FOXBORO – The Patriots don’t have a real No. 1 receiver within the mould of Davante Adams, Ja’Marr Chase, Tyreek Hill, or Stefon Diggs.
They don’t have an explosive game-changer who calls for double protection or scares an opposing defensive coordinator.
What have they got?
Basically, a group of wideouts who vary from good to excellent with totally different strengths and ability units and would possibly, simply would possibly, show to be surprisingly efficient in 2022.
While most of the names are the identical from final 12 months’s group, the addition of DeVante Parker ought to increase the unit if he stays wholesome. And the latter is an enormous if contemplating Parker, who arrived by way of commerce with Miami, has been injury-plagued all through his profession.
When wholesome, Parker has been capable of do some harm, most notably in opposition to the Patriots. Now on the opposite aspect, he’s off to a very good begin.
Over the primary two days of camp Parker has turned quite a lot of heads, making a number of spotlight reel performs, with Thursday’s magnificence the undisputed “Play of the Day.”
With the offense as a complete scorching on Day 1, and cooling off significantly Day 2, the blended bag provides cause for pause.
In different phrases, let’s not chisel the heads of Parker, Nelson Agholor, Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers on the Mt. Rushmore of receiver rooms simply but. The Patriots nonetheless haven’t placed on pads and began hitting folks in earnest. That comes Monday.
But there may be hope, contemplating how shortly Parker has meshed with Jones, and figures to place the opposite receivers in additional helpful conditions.
Thus far, via the early camps and begin of coaching camp, he’s been fairly regular and a dependable goal for Jones, whereas Agholor and Bourne have additionally made their presence felt.
Parker’s prime play on Thursday got here within the purple zone, very similar to a lot of his notable catches so far.
Jones ripped an ideal 10-yard back-shoulder move which Parker reeled in with Jalen Mills in protection, and toe-tapped ultimately zone on the sideline for the rating earlier than falling out of bounds. The crowd went loopy.
“I love being here,” he mentioned. “They’ve welcomed me, and I appreciate that.”
Parker mentioned he’s not used to having such large crowds and the corresponding ambiance that creates in a coaching camp setting.
The means it’s regarded each within the spring and now in coaching camp, Parker could be added to the Patriots’ brief listing of professional red-zone threats together with Hunter Henry.
Having multiple confirmed goal ought to assist Jones higher navigate the purple space. Last 12 months, the unit began slowly when it comes to scoring touchdowns from 20 yards in, however picked it up later within the 12 months to complete within the prime ten in purple zone scoring.
On Thursday, nonetheless, the offense, with Jones and rookie Bailey Zappe taking turns beneath middle, hit a serious snag within the cash space, going 10 straight performs with out a completion on the ultimate aggressive purple zone sequence earlier than Jones hit Henry on the ultimate play of the day.
There’s nonetheless loads of time for the offense to iron out the kinks. At the very least, Parker has regarded the half.
With his skill to make contested catches, he provides a much-needed layer to the offense. It was the layer former first-round decide N’Keal Harry was supposed to supply.
Watching the chiseled 6-foot-3, 220 pound Parker, he’s each bit the participant the Patriots thought they have been getting after they drafted Harry – athletic, highly effective, and freakish together with his skill to leap up and are available away with the ball.
“Oh man, it’s awesome adding a piece like that,” Henry mentioned Wednesday. “A man that’s been round, performed a very long time within the league, works actually onerous, large physique, could make quite a lot of performs, contested catches, at all times good so as to add a man like that, take just a little stress off all people else and proceed so as to add weapons.
“The more weapons you have all over the place, the tougher it is for them to defend.”
Parker’s skill to stand up, float above his defender, and pull within the ball has had all of the the gamers – the quarterbacks specifically – clapping from the sideline.
“I’m just hoping to bring energy,” Parker mentioned, talking with the media Thursday. “Just go out there, play as hard as I can. Do what I can to help the team.”
The former Dolphins wideout appears to have embraced his new teammates, the workforce, to not point out the fan base.
“It’s very different. To me, it’s like a million people out there,” he mentioned. “It gets everyone riled up. I just love it.”
Parker will proceed to be a fan favourite — to not point out Jones’ favourite — if he continues to make performs, and by extension, makes everybody round him higher.
The Patriots hardly threatened defenses in any respect down the sector, or exterior the numbers final 12 months.
Maybe Parker can present just a little of that, together with rookie speedster Tyquan Thornton. They’re already stacked with good intermediate receivers, whether or not it’s Bourne, Agholor, or Jakobi Meyers.
Collectively, it’s a very good combine if everybody performs their roles.
“We want to be able to move the ball downfield in any way we want to, short, medium or long passes,” Jones mentioned Wednesday. “It could be catch-after-run, it may be within the operating sport. So explosive performs and play inside ourselves and use our strengths.
“I think it’s all about the guys in the room and using those guys and using their strengths and me just distributing the ball to different people . . . it’s just getting it to the right guy, the guy that’s most open and let him get the yak and make the play or make the deep play or the gadget play.”
If he can keep wholesome, which is the continued disclaimer in terms of Parker, he’ll make the group higher. That a lot has been apparent.
“He fits in well,” Bourne mentioned of Parker. “It’s exciting to see.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com