This young WR core is getting slept on

[Betterthanmost]

Lazar has a cool breakdown out on the Gintz game... you don't get the faces that way and its long on concept, short on personality... but it shows how much depends on every read following what the play is supposed to do - then a lot of Drake moving this one pigeon of a linebacker like a freaking marionette with pump fakes, and dropping in "low percentage" throws. The kid's special. Brady wasn't here in year two. It's hard for a kid with these natural gifts to have that chip-on-shoulder attitude/issue that drove Brady. I just hope he gets the absolute most out of his career, and stays on the field the rest of the time I am on the planet. I'm 63 now. Actually, I'd kind of like to live to 100, so that gives him 37 more years. Get on that avocado ice cream, kid!

This is also good. He gets name wrong but love the take.

 

[Family]

Boutte and Douglas are obviously NFL players, but they are not THE GUY that Maye needs going forward as Diggs ages out.

Drake Maye is just so good.

Imagine what the offense would look like if we had a true burner for him.

Maye throws a deep ball like no one else I've seen.

 

[Patsfan1645]

The Pats are moving the ball well through the air because every receiver is good not great. The ball distribution I would argue is best in the league. It forces defenses to not focus on one guy allowing the Pats to exploit a mismatch/find the open guy. Other teams that have a true #1 for the most part have big drop off in talent behind that player. They focus on feeding that player as mush as possible and if a defense can contain that player they run into problems moving the ball. The Pats dont focus on any player as evident of the stats week in and week out. The distribution is pretty equal with Henry sometimes getting more catches because the defense is spread too thin. We havent seen a team that could match up across the board with all of our weapons. So they have to pick their poison and deal with it as best as they can. I am glad we are not one dimensional and force so many targets to one guy. At the beginning of the season we all wanted that #1 receiver, as it stands right now I would not change who we have for TE/WR.

 

[Wozzy]

31st worst… never forget.

2025 NFL receiving corps rankings: Eagles kick things off at No. 1

We're diving into the league's top receiving corps — wide receivers, tight ends and running backs — ahead of the 2025 NFL season.

www.pff.com

PFF is worthless.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

This is also good. He gets name wrong but love the take.

and he's not wrong about that gorgeous throw. Love the breakdown of the double-chip habit. I know we're fans, but who else does this consistently? Is it like a "Patriots move" or is it something that 16 of the 32 do with some regularity?

 

[Brotherblues]

This is also good. He gets name wrong but love the take.

Not the first time I've seen Williams use that move early in the route to completely dust a DB. He did the exact same move on 4th and 2 in another game, the ball just didn't go his way that time because there was a sure conversion elsewhere.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I'm glad they've salvaged Douglas. He's turned into a man coverage specialist. He's on of the best WRs in the NFL vs. man coverage:





Boutte's developed into dependable WR2 & Douglas into a big play threat WR3/WR4. Hitting on two 6th round pick WRs in the same draft is close to a 1% outcome.

 

[The Gr8est]

Agree with the OP, we have a lot to appreciate right now with the WR group and it’s even nicer that 3/5 are young guys with potential upside.

What Boutte has been able to accomplish has been especially impressive to me, I think it’s a reflection of high character on his part. I see a guy there who grew up quick in professional life, got over “what might have been,” and has not let this opportunity pass. I spent most of my career mentoring young colleagues and always appreciated those qualities in people that I think I see with Boutte.

Agree with Boutte and his maturing.

I still would like to see the Pats add Javon Baker next year and see if he has been humbled enough to grow into his talent.

Vrabel spent a lot of time we with him in TC and seemed to like him.

 

[Ring 6]

I think these new fangled stats are ********. “Expected” ? Who’s expecting what ? Catches over expected ? All ********.

Boutte has always been talented, was rated as a first round pick, but was dealing with an injury, brilliant pick by Belichick late in his career (you won’t hear that much from me). Douglas has talent, but I think they can upgrade the slot position, let’s see what they do this offseason. Diggs is a volume catcher, on pace for 80 catches. He’s awesome. Not the Diggs of old, but still good. Hollins has been excellent. Williams has to learn the offense.

