Select your 2024 NEP WR corps

[Real fan 02]

I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because he’s young, fast and was used horribly just like Harry in gadget plays mostly. He’ll have a clean slate. We’ll know very quickly If he doesn’t get it in this year’s camp.

Bourne is not an outside guy. Douglas has the slot covered. Osborne will be competing for a spot.

Until proven otherwise, it will be a battle of the JAG’s.

I wouldn't necessarily call pop and KJ jags.. these guys are playmakers. The NAVY offense left with the parting of ways.. so AVPs offense is supposed to be WR centric so your right we'll see early on in camp...

 

[Real fan 02]

That Juju we saw last year might not be better than him below I am going with the latter.

K.J. Osborn Career Stats - NFL - ESPN

Complete career NFL stats for Tennessee Titans Wide Receiver K.J. Osborn on ESPN. Includes scoring, rushing, defensive and receiving stats.

www.espn.com

I believe you're right ??! KJ is a playmaker. This guy can ball. Don't forget we also have Gibson who lines up out wide and runs WR routes he also may be better than juju..

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Here's the thing with Juju... If he's not a top 3 or maybe top 4 option for you at WR, what's the point? If he's fallen that far down the depth chart, he's obviously not someone you're going to keep on the roster next year once the financials of cutting him are easy. He has no STs value in the interim so if he's not a top 3 or 4 option at WR he can't even be active on gameday.

Polk and Baker are roster locks based on draft status. Douglas is based on his play last year, upside, and youth. So that's 3 spots locked down. My guess is that Bourne, Osborn, Juju, and Thornton are fighting for 2 spots. Thornton could maybe justify a 3rd spot from that group (6th WR overall) because of the developmental potential that they'll cling to. But I have a hard time seeing all 3 of Bourne/Osborn/Juju making the team.

And if you try to use money to justify keeping Juju, those other 2 have dead money as well. Not as much, but it's not like it's financially good to cut them either. So that won't save Juju.

 

[50-yard-line]

The thing about Juju is that we gave to see if his knee is fully recovered. He was looking quicker by year’s end. If he’s back physically, I expect him on the 53, at least until we near the trade deadline.

 

[UrbanCowboy]

We are not carrying 6 WR's Slater is retired thank goodness.

Ya, I can see that since we have so many offensive lineman, probably keep an extra one or two there.

 

[mgteich]

OK, I'll play

MAKING THE 53 MAN ROSTER
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Douglas - a lock (if not on IR)
Polk - a lock, the same as every early draft choice since 2000 (if not on IR)
Baker - a lock, the same as every early choice since 2000 (if not on IR)
Osborne (if not on IR)
Bourne (if not on PUP or IR)
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Reagor may make it as a STer (kick returner)
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If Shuster is cut, the effect on the cap is under $2M. I don't see why anyone wants to keep him.
Thornton, Boutte and Luther are the odd men out.

It is indeed possible that Thronton makes it as a 6th instead of Reagor if he plays well in camp and Bourne isn't at 100%.

 

[denverpatsfan]

I'll pay for Thorton's bus ticket out of town...

 

[JohnJH]

Not in any order

Pop Douglas
Ja'Lynn Polk
Javon baker
KJ Osborne
Kendrick Bourne
Juju Smith-Shuster, only because of the cap hit.

I still cut Smith-Schuster to give the two rookies more reps.

 

[TommyD4207]

1) Douglas
2) 4 of the 6 Bournes
3) Thornton

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Not yet a finished product but this room has been upgraded significantly. I would have liked to see a true #1 added via trade but at the very least its not as hapless as last year. When bourne went down week 8 we had a rookie demario douglas and the rest were almost completely useless. This year you bring back kb hopefully close to full speed, osborn should help, douglas hopefully improves, and id imagine both rookies at the least should be an improvement over nothing.

 

[PatDaPatriot]

I think 7 total WR make the team including Reagor due to his abilities as a KR under the new rules. I think having a KR specialist on the roster will be a new league wide trend.

 

[Zuma]

I’m a bit old school when it comes to playing time and believe rookies need to earn it. And this really is pertaining to WR1 this year. Since we don’t actually have a true WR1…this gets a little murky and should be based solely on athleticism and experience in the system. Since the offense has changed I’m not so sure the old E/P Patriots scheme matters much in 2024 in this regard. So now we’re talking about previous NFL production and size / athleticism for this position for 2024… however we also have to think beyond to 2025 because we need the rookies to get experience.

