2026 UDFA Thread - aka Best Thread Of The Year

[moosekill]

@patfanken - I wouldn't expect Brown to be here. I also wouldn't expect one of the UDFA WRs to make the team, honestly. If the Pats were getting Brown, they wouldn't have brought in all the UDFAs. I know people are wowed by Dixon, but he he's more likely to be a PS player to replace Jiles than he is to be the #5 WR. He's extremely raw. Yes, he has talent, but his traits translate into him being a possession type receiver on the outside. Where the Pats have Boutte, Doubs and Hollins. Boutte is slightly miscast by McDaniels with the deeper plays because he doesn't have the long speed that Williams does.

As I pointed out above in another post, it took Brown, Edelman and Welker 3-5 years to break out. And we all know that Brown and Welker both got cut. Brown after his 1st year. Welker after his 1st week. So, Dixon getting cut shouldn't surprise anyone if/when it happens.

Like you, I don't believe the Pats are going to keep more than 5 WR. Because they added Hill, Raridon, and Gilliam. Hill replaces Hooper, Gilliam replaces Westover and Raridon is the 3rd TE. A spot that Dipper had from November 17th onward, but only saw snaps in weeks 17 and 18.. I also think that the Pats will carry a 4th RB while keeping 2 on the PS.

I am not sure if Brown will come or not. That being said, bringing in a bunch of UDFA's says much more about the quality and value the organization places on Douglas Boutte Williams and Chism, than whether or not Brown is coming. Boutte is gone after this year, and may be gone before. Douglas is a JAG. Williams didn't wow as a rookie, hopefully he gets better. Chism at this point is a jag at best, will he improve, who knows? Players sometimes get better, sometimes get worse.

 

[Wozzy]

huh?
when rookies are ready, and cost peanuts, vets are traded or released.

Baloney, vets are released a year later or traded. You need to see what you have with rookies before you make any moves.

You also don’t weaken your depth midseason by indiscriminately cutting starters, you don’t upset the locker room by benching vets playing well. It’s a silly notion.

 

[mgteich]

Maybe, but I’d bet on one of the RB’s to do the job. Kickoff are more like a run play now, Jam Miller or whoever wins the backup gig.

Dixon might make the team, he may not… or it might take some time to develop him. Chism already made an NFL roster. He is a comparable athlete and similar quickness to Amendola or Welker, I’d have him returning punts instead if Marcus Jones missed time.

Brown, Doubs, Hollins, Boutte, Williams (plus 3 TE's and 3 RB's as additional receivers, and RB's being the KR's)

Why would another WR make the 53?

 

[mgteich]

I am not sure if Brown will come or not. That being said, bringing in a bunch of UDFA's says much more about the quality and value the organization places on Douglas Boutte Williams and Chism, than whether or not Brown is coming. Boutte is gone after this year, and may be gone before. Douglas is a JAG. Williams didn't wow as a rookie, hopefully he gets better. Chism at this point is a jag at best, will he improve, who knows? Players sometimes get better, sometimes get worse.

You are giving reasons why we will trade for a top receiver, not the reason why an UDFA will be our #5 or #6 WR, getting almost no reps.

Also, if the situation were that bad, we would have drafted a WR in the 5th or move up with the 5th and a 6th or two.

 

[rkarp1]

Baloney, vets are released a year later or traded. You need to see what you have with rookies before you make any moves.

You also don’t weaken your depth midseason by indiscriminately cutting starters, you don’t upset the locker room by benching vets playing well. It’s a silly notion.

vets are moving in season, every season.
if Chism was good enough, Pop would have been moved

 

[moosekill]

You are giving reasons why we will trade for a top receiver, not the reason why an UDFA will be our #5 or #6 WR, getting almost no reps.

Also, if the situation were that bad, we would have drafted a WR in the 5th or move up with the 5th and a 6th or two.

Not sure what you are trying to say here. Honestly they probably have the trade in place for Brown and are may bring in Diggs, they brought in a bunch of udfa's to throw against the wall to see if they could replace some of our current players, who they obviously aren't committed to at this point. In the case of Boutte, probably hoping for a 5th round draft pick for him if one of the rookies can replace him.

 

[Wozzy]

Brown, Doubs, Hollins, Boutte, Williams (plus 3 TE's and 3 RB's as additional receivers, and RB's being the KR's)

Why would another WR make the 53?

Hollins, Boutte and Douglas are up for new contracts…. they’re not guaranteed to be here.

 

[Wozzy]

vets are moving in season, every season.
if Chism was good enough, Pop would have been moved

Pop wasn’t their primary slot WR, they played Diggs, Hollins in there as much as anyone… Douglas was just another layer of talent in front of Chism.

