Pats Pulpit
Previewing the Patriots wide receiver heading into his thir NFL season.
One of the New England Patriots’ biggest weaknesses under Bill Belichick was drafting and developing wide receivers. For every Julian Edelman, there was a group of Aaron Dobsons, Taylor Prices and N’Keal Harrys — all players who failed to live up to their draft statuses while with the Patriots.
Belichick’s last draft before leaving the team, however, looks like it produced another quality player at the position: in two seasons with the team, former sixth-round pick DeMario Douglas became a quality receiving option for the Patriots.
Name: DeMario Douglas
Position: Wide receiver
Jersey number: 3
Opening day age: 24 (12/18/2000)
Measurements: 5’8 2/8”, 192 lbs, 72 1/2” wingspan, 30 1/4” arm length, 8 3/4” hand size, 4.44s 40-yard dash, 7.05s 3-cone drill, 4.29s short shuttle, 39 1/2” vertical jump, 11’2” broad jump, 12 bench press reps, 7.34 Relative Athletic Score
NFL: England Patriots (2023-) | College: Liberty (2019-22)
A two-way player, Douglas flew under the radar during his high school career at Pedro Menendez (St. Augustin, FL) and at Mandarin (Jacksonville, FL). Despite going 72-1,382-16 as a receiver and picking up 8 passes as a cornerback, the no-star recruit received only a handful of scholarship offers at the FBS level. One of them came from Liberty University, where he ended up spending his entire four-year college career.
Between 2019 and 2022, Douglas appeared in 40 games with 17 starts. Steadily increasing his output as a receiver, he finished with 172 catches for 2,193 yards and 16 touchdowns; he also scored a pair of punt return touchdowns and averaged 14.0 yards per carry. Coming off a productive redshirt junior campaign that saw him lead the Flames in receiving for a second straight season, he opted to forgo his final year of eligibility to turn pro.
Douglas had to wait until the 210th overall selection in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to hear his name called, but he quickly proved himself a player to keep an eye on. Seeing regular action with the starters from his rookie offseason on, he went on to become the most productive wide receiver on the team over the last two seasons. In total, Douglas is heading into 2025 with 115 receptions, 1,182 receiving yards and 3 touchdown on his résumé.
Strengths: Douglas is dynamic player both before and after the catch. He has the flexible hips and efficient feet to be a “phone booth” receiver — an agile target who limits wasted movements by combining quickness and change-of-direction skills. He also offers good burst and the straight-line speed to be a factor both horizontally and vertically. If given a free release at the line of scrimmage, he can shake man-to-man cornerbacks of all sizes, and also pick up yards after the ball finds his hands as a receiver or on designed runs.
Speaking of his hands, Douglas has shown a reliable pair of mittens;...