I would put Bourne at WR1 for the reasons mentioned above but there is the injury issue. Is he fully healed? I have doubts he will be the same player he was prior to injury in 2023. Osborn? He has some production but not sure he has the height and speed to play outside against the other teams best CB. Thornton has been a bust so far…he’s still a project IMO.

Tl:tr so despite my rambling of how things should play out at WR1 in 2024…IMO I think the rookies should get the bulk of the snaps…

WR1: Baker
WR2: Polk
WR3: Douglas
WR4: Bourne
WR5: Osborn
WR6: Thornton

IMO Reagor should return both kicks and punts with M. Jones backing him up. I think Douglas is too valuable in the slot to risk injury. And if it’s apparent Thornton is not a good fit for the NFL then Reagor can take his spot in depth.

 

[mgteich]

I think 7 total WR make the team including Reagor due to his abilities as a KR under the new rules. I think having a KR specialist on the roster will be a new league wide trend.

There is no trend to carry 6 WR plus a kick returner who has played for your as WR.

Being a KR is exactly what you want in a #5 or #6 WR. You might check out how many catches our #5 and #6 WR have had.

I see us having at most 4 WR's active plus a KR.

 

[Boston Boxer]

Not in any order

Pop Douglas
Ja'Lynn Polk
Javon baker
KJ Osborne
Kendrick Bourne
Juju Smith-Shuster, only because of the cap hit.

good point on Juju and the cap hit.

 

[mgteich]

good point on Juju and the cap hit.

yup, the patriots apparently can't afford the $2M additional it would cost to cut Shuster. The roster spot is worth the $2M, really it is. If Shuster isn't one of our top 3 WR's he would be inactive in every game since he has no ST skills.

If Shuster is one of our top 3 WR's it made little sense to extend Bourne, extend Reagor, sign Osborne and sign two early round WR's. We started the offseason with Parker, Shuster, and Thornton signed for next year in addition to Douglas.

Of course, we are keeping Douglas. And then, we made transactions to fill the other 4-5 roster spots. Make no mistake, it is Douglas and the 4-5 with new contracts.
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NOT THAT IT'S CRITICAL
But we do seem to agree in the poll on the top five and are divided with regard to a 6th (no 6th, Reagor or Thornton).

 

[Hugepatsfan]

We know that all 3 of Douglas/Polk/Baker will make the team. The question is how that trio compares to the vet group of Bourne/Osborn/Juju. The rest of the team will see what happens at WR in camp. You have to respect them and their efforts. As much as we want the rookies/young guys to get all the snaps, the coaching staff has to be able to look the rest of the players in the eye and ask them to play hard. If the young guys are clearly behind the vets there's definitely some conflict of interest there.

I think it's going to be tough to justify cutting any of the vets (Bourne/Osborn/Juju) if they're top 3 options. So as a fan, I'm HOPING that Douglas/Polk/Baker can all earn spots in the top 4 of the depth chart. Then you can cut 1 or 2 of that veteran trio and give the young guys ton of playing time.

It gets more complicated if the rookies struggle. Then you have to balance wanting to let them play and learn vs. being fair to the rest of the team and keeping/playing the vets who give them a better chance to win. At least to start the year. If you're 2-8 midseason then yeah you can start shifting to giving young guy splaying time over vets even if it's a short term hit, but to start the year you owe it to the team to put as good a team out there as you can.

 

[denverpatsfan]

Hopefully the team is moving on from the E/P system which only TFB could run and will use another system that these rookies can learn faster. BB is gone. TFB is gone. Skippy is gone. Time to move on.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Maybe last year was an aberration for Juju due to his knee and he shows something this year, I love Javon, I think he's going to be our top receiver, he has the attitude top WR have, and I think he has it.

 

[mgteich]

Maybe last year was an aberration for Juju due to his knee and he shows something this year, I love Javon, I think he's going to be our top receiver, he has the attitude top WR have, and I think he has it.

maybe, but we are not cutting any of these five to keep him: Douglas, Bourne, Osborne, Polk, Baker. With the re-signing and the two draftees, the team has shown that they have moved on.

Maybe Shuster can show something camp (basically his pro-day tryouts) and another team will trade for him. Of course, we are on hook for his 2024 salary.

 

[bakes781]

I think the debate is between Reagor and Thornton. I chose Reagor. He showed some flashes at the end of last season. In the end they are both potential special teams returners.

Boutte was a bust that I called when he was drafted.

Juju needed to go bye bye already IMO.