Considering Bethel is and will be the primary return man, he'll need to be active. We can't forget that Bethel was hurt and missed most of training camp last year, with the injury likely nagging him throughout the year. He's a proven deep and return threat. We all obviously like what we saw from Bam in the preseason and the Miami New Years' game, but he just hasn't shown enough yet to overtake Bethel. It's quite possible the Pats will carry 6 WRs, which they did last year until Bam was activated and it became 7.
With Andre' Davis and Tim Dwight gone, the return duties will be Bethel's job to lose. Hobbs, who saw some time against Jacksonville and Denver before the fumble, figures to be in the mix. I'm sure the Pats would like to relegate Faulk and Pass to emergency duties. It also remains questionable how effective Troy will be as a full-time punt returner again. Such a role is where Bam will probably sneak on the team by.
Davis came in on the trade because the Pats needed that 6th man to shore up the WR corps after Terrell was a bit of a bust. At that time, you recall, Bethel was on the preseason PUP. Davis took over the deep pass duties that Bethel held in 2003 and 2004, and an injury-bothered Bethel was never able to repossess them.
In camp this year, Branch has the #1 spot. I see Jackson and Caldwell battling for the #2 spot (Givens in 2005), and then Brown taking over the #3 slot role that he held in 2005. The deep duties will probably go to Johnson and/or Caldwell, essentially replacing Dwight and Davis. I see Childress rounding out the group with his 3-way versatility.