One thing that is constant, Maye has elevated the receiver’s games. Reminds me of Marino, he made Mark Clayton and Mark Duper into household names. The Pat’s receiver corps are mid range at best. Maye makes them better. I’d love to see them draft a top receiver or TE (or both) to make them even more dangerous offensively. The TE position definitely needs to be addressed, both Henry & Hooper are over 30+, need a young stud pass catching TE. Hooper is on a 1 year contract.

Catches over expected factors in the length of the throw.
A receiver get throws behind the line of 3 yards downfield and a receiver getting throws 20,30,40 yards down field can’t be compared in catch % equally.

Sometimes if you take the time to find out about something you don’t understand it makes more sense.

 

[Thunderhead]

Drake Maye is the rising tide that lifts all boats.

 

[rkarp1]

Boutte and Douglas are obviously NFL players, but they are not THE GUY that Maye needs going forward as Diggs ages out.

Drake Maye is just so good.

Imagine what the offense would look like if we had a true burner for him.

Maye throws a deep ball like no one else I've seen.

I think it is fair to say "as Diggs, Hollins, Hooper and Henry age out" as all are on the wrong side of 30.
I agree, as much as I like Boutte he is not that guy to be the alpha WR
Pop and Williams will be complimentary pieces. nice pieces, but complimentary.
if a stud TE or WR is available on day 2, I would pull the trigger.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Not to be Debbie Downer, but I still don't think this is an overly impressive group. I don't have anything BAD to say about any of our WRs other than Williams who has had a tough rookie year (but I still see long term potential in him). I just don't have anything overly positive to say either. McDaniels is one of the GOAT offensive coordinators and Maye is playing at a special level and I think that's elevating Boutte/Douglas/Hollins. Not saying those aren't good receivers, but I think playing with a great coordinator and QB is elevating them some. Diggs had that monster game vs. BUF early on that I think made everyone rush to say he was "back" to pre injury form but while he's been good, I think he's leveled off to a more "normal" recovery timeline where he's still good and productive but not near is pre injury self.

There's a reason teams still play a good amount of single high and loaded boxes against us despite the crazy downfield passing numbers. Overall I'd say this is still an underwhelming group but it's 4-deep with quality NFL players that have diversified skill sets/route trees. Combined with good TEs, decent receiving backs, ELITE QB play and an outstanding offensive coordinator it's good enough to be crazy productive on offense (like we have been) against defenses playing a lot of cover 1/loaded boxes.

I think better receivers would maintain that production while helping the OL in the run game and in pass pro since it allows for less aggressive/creative blitzing. But this groups is certainly good enough to be a productive offense as-is.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Boutte and Douglas are obviously NFL players, but they are not THE GUY that Maye needs going forward as Diggs ages out.

Drake Maye is just so good.

Imagine what the offense would look like if we had a true burner for him.

Maye throws a deep ball like no one else I've seen.

I agree but I think we have a few too many holes to get THE GUY this year. I think we can hobble one more year with a bunch of 2s and 3s. Also if the THE GUY is in R1 2027 we spread out the cap hit.

 

[ScottishPatriots]

90% of it is the quarterback the guy is dropping 35 yard bombs right into hands and it's landing like a pillow, no offense to Mac Jones but if you gave him these weapons everyone would have WR as a major need right now in the draft.

It's not an urgent need or anything but if someone like Justin Jefferson becomes available and wants out of Minnesota i would still give up a haul.

 

[SlowGettingUp]

I'm glad they've salvaged Douglas. He's turned into a man coverage specialist. He's on of the best WRs in the NFL vs. man coverage:





Boutte's developed into dependable WR2 & Douglas into a big play threat WR3/WR4. Hitting on two 6th round pick WRs in the same draft is close to a 1% outcome.

Note Diggs is number 2 in "Success Rate" on that list. Shorter routes than the top guy though. And among our receivers I think he tends to be doubled more than the others.

 

[scott99]

Catches over expected factors in the length of the throw.
A receiver get throws behind the line of 3 yards downfield and a receiver getting throws 20,30,40 yards down field can’t be compared in catch % equally.

Sometimes if you take the time to find out about something you don’t understand it makes more sense.

Still don’t care about that nonsense, who is monitoring the “expected” part ? Does it account for the receiver’s hands ? Does it account for receivers fighting for the ball ? Does it account for the receiver’s route running ability ? Does is account for good or bad throws ?

