwise put one wide receiver in the top 30 -- undrafted Jakobi Meyers, who finished 29th at the position in PPR leagues in both 2021 and 2022. Brandin Cooks, who finished 15th in 2017, was their other success story.
The ugly history of the last decade is shown below; New England's top 2 wide receivers in each of those seasons. (Hard to figure why they didn't resign Meyers.) Diggs' numbers and rank in each of those seasons are also shown. He would have been New England's best wideout in five of those years and 2nd-best four times. That includes last season, in only eight games. Wideouts who finished in the top 30 (typically including Diggs) are in bold.
| NEW ENGLAND'S TOP 2 WIDE RECEIVERS AND DIGGS, 2015-2024 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Tgt | No | Rec | TD | Rk |
| 2024 | Demario Douglas | 87 | 66 | 621 | 3 | 47 |
| 2024 | Stefon Diggs | 64 | 47 | 496 | 4 | 64 |
| 2024 | Kayshon Boutte | 68 | 43 | 589 | 3 | 65 |
| 2023 | Stefon Diggs | 160 | 107 | 1183 | 8 | 9 |
| 2023 | Demario Douglas | 78 | 49 | 561 | 0 | 64 |
| 2023 | Kendrick Bourne | 55 | 37 | 406 | 4 | 67 |
| 2022 | Stefon Diggs | 154 | 108 | 1429 | 11 | 4 |
| 2022 | Jakobi Meyers | 96 | 67 | 804 | 6 | 29 |
| 2022 | DeVante Parker | 47 | 31 | 539 | 3 | 71 |
| 2021 | Stefon Diggs | 164 | 103 | 1225 | 10 | 7 |
| 2021 | Jakobi Meyers | 126 | 83 | 866 | 2 | 29 |
| 2021 | Kendrick Bourne | 70 | 55 | 800 | 5 | 32 |
| 2020 | Stefon Diggs | 166 | 127 | 1535 | 8 | 3 |
| 2020 | Jakobi Meyers | 81 | 59 | 729 | 0 | 53 |
| 2020 | Damiere Byrd | 77 | 47 | 604 | 1 | 67 |
| 2019 | Julian Edelman | 153 | 100 | 1117 | 6 | 7 |
| 2019 | Stefon Diggs | 94 | 63 | 1130 | 6 | 21 |
| 2019 | Phillip Dorsett | 54 | 29 | 397 | 5 | 71 |
| 2018 | Stefon Diggs | 149 | 102 | 1021 | 9 | 10 |
| 2018 | Julian Edelman | 108 | 74 | 850 | 6 | 21 |
| 2018 | Chris Hogan | 55 | 35 | 532 | 3 | 70 |
| 2017 | Brandin Cooks | 114 | 65 | 1082 | 7 | 15 |
| 2017 | Stefon Diggs | 95 | 64 | 849 | 8 | 19 |
| 2017 | Danny Amendola | 86 | 61 | 659 | 2 | 44 |
| 2016 | Julian Edelman | 159 | 98 | 1106 | 3 | 14 |
| 2016 | Stefon Diggs | 112 | 84 | 903 | 3 | 31 |
| 2016 | Chris Hogan | 58 | 38 | 680 | 4 | 60 |
| 2015 | Julian Edelman | 88 | 61 | 692 | 7 | 35 |
| 2015 | Danny Amendola | 87 | 65 | 648 | 3 | 46 |
| 2015 | Stefon Diggs | 84 | 52 | 720 | 4 | 47 |
Although as noted the recent drafting hasn't gone well, I'm interested in New England's third-round pick out of Washington State, Kyle Williams. He put up 1,198 yards and 14 TDs last year, averaging over 17 yards per catch. Might quickly emerge as the No. 2 or 3 in the offense, pushing aside some other recent picks that haven't yet panned out.
But Diggs, if that knee is right, is the key reason to think the receiving corps will be better this season.
--Andy Richardson