You're not benching these vets when they’re playing well, no matter how much potential you think Chism has in the slot.

He’s an UDFA, getting paid peanuts… they had no problem letting him earn his way and wait for an opportunity… which eventually arrived.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Pop wasn’t their primary slot WR, they played Diggs, Hollins in there as much as anyone… Douglas was just another layer of talent in front of Chism.

You're not benching these vets when they’re playing well, no matter how much potential you think Chism has in the slot.

He’s an UDFA, getting paid peanuts… they had no problem letting him earn his way and wait for an opportunity… which eventually arrived.

And, FWIW, Chism is making about $3M less than Douglas this year, so Douglas might be trade bait if they don't see a huge difference.

 

[Wozzy]

And, FWIW, Chism is making about $3M less than Douglas this year, so Douglas might be trade bait if they don't see a huge difference.

Agreed, they’re bringing in a lot of talented UDFA WR’s, the WR room is very much in flux.

 

[rkarp1]

Pop wasn’t their primary slot WR, they played Diggs, Hollins in there as much as anyone… Douglas was just another layer of talent in front of Chism.

You're not benching these vets when they’re playing well, no matter how much potential you think Chism has in the slot.

He’s an UDFA, getting paid peanuts… they had no problem letting him earn his way and wait for an opportunity… which eventually arrived.

Chism never over took anyone
Hollins got injured. They did not want to risk Henderson.
Chism returned kicks and saw some offensive snaps in 2 blow out wins

If Chism were good enough, he would have played last season at the expense of Pop or Hollins.

 

[PatsFan2]

Agreed, they’re bringing in a lot of talented UDFA WR’s, the WR room is very much in flux.

Let's not overdo it Woz: if they were so Talented they would have been Drafted.

 

[DaBruinz]

Issue with Chism is he isn’t getting faster.

Troy Brown didn't get faster. Neither did Edelman nor Welker. They relied completely on quickness. And Chism has that in spades.

 

[DaBruinz]

Chism never over took anyone
Hollins got injured. They did not want to risk Henderson.
Chism returned kicks and saw some offensive snaps in 2 blow out wins

If Chism were good enough, he would have played last season at the expense of Pop or Hollins.

I know this is going to suck for you to hear, but Chism took offensive snaps in every game he played in. Including the 2 play-off games. You could have easily looked it up on Pro-Football-Reference instead of being disingenuous and pretending otherwise.

Besides 41 offensie snaps against the Jets and 26 against the Phins, Chism saw another 14 in the play-offs against the Chargers and 22 against Houston. That's a pretty good look at the guy.

Is he a lock. Nope. But he already knows the offense and has been successful in limited snaps (4 Targets/ 4 receptions, 95 yards, 23.75 YPR). So, that gives him a leg up on people coming in. We'll have to see if he continues to develop or if he ends up as a PSer for the Pats or another team.

 

[rkarp1]

Troy Brown didn't get faster. Neither did Edelman nor Welker. They relied completely on quickness. And Chism has that in spades.

JE and Welkie had a QB that was able to capitalize on their quickness and mismatches against the defense.
so far, Maye is not that type of QB.
Maye to date has relied on bigger targets, that are able to use their bodies and hands to make plays, rather than use their quickness to make plays. Henry, Diggs, Hollins, Boutte all were great when Maye threw the ball to them. statistically, the best in league history. Pop, Chism, Williams not so great.

 

[rkarp1]

I know this is going to suck for you to hear, but Chism took offensive snaps in every game he played in. Including the 2 play-off games. You could have easily looked it up on Pro-Football-Reference instead of being disingenuous and pretending otherwise.

Besides 41 offensie snaps against the Jets and 26 against the Phins, Chism saw another 14 in the play-offs against the Chargers and 22 against Houston. That's a pretty good look at the guy.

Is he a lock. Nope. But he already knows the offense and has been successful in limited snaps (4 Targets/ 4 receptions, 95 yards, 23.75 YPR). So, that gives him a leg up on people coming in. We'll have to see if he continues to develop or if he ends up as a PSer for the Pats or another team.

Hollins did not play against the Chargers or Texans.
Chism returned kicks and saw some offensive snaps
If Hollins was healthy, Chism might not have been active in either playoffs game
funny, you did not mention Hollins injury

fwiw, in 3 games Chism played, he got 2 offensive snaps. 1 game 4 offensive snaps. another game 5 offensive snaps. in those 5 games, Chism saw zero targets.
the only 2 games he saw targets were the 2 blowout wins I referenced

 

[DaBruinz]

That is on Brady and the coaching staff more than on Edelman. Edelman was already leading all rookies in receptions (and I think on targets) when he broke his arm as a rookie.

