Patriots: this surprise WR may have advantage in training camp

This surprise Patriots WR could have an advantage during preseason camp.

It doesn’t take a football whisperer to realize that the Patriots have one of the thinnest wide receiving corps in the NFL. The Mohamed Sanu trade has been a disaster, 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry had loads of potential but injuries limited him to five starts as a rookie, and free agent acquisition Marqise Lee has played just six games over the last two years.

However, you would still think that those three players are the betting favorites to win the starting jobs behind obvious No. 1 option Julian Edelman, who’s entering his age-34 season.

What some fans might not realize is that all of those variables could open the door for a player that’s presently battling for a spot on the final roster to surprise a few people. In our eyes, that’s former undrafted wideout Damiere Byrd.

The 27-year-old speedster is an obvious pick to have a leg up on the rest of the receivers during the preseason battle primarily because he played alongside Cam Newton in Carolina from 2016 to 2018. Sure, he wasn’t a focal point of the Panthers offense — he registered just 12 receptions for 129 yards during that span — but entering camp having previously caught passes from New England’s projected starting quarterback is better than walking into preseason totally blind, is it not?

And without a traditional security blanket veteran TE at his disposal, the Newton-Byrd comfort connection only seems more plausible

Furthermore, Byrd is fresh off his most productive season in the NFL last year. After signing a one-year, $720,000 deal with the Cardinals, he managed to carve out a role as the No. 3 wideout behind studs Larry Fitzgerald and Christian Kirk. In 11 appearances, the South Carolina product posted 32 receptions for 359 yards and one touchdown while playing 43.4% of Arizona’s offensive snaps, all of which were career-highs.

On a Patriots team that lacks game-breaking speed on the perimeter, Byrd is a sleeper pick to not only make the final roster, but to potentially shoot up the depth chart by the start of the regular season in September.