For much of the offseason, there was a lot of excitement amongst Patriots fans for one rookie that nobody would have expected. Beyond the optimism surrounding players like left tackle Will Campbell and running back TreVeyon Henderson, undrafted wide receiver Efton Chism III drew the most hype, which only increased as the summer went on.
He not only impressed at training camp, but he also outperformed all expectations during the preseason games, officially becoming the most exciting rookie for fans to gravitate toward.
Because Josh McDaniels is back and he has shown to be an expert in making slot receivers like Chism superstars, there has been plenty of talk suggesting what kind of player he could inevitably become in the Patriots' system. He has already garnered numerous comparisons to Patriots greats, such as Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman, primarily due to his size and skill set.
However, we have yet to see that during a regular-season game, and unfortunately, that trend continues in Week 3 on Sunday, as the Patriots are set to take on the Steelers at Gillette Stadium. Chism was once again ruled out, despite some hopefulness that he would be suited up for the contest, as he was seen on the field for practice reps before kickoff.
Patriots inactives for #PITvsNE. pic.twitter.com/iESkG3eZwz
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 21, 2025
Efton Chism's NFL debut continues to be put on hold by the Patriots
While it's not entirely unexpected for Chism to remain a healthy scratch at the start of the season, it's still disappointing in the eyes of the fans who have longed to see what he could do in a regular season game after an impressive summer.
It's difficult to say when he will finally get an opportunity to do that, but it's clear it won't be any time soon.
To be fair, however, the slot position has been somewhat inconsistent over the first two games, as Stefon Diggs has predominantly been in that spot, which has, in turn, forced DeMario Douglas to be sidelined a lot more than anyone expected. McDaniels hasn't shown he can utilize them both on the field at the same time, which would seem to imply that Chism wouldn't be more active either if he were made available.
Seeing how that continues to transform over the next few weeks might give a clearer indication of whether Chism will be active sooner rather than later. But given that he's considered the sixth or seventh receiver on the team, Patriots fans might need to be more patient moving forward, as his debut doesn't seem to be in the works at this point.