One hot-button topic at Patriots training camp this summer is a crowded wide receiver room that could see as many as seven wideouts make the initial roster.
The positive spin is that you could call it an embarrassment of riches for third-year QB Drake Maye and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. After adding star receiver A.J. Brown and free-agent Romeo Doubs this offseason, the Patriots have their deepest wide receiver room in years, which should lead to a very potent passing attack this season.
However, there’s a logjam at a position where teams typically carry five or six receivers on their 53-man rosters and the Patriots have seven receivers who are making compelling cases to stick around: Brown, Doubs, DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins, Kyle Williams, and Efton Chism III. Ultimately, it’s a numbers game that could lead to some difficult decisions when rosters are pared down to an initial 53 players at the end of the summer (Saturday, Aug. 30).
In their first 10 training camp sessions, the numbers crunch can be felt as the coaching staff tries to divvy up reps in practice. Maye has typically been surrounded by a top-three that includes Brown (X), Doubs (Z), and Douglas (slot). Despite being regulars during Maye’s MVP runner-up season, there simply aren’t enough opportunities to go around for Boutte and Hollins to get their share of reps with the starters. That means  two of Maye’s favorite targets from last season are working regularly with the second-team offense, along with second-year players in Chism and Williams who are still trying to break out in the NFL.
Although a crowded receiver room has led to Boutte’s name surfacing in trade rumors, Brown, Doubs, Douglas, Boutte, and Hollins have been the most involved and effective receivers in camp practices. Barring a trade, it would be a surprise if those five wideouts weren’t on the Patriots roster to start the season. But, with players offering different skill sets at various stages of their careers, anything is possible.
Here’s a thought on all seven wide receivers who are in one of the most competitive Patriots camp battles in recent memory.
Brown has been settling in nicely as a high-volume outside receiver since being traded to the Patriots in June. After a slower start to camp, Brown and Maye are finding rhythm at the first two levels of the defense: slants to Brown are almost automatic and they’re getting their timing down on comebackers. Brown also has deeper catches on double moves, go balls, and back-shoulder fades where he wins the ball downfield. Plus, the veteran has looked like a value-add in the red zone where he has been heavily targeted.
There are still occasional miscommunications on route conversions, like when Brown stopped his route while Maye threw deep in Tuesday’s practice. But, overall, the battles between Brown and top CB Christian Gonzalez have been appointment viewing. It’s been one of the best in-practice matchups I’ve seen in a Patriots training camp. The hope is that Brown will run more routes from the slot soon than he already has, and while we’re getting a bit greedy, create more downfield separation when he’s not being covered by an All-Pro corner. Understandably, Gonzalez has made Brown’s life difficult as the two stars challenge each other.
The other newcomer to the Patriots offense has been an interesting study in practice. Doubs was touted as a chain-moving flanker or “power slot” who would run similar routes and work the middle of the field like top wideout Stefon Diggs did last year. However, the success Doubs is having in practice has come more traditionally than it did with Diggs, who was crafty with the fluidity, quickness, and special awareness to improvise within the scheme to get open. Doubs’s skills flash more frequently on linear routes such as curls, in-breakers (slants, digs, skinny posts), and he can use his 6-2, 210-pound frame to high-point the ball downfield.
There are ways to alter the route tree to fit Doubs’s skill set but it differs from the typical quick-twitch receivers we have seen play in the slot under McDaniels in the past. On Monday, Maye threw a well-timed strike to Doubs on a skinny post where he got inside of Gonzalez for a score in 7-on-7. There are examples like that one of Doubs finding his footing in the offense but it hasn’t always looked smooth in team drills, possibly due to a feeling-out period to tailor the role to Doubs’s strengths.
We’re probably not talking enough about Douglas, who is buried in headlines behind the two newcomers and Boutte. Before posting 31 catches for 447 receiving yards last season, Pop had a strong camp a year ago, with his jitterbug quickness and vertical juice as a speed-slot making him tough to cover in lighter-contact practices. The lack of buzz could stem from some trepidation about buying into a major role for Douglas this season. That said, Douglas has been a constant in the slot in the Patriots offense this summer, with the fourth-year receiver adding a speed element to Brown and Doubs in three-receiver sets.
