#PostPulpit Mailbag: Who will be the odd men out at wide receiver?

The latest edition of our Patriots mailbag answers questions about wide receivers, the draft, and more.  

With the NFL Draft in the rearview mirror, the New England Patriots now fully turn their attention to the playing field as the offseason program rolls on. Before the competition dials up in training camp, rookie minicamp and organized team activities will soon give us our first look at both this year’s roster and coaching staff.

But first, let’s take a look at some of the new pieces on this year’s roster and preview future competitions in this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag.

@riraho5 Seems like we can lock in WRs JaLynn Polk, Javon Baker, Bourne, Douglas and Osborn. That’s 5 already….so JJSS, Thornton, Boutte and Reagor are all pretty much gone, right? Unless they want to hold a roster spot for Reagor to return kicks?

With the draft selections of Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, New England’s wide receiver is up to 11 players. Assuming both Polk and Baker are locked into the 53-man roster, I agree with you Richard that DeMario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne and K.J. Osborn likely round out the top-five.

That would leave Jalen Reagor, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kayshon Boutte and Tyquan Thornton battling for perhaps one roster spot. Where things stand now, Reagor may have the upper hand due to his added value on special teams.

Things might get interesting is if Bourne (ACL) is not ready for the regular season and begins the year the physically unable to perform list (although he said he expects to be ready by training camp). Additionally, could the reemergence of Boutte or Thornton result in Osborn being let go as the veteran signed just a one-year deal in free agency?

It’s a deep group that’ll be a focus throughout training camp and the preseason.

@FreeJonasGray What’s the path for Tyquan to make the roster? Interested to see what the new staff can do with his tools.

The first thing with Thornton, who has no guaranteed money left on his rookie deal, is he needs to stay on the field. He has played just 22 games over his first two seasons and has started each year on the injured reserve after suffering training camp injuries. Perhaps his offseason plan to bulk up to 200 pounds will pay dividends in that regard.

From there, Thornton’s speed does project as a good complement to Drake Maye, who loves — and has the arm to — attack vertically down the field. He should get opportunities to connect with Maye on those types of routes during the summer, but needs to round out his entire game (hands, route running, etc.)

@MearMusings Why isn’t Calvin Anderson in the discussion for LT? Seems like he leads the OL group in the most NFL starts at LT w/11 and played in college.

Anderson is an interesting name to watch throughout the offseason as his film from Denver was intriguing before signing onto New England — where a serious illness derailed his entire season.

I would not expect Anderson to earn the starting left tackle job after the free agency addition of Chukwuma Okorafor and draft selection of Caedan Wallace, both of whom have received praise by Eliot Wolf. But, Anderson should find himself in play for the third or fourth tackle spot on the roster, especially after the release of Conor McDermott earlier this week.

What was the biggest surprise of the draft? – MW

There weren’t too many major shocks as New England addressed the positions projected as needs. But entering Thursday, I would have projected them to use more than the eight selections they entered the weekend with.

Throughout the pre-draft process, we heard both Wolf and Mayo share multiple times that the more picks they had the better. Wolf even followed that up Thursday night by explaining the “ideal” outcome was to acquire more picks. Instead, New England tired to trade back up into the first-round and then just made one pick-swap trade early on Day 2.

The Jaheim Bell pick seemed like a steal could he end up contributing right away? – Scott T

I was a fan of the pick and value in the seventh-round as well. The most intriguing thing with Bell is that he brings something to the tight end room that they didn’t already have. Paired with Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper, Bell is immediately the most explosive player of the group with his 4.61 40 and 1.59 10-yard split (both in the 93 percentile).

While Henry is an extremely reliable target, creating after the catch certainly isn’t his calling card. Bell will give them a more explosive option up the seam and will be a good YAC target in the flat on dump-offs/bootlegs — a big part of Van Pelt’s offense.

Bell was one of the top collegiate tight ends in terms of YAC, averaging 9.2 yards after catch in his career to pair with 36 missed tackles forced. He’s a very interesting player to watch as a potential TE3/H-back in this scheme.

@TheeGM1 You think Joe Milton has a legit chance of winning QB1 job?

No. It’ll be a competition as Jerod Mayo explained, but Milton is way too raw of a passer to be expected to contribute in year one (beyond perhaps serving as a package QB). It’ll be between Jacoby Brissett and Maye for Week 1 duties.

That’s all for this week’s #PostPulpit mailbag. If you have questions you’d liked to be answered next week, submit them on Twitter using #PostPulpit. Make sure to be following @iambrianhines and @PatsPulpit as well.