The Patriots drafted two receivers, Aaron Dobson (Round 2, No. 59 overall) and Josh Boyce (Round 4, No. 102 overall). Dobson has missed some practice due to injury, but showed in early practices that he can bring both size and athleticism as an outside downfield playmaker at wide receiver. Boyce has progressively improved in each practice I have attended, and stood out on Saturday morning by getting open with crisp routes and consistently catching the ball in his hands.
Both players have arguably been overshadowed, however, by undrafted wideout Kenbrell Thompkins. Thompkins has a relative unknown coming out of Cincinnati, but he has quickly made a name for himself in Patriots training camp. He has been impressive as both an impressive and deep receiver, and displays a strong combination of speed, quickness and size. Just nine days into training camp, Thompkins already looks like a lock to make the roster.
All three of those rookie receivers have received a good amount of work with the first-team offense already, but for what it’s worth, Thompkins worked with the first-team offense during the Patriots’ scrimmage on Saturday morning, while Dobson and Boyce were with the second-team offense. All three receivers are expected to see immediate playing time this season, nonetheless, should each of them perform well in the preseason.
That said, the biggest impression of all of the team’s rookie pass-catchers, especially on Saturday, may be coming from undrafted tight end Zach Sudfeld. Sudfeld likely went undrafted due to a history of injuries at Nevada, but he has been healthy and standing out thus far in training camp.
Sudfeld has terrific size for a tight end (6’7” and 260 pounds) but is also a very good athlete who not only has good downfield speed but also the quickness to make defenders miss. In the three practices I have attended, Sudfeld has shown a consistent ability to get open by running crisp routes and creating mismatches against linebackers and defensive backs. He has displayed soft, natural hands and caught a strong majority of passes that have been thrown his way.
I admittedly slept on Sudfeld as a draft prospect, but I’m not sleeping on him anymore. With Jake Ballard not involved in the scrimmage and both Michael Hoomanawanui and Daniel Fells working with the second-team offense, Sudfeld received nearly all tight end repetitions with the first-team offense on Saturday morning. He has the most ability of all the team’s healthy tight ends, especially as a receiving threat, and looks like the favorite to start at tight end should Gronkowski not return
