As many have noted in the past, I tend to like younger players rather than older ones. But I will also give older players the benefit of the doubt at times, and I'm willing to do so with Stefon Diggs.
Diggs is 31 years old and coming off a torn ACL; nobody's perfect. But Mike Vrabel says he's practicing without limitations, and I'll take him at his word; New England could easily have put him on the PUP list to start camp if he wasn't healthy. But he avoided it; it seems like he'd recovered from that October injury.
And while he has that major injury just in the rear-view mirror and is older than ideal, have there been any actual signs of decline in his game? It doesn't seem that way.
Diggs last year caught 47 passes for 496 yards, with 4 TDs in eight games. Project that out to a full season, and he would have finished with 100 catches for 1,054 yards and 8 touchdowns. That's 253 points in PPR leagues, and would have earned him the 11th-best spot in the rankings. I am not ignoring his age or his torn ACL. But based on his actual performance last year in half a season, he was on pace to be a top-12 PPR wideout.
Moreover, Diggs 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. (We'll see on this year's new addition, third-rounder Kyle Williams.)
Diggs' season included catching 6 passes for 71 yards and a score at New England last year. 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 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 (including last year's projected season-long numbers) are also shown. He would have been New England's best wideout in six of those years and 2nd-best three times. 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 | Stefon Diggs (proj.) | 131 | 100 | 1054 | 8 | 11 |
| 2024 | Demario Douglas | 87 | 66 | 621 | 3 | 47 |
| 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 Williams, out of Washington State. 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 Vrabel is correct, is the key reason to think the receiving corps will be better this season. He should be Drake Maye's No. 1, and maybe a very good starter in fantasy leagues. I'm willing to set aside the age and injury at least a little, until I see reason to change my mind. Somebody I'll be selecting late in a lot of drafts, it seems.
--Andy Richardson