New England Patriots kick-off in 15 days: profiling No. 15 Reggie Wayne
Opening day countdowns are great. So are player profiles. Here at Musket Fire, we decided to combine them and create a Week 1 countdown-oriented, jersey number-dictated player profile series. Yesterday we looked at No. 16 Jonathan Krause, and the day before that it was No. 17 Aaron Dobson . Because today marks 15 days until the New England Patriots open 2015, we are profiling No. 15, wide receiver Reggie Wayne.
Just yesterday, the owner of the No. 15 jersey was undrafted rookie Zach D’Orazio. But now Wayne is on the team, some number swapping went down.
New #Patriots wide receiver Reggie Wayne will wear No. 15. pic.twitter.com/IVLRaimDj2
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) August 25, 2015
Selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft, Wayne is one of the best receivers of this century. Over his 14 years with the Colts, Wayne caught 1,070 passes for 14,345 yards and 82 touchdowns.
Here’s a really cool fact about Wayne: he did not miss a single regular season game from 2002 through 2012. While he did show signs of age in the past two seasons, Wayne posted a solid stat line of 64 receptions, 779 yards and a pair of touchdowns last year.
Say what you want about Wayne and his age, but be careful betting against him. Catching passes from Tom Brady will rejuvenate his career.
In New England, Wayne steps into an aerial attack that doesn’t need him to replicate his 2012 form. Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Brandon LaFell will command opposing defense’s attention; that means Wayne will often be matched-up on cornerbacks of lesser quality.
Count me as one of those initial naysayers of the Wayne-to-Foxboro rumors earlier this summer who has changed his tune. If I had an extra hundred bucks after paying for tuition this fall, I’d buy a No. 15 jersey.
In case you missed them, here are the profiles for No. 18 Matthew Slater, No. 19 Brandon LaFell, No. 21 Malcolm Butler, No. 22 Robert McClain, No. 23 Patrick Chung, No. 24 Bradley Fletcher, No. 25 Daxton Swanson, No. 26 Logan Ryan, No. 27 Tavon Wilson, No. 28 James White, No. 29 LeGarrette Blount, No. 30 Duron Harmon, No. 31 Tarell Brown, No. 32 Devin McCourty, No. 33 Dion Lewis, No. 35 Jonas Gray, No. 36 Tyler Gaffney, No. 37 Jordan Richards, No. 38 Brandon Bolden and No. 39 Travaris Cadet.
Be sure to check back on Musket Fire tomorrow morning as we celebrate 14 days until Week 1 by profiling the owner of the No. 14 jersey, wide receiver Chris Harper.