Sportsnaut
The Patriots are preparing for their second preseason game this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. The team has been in Minneapolis since Tuesday, and participated in joint practices with the Vikings on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Patriots dominated in their first preseason game against the Commanders, and it would be nice to see a similar performance in preseason Week 2. Most of the starter spots and key reserves are already locked down, but there is still plenty to be sorted out at the bottom of the roster.
One of the position groups that will come down to the wire is the wide receivers. We’ve known that Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Mack Hollins, and Kyle Williams are locks for a while now, but there may be a fifth receiver who can now officially be considered a lock.
Evan Lazar of Patriots.com recently published his 10 takeaways from joint practices, and an entire paragraph was dedicated to the receiver position. Lazar thinks Kayshon Boutte is clearly the fifth receiver after an impressive summer.
“Five wide receivers appear to be clubhouse leaders for roster spots: Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins and Williams,” said Lazar. Of course, the team will likely keep six receivers, which means there’s only one spot available.
“After that, Javon Baker and undrafted rookie Efton Chism III have separated into their own tier as roster candidates,” Lazar explained. “Although he flashed as a receiver on day two, Baker’s push is mostly coming from adding special teams to his repertoire, while Chism has become a favorite target for backup QB Joshua Dobbs. It’ll be interesting to see if the Patriots keep both Baker and Chism on the initial roster. “
The team COULD decide to keep seven receivers, though, and it wouldn’t be surprising.
“It’s not unheard of to carry seven receivers. In fact, the Pats carried seven initially last season.”
Chism is likely the favorite to land the sixth spot for now, as Lazar also said Chism was the best receiver on the second-team offense in practice this week. There’s a good case to be made for Baker as well after Mike Vrabel praised the UCF product’s performance against the Commanders.
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