New England Patriots: Six Takeaways from the Preseason So Far
By Hal Bent
WIDE RECEIVER DEPTH STILL UP-IN-THE-AIR:
A few weeks ago I looked at the wide receiver position as one of the best training camp battles (Patriots Wide Receivers Shaping Up as Best Battle in Training Camp) and the position battle will continue into the final game of training camp. With a report from Albert Breer of MMQB.com (formerly of the NFL Network and the Boston Globe) that Aaron Dobson is being shopped around the league, it would appear that Dobson is not the roster lock he may have thought he was during training camp when Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, Danny Amendola and Malcolm Mitchell were all not practicing due to injury.
With Dobson seemingly on the outs, it appears to be a sign that the team expects the injured duo of Amendola and Mitchell to contribute sooner rather than later. It also begs the question of whether there is a surprise addition to the roster beyond Edelman, Mitchell, Hogan, Amendola and Keshawn Martin. Edelman should be ready to go and Hogan seems ready to go, but Mitchell and Amendola are huge question marks heading into September simply because they have been unable to practice or play recently.
Martin has been consistent and was a surprise contributor last year showing the ability to play outside as well as in the slot. Coming from Houston he had the basic concept of the offense (as former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien installed his offense there) and was a big contributor making some big plays in the passing game. He should be a contributor in multi-wide receiver sets.
Chris Harper was an undrafted rookie free agent last year who had a strong training camp, landed on the practice squad and was activated later in the season due to injuries at wide receiver. He had a costly special teams fumble and failed to make an impact on the field with the offense. Harper has been reliable so far in the preseason but failed to make many memorable plays so far to make his case to stick on the 53-man roster.
Devin Lucien was drafted in the seventh-round and at six-foot-two and 200 pounds has NFL size. Known for great hands in his one year at Arizona State, he blew a big chance in the first preseason game against New Orleans when he dropped a long pass in the end zone after pushing off and being flagged for offensive pass interference. That seemed to slow the momentum he had built up in training camp and he is on the outside looking in now.