The Patriots have long missed having a reliable and true No. 1 wide receiver over the last five years, with Julian Edelman being the last irrefutable top of the depth chart player in the receiving corps. That shouldn't be an issue this season, as Mike Vrabel addressed the void by signing Stefon Diggs and drafting Kyle Williams, hoping they can turn the offense around as Drake Maye's top weapons.
Based on what the quarterback showed as a rookie and how the receivers have looked during practice so far, there's a good chance the Patriots will finally have a game-changing receiver on the field again, which is crucial since they haven't had a 1,000+ yard pass catcher since Edelman in 2019.
ESPN's Mike Reiss emphasized that fact over the weekend, as the Patriots took Sunday off to prepare for their first week of padded practices. It's an NFL record streak the team hopes to end, and they should have a good chance to accomplish that in 2025.
"No team in the NFL has had a longer drought without a 1,000-yard receiver than the Patriots, as Julian Edelman's 1,117 receiving yards in 2019 marks the last time a New England receiver hit the 1,000-yard mark. The Packers last had a 1,000-yard receiver in 2021. Outside of Green Bay and New England, every franchise has had at least one 1,000-yard receiver in the past two seasons alone."
Looking at the current and projected roster for the upcoming season, there's good reason to believe this could be the year that the Patriots finally end the unfortunate streak.
The Patriots have built an offense capable of ending their 1,000+ yard receiver drought in 2025
The 2019 season feels like ages ago, and it's certainly not one that many Patriots fans want to remember for many reasons. However, it was the last year that the team had big-name receivers on the offense, as Edelman led them all by recording 100 receptions for 1,117 yards and six touchdowns.
He might have repeated that production in 2020, had he not gotten injured and been able to play in only six games. But he retired at the end of the year, and no receiver has come close to filling the void left by the soon-to-be Patriots' Hall of Famer.
Over the last five years, the performances of quarterbacks and the offense haven't given many receivers a chance to perform at their highest level, let alone reach the 1,000-yard mark. That should be the least of problems during the 2025 season with Maye under center and players like Diggs and Williams vying for that WR1 spot on the roster.
Either could easily break the longtime drought that has plagued the offense, and according to multiple projections, there's a possibility they both could. The roster is in the best position possible to accomplish that, and the schedule will inevitably become the groundwork to make that even easier.