Along with being able to stretch the field vertically from inside the formation, Douglas has run away from coverage on several occasions on crossers and option-style routes. On Tuesday, he converted a third down by breaking away from NCB Marcus Jones’s inside leverage on an out, with Maye hitting Douglas to move the chains in a two-minute drill. We’ve also seen slot corners and safeties struggle to run with Douglas across the field on intermediate crossers and deep overs. Douglas graded out as one of the best pure separators against man coverage last season. There are still some questions about his feel for finding voids in zone coverages, but based on camp practices, Douglas is going to have a large role in the offense.
While showing good professionalism amidst trade rumors, Boutte has picked up where he left off last season as a go-to outside deep threat for Maye. The fourth-year pro’s ability to win combat catches and track go balls over his shoulder rivals Brown for the best on the team. Maye clearly trusts that Boutte will win the ball downfield, throwing sideline-deep shots and back-shoulder fades often into tight coverage, knowing his guy will come down with it. Boutte has also flashed as a reliable blitz-beater on slants.
There’s a lot to be said about Boutte’s repertoire with Maye. It’s not a given that others will have the same chemistry and overlapping strengths in their skill sets that these two have (Maye’s deep ball ability, Boutte’s deep-catch skill). In some ways, the situation is reminiscent of when the Pats swapped Jakobi Meyers for JuJu Smith-Schuster in 2023, when Meyers clearly had chemistry with former QB Mac Jones. Boutte might be redundant as a “base” receiver (not a slot) behind Brown and Doubs, which is where target-volume concerns come in for Boutte in a contract year. Still, if both sides are willing to stay together, it might be worth keeping Boutte around as a proven commodity with Maye.
Hollins was an underrated part of the Patriots offense last season, both in terms of receiving production (46 catches, 550 yards) and his versatile skill set, which allowed New England to blur the lines between three-receiver sets and bigger formations. Hollins isn’t a traditional tight end but he can block linebackers, safeties, and nickel corners in the run game well enough to keep more dynamic passing packages on the field. He also gives the Pats a “big” 21-personnel package with Hollins, Brown, FB Reggie Gilliam, a tight end, and a running back that has been a short-yardage monster in camp practices, with Hollins catching multiple touchdowns off delayed releases and boots – it has put the Pats defense in a blender at times.
Along with his formational flexibility, Hollins is a big downfield target on deep digs and sideline deep shots, catching a dig from Maye in a successful two-minute drill and a cover-two hole shot from backup QB Tommy DeVito on Tuesday. Hollins might be the elder statesman at nearly 33, giving him less upside than the younger receivers on the roster. But there’s a clear leadership and game-day role for Hollins while Maye seems to prefer throwing to bigger targets.
Early on in camp, the 69th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft was feeling the brunt of the logjam at wide receiver and was fighting for opportunities. Williams has come on more lately, flashing vertical speed to get behind the defense and separation on comeback routes where he runs off the coverage. However, the second-year pro’s deep separation hasn’t always translated to catches. From this perspective, some of that is on the quarterbacks, who have underthrown deep targets intended for Williams in recent practices.
As things currently stand, Williams is still more upside and potential rather than tangible results while he’s repping behind Brown, Boutte, and Hollins on the outside. Still, the Patriots don’t have another receiver quite like Williams on the roster, whose release quickness and vertical speed are a different flavor than how Brown and Boutte win on vertical routes. Williams being the odd man out would mean Douglas would bring the deep speed to the offense but that’ll come from inside the formation. That could give Williams a longer leash to refine his game behind the veteran receivers on New England’s roster.
Chism III continues to make the most of his opportunities as the backup slot receiver repping with QB Tommy DeVito and the second-string offense. Chism brings a sturdiness to the role that allows him to play in high-traffic areas and block in the run game. On Tuesday, he threw a great block on NCB Marcellas Dial Jr. to spring RB Jam Miller on an explosive run. From that perspective, Chism has the advantage over Douglas. He also has a knack for separating on end zone targets near the goal-line, particularly corner routes to the back pylon, where he has made several high-point grabs in the back of the end zone in camp.
The second-year pro’s roster chances come down to how much the Patriots value developing him as a long-term fit at slot receiver and as a backup in multiple phases. Chism could back up Douglas in the slot and possibly be a run-package backup for Hollins while also chipping in as a returner on kickoffs and punts. Chism could stick with the Patriots for the second consecutive year as a natural fit in McDaniels’s offense but it’s difficult to envision a large game-day role for him this season unless there’s a rash of injuries.
