New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye described his wide receiver room by two words on Friday: crowded and competitive.
The Patriots roster currently features seven wide receivers with NFL experience, as they acquired A.J. Brown and Romeo Doubs this offseason to work with Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism III.
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As the roster must eventually dwindle down to 53 players, keeping all seven feels far fetched. That means at least one will be the odd man out.
Among the group, Patriots fans view one as the clear odd man out. In the results of the latest SB Nation Reacts survey, 43% of participants said that was Efton Chism III .
The comment section, however, was more split:
Mosi_Tatupu
Probably Chism gets cut but can’t rule out an aging Hollins or a trade for Boutte or injury, but as of right now it’s Chism on the bubble.
Chu
I put Chism because he may make it to PS and I think he redundant to Pop who I think is better underneath quick slot. Imagine McDaniels coming up with a wr version of Lil Woodhead.
NittanyLions2.0:
Boutte. I think he gets traded with his value increasing with his play. Hopefully he shows it in pre season. Might be able to get a fourth for him.
7i165
Hollins as he is in last year of his contract and could free 4m cap space. But only if other players show they are able to be as effective as him
zionlion02
I’ll go wild card and say Demario. I think his play is too chaotic and uncontrolled and I’ve seen numerous mentions of him not being able to run routes. Boutte is a far better receiver playing a harder to replace role.
mathblaster97
Cut Chism and stash him on the PS
All in all, this week’s survey results look as follows:
21% of voters would prefer to keep all seven, with multiple participants noting the depth would be welcomed for injury insurance. DeMario Douglas, who enters the final year of his rookie contract, was the next receiver to be listed receiving 15% of the votes.
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Despite potentially being the most likely to be the odd man out after a trade request this past spring entering the last year of his contract, Kayshon Boutte received the least amount of votes at 4%.
No matter who is on the outside-looking-in come Week 1, New England is hoping the improvements atop the wide receiver depth chart will help them get back to the Super Bowl and finish the job this time, as they currently have the eighth highest odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to win Super Bowl LXI — the fifth highest odds in the AFC.