Umm.. Edelman had 21 receptions for 182 yards in 5 games. That 5th game was week 6 against the Titans. That's when he broke his arm.

He missed 4 games going forward. The only reason he got 16 more receptions was because of the blow-out win against Houston where he got 10. Otherwise, he was a non-factor in the other 5 games. Claiming that's on Brady and the Coaching staff when Edelman was 1 for 3 against Jax, Buff, and Carolina is a stretch.

The broken arm doesn't explain the downturn in 2010 or 2011.

2012 - Edelman finally beat out Deion Branch and the Pats waived Branch. Then Edelman was IRed and Branch was brought back.

If you want to blame the Pats because they had Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez and Woodhead as receiving options in 2010 before adding Branch why don't you ask yourself WHY they thought they needed to add Branch.

IN 2011, the Pats had Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, Branch and Woodhead as receiving options. Yet the Pats added Chad Johnson and Edelman couldn't beat out Johnson or Branch for playing time.

In 2012, Edelman finally beat out Branch and Branch was released in November. Then, Mid December, Edelman got hurt and was IRed. The Pats brought back Branch.

 

[DaBruinz]

Hollins did not play against the Chargers or Texans.
Chism returned kicks and saw some offensive snaps
If Hollins was healthy, Chism might not have been active in either playoffs game
funny, you did not mention Hollins injury

fwiw, in 3 games Chism played, he got 2 offensive snaps. 1 game 4 offensive snaps. another game 5 offensive snaps. in those 5 games, Chism saw zero targets.
the only 2 games he saw targets were the 2 blowout wins I referenced

Look at you backtracking and trying to pretend you weren't full of it. YOU claimed that Chism only saw snaps in the blowouts. You were wrong. Just admit it and move on.

 

[DaBruinz]

Pop wasn’t their primary slot WR, they played Diggs, Hollins in there as much as anyone… Douglas was just another layer of talent in front of Chism.

You're not benching these vets when they’re playing well, no matter how much potential you think Chism has in the slot.

He’s an UDFA, getting paid peanuts… they had no problem letting him earn his way and wait for an opportunity… which eventually arrived.

Point of Information:

(slot numbers are Reg +play-offs)
Diggs was the top guy in the Slot, seeing 390 snaps there.
Douglas saw 282 snaps in the slot.
Hollins saw 164 snaps in the slot.
Boutte saw saw 70 snaps in the slot
Williams saw 34 snaps in the slot
Chism saw 27 snaps in the slot

Doubs saw most of his time lined up wide (708 of his 831 offensive snaps) But he did see 115 snaps from the slot with the Packers.

Doubs, Holins, Boutte, and Williams are locks..

Douglas, Chism and the UDFAs are fighting for that 5th WR spot. It doesn't help Douglas that he doesn't play Special Teams. Not sure which, if any, of the UDFAs has special teams experience. Either as a returner, Gunner, or edge on opposing FG/Punts.

 

[n1997y]

I am not sure if Brown will come or not. That being said, bringing in a bunch of UDFA's says much more about the quality and value the organization places on Douglas Boutte Williams and Chism, than whether or not Brown is coming. Boutte is gone after this year, and may be gone before. Douglas is a JAG. Williams didn't wow as a rookie, hopefully he gets better. Chism at this point is a jag at best, will he improve, who knows? Players sometimes get better, sometimes get worse.

Bringing in a bunch of UDFAs is just another layer to the roster building process.

Vrabel said he’s trying to make the team better, faster, younger. We should see that he values those qualities more than he values any specific players, including Douglas Boutte Williams and Chism.

Not sure what you are trying to say here. Honestly they probably have the trade in place for Brown and are may bring in Diggs, they brought in a bunch of udfa's to throw against the wall to see if they could replace some of our current players, who they obviously aren't committed to at this point. In the case of Boutte, probably hoping for a 5th round draft pick for him if one of the rookies can replace him.

They brought in a bunch of younger faster cheaper candidates to see if they were also better. That has nothing to do with not being committed to present or past roster players. No NFL team is committed to any of their present players over replacing them if it makes the team better, except as contracts require.

Agreed, they’re bringing in a lot of talented UDFA WR’s, the WR room is very much in flux.

Exactly. And they have a chance to take a look at them all before deciding how much to spend on Diggs or Brown. I’d be okay if neither Diggs or Brown ends up here, because it says Vrabel and his minions believe that the best value for the team is younger faster cheaper players, and I’m fine with that.