I think you watch what a receiver does with your eyes. You can tell Diggs is their best receiver, you can tell Boutte is a good NFL receiver. You can see Hollins plays with great physicality. You can see Pop’s quickness and good hands. Catch the ball, make plays, be dependable for your QB. Nothing is expected, just are you good or not. Bottom line, the Pat’s receiving corps are dependable and have some talent, but the QB is making them look better than they are.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Douglas has been better but still has an odd quirk in his game…I’ve never seen a little guy so regularly lose his balance and essentially tackle himself after a catch.

It’s like he catches it and then is immediately on ice skates

 

[JoeSixPat]

The title is obvious but the young WR we have are not getting their flowers with the league

Boutte just catches everything throw to him, can run just about any route and gets good separation.

Douglas out of the slot is shifty and sneaky good.

Williams as one of the best releases off the line and great speed.

Getting Diggs to teach them while Hollands fills in the gaps the core next year barring major regression or Injury is going to be scary

And more so, the fact that Maye/McDaniels are spreading the ball from game to game (somewhat dependent on the opposing D capabilities too) that NO ONE knows where the ball might be going.

When we are in a must make catch situation, who is the ball going to?

Diggs?
Henry?
Hollins?
Douglas?
Stevenson?
Boutte?

Could be any of them in a go to situation. And there's no way they can all be double teamed. Even in 2007 as potent as Moss and Welker were, they were getting nearly all the targets and Ds knew it, with Brady constantly throwing into double coverage.

And thanks to our spread offense, lack of double teams, Maye's great accuracy and some great athletic toe tap catches, you can see the efficiency in the stats.

As big as Moss's TD record was in 2007, it was partly a result of Brady throwing a LOT of passes into double coverage that Moss couldn't bring down. Yes he had 98 catches but he was targeted a whopping 160 times.

Compare that to Diggs at this juncture. He's not targeted anywhere near as much as Moss was, but he's not far off that pace with 64 catches on just 79 targets. That's INCREDIBLE!

That means Diggs makes his catch 8 out of 10 times, whereas Moss, being THE featured receiver in one of the best offenses ever, could only be counted on to make the must make catch jut a little better than half the time. That can make ALL the difference in a close playoff or Super Bowl, and I much prefer keeping Ds wondering where the ball is going as opposed to letting them know and facing constant double teams!

And it's not just Diggs. Stevenson and Henderson both have an even better catch percentage - nearly 85% - with even some secondary options like Hooper also being worked in as an 80% reliable receiver. So yeah, sprinkle in a guy like Williams when teams might be prone to consider a double team on Diggs, and Maye will really make you pay.

This alone makes them the most dangerous team in the playoffs.

 

[Ring 6]

Still don’t care about that nonsense, who is monitoring the “expected” part ? Does it account for the receiver’s hands ? Does it account for receivers fighting for the ball ? Does it account for the receiver’s route running ability ? Does is account for good or bad throws ?

I think you watch what a receiver does with your eyes. You can tell Diggs is their best receiver, you can tell Boutte is a good NFL receiver. You can see Hollins plays with great physicality. You can see Pop’s quickness and good hands. Catch the ball, make plays, be dependable for your QB. Nothing is expected, just are you good or not. Bottom line, the Pat’s receiving corps are dependable and have some talent, but the QB is making them look better than they are.

Seriously? I already explained it. It’s based upon the length of the throw.

Are you above or below the league average on the type of passes thrown to you.
It factors in whether you are getting easy to complete plays or hard to complete ones.
It’s a STATISTIC not an analysis.

It’s probably more about the QB than the receiver.

 

[TheRainMaker]

There still needs to be that go to alpha WR/TE or someone that can consistently get open. The Pats current pass catchers fade out of games too much. You'll have that one Williams catch and then he's never heard from again which was similar to the Bethel Johnson days. Boutte is still recovering from his injury, but he's becoming a nice WR. Hollins has made some clutch catches this year. Douglas is disappointing and I had higher expectations for him. Diggs is nowhere close to the player he once was and I can see him one as a one and done given he's due $26.5M in 2026. Pats will have a ton of money to steal a young WR away from a cap strapped team and swap out Diggs.