Keeping 8 receivers highlights one of biggest Patriots roster surprises
The Patriots can almost field an entire offense with their receiver room alone.
It was a bit of a surprise that the Patriots 53-man roster sports eight receivers.
Making the team, for now, are: DeMario Douglas, Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins, Kayshon Boutte, Kyle Williams, Efton Chism III, Javon Baker and Kendrick Bourne.
Six seemed like a safe number with an outside chance for seven.
Keeping eight rarely, if ever, happens.
Going back as far as 2003, the largest receiver rooms for the Patriots had seven. They had that number in 2008, 2014 and 2019.
Last year, they kept six.
Eight doesn’t compute with the norm.
The obvious keepers were Diggs, Douglas, Boutte, Hollins, and Williams.
Chism was so good during training camp and the preseason, he had to be kept. That’s six.
As a receiver, Baker flashed at times, but didn’t fare well in games. He conceivably got a spot on the 53 largely due to his contributions on special teams.
Bourne, meanwhile, was relegated to second team reps before getting rolled up on during practice, injuring his foot/ankle. He’s been on the sidelines since the first week in August.
He wasn’t put on IR, and still managed to gain a spot.
Will the Patriots keep all eight?
Hard to believe they will. The situation appears to be fluid. Patriots might have more wheeling and dealing via trades in the days to come.
