There are minutes worth bearing in mind in the life of a young NFL quarterback. The minute he raises his jacket beside Roger Goodell on draft evening. The minute he tosses his initial goal pass. The minute he leads his group to his initial fourth-quarter return. And the minute a receiver enters his face and requires the sphere, now.
Drake Maye has actually had his minutes in his one period of the NFL: goals, success (a couple of) and a Pro Dish berth. (Yes, as a substitute for Josh Allen, however still.) One component of the video game he’s done not have: a real WR1 as a target. Now that his Patriots have actually authorized Stefon Diggs, that will transform.
Diggs shows up in New England holding a three-year, $69 million agreement, recouping from an ACL surgical treatment that cost him fifty percent of his only period with the Texans in 2014. He additionally brings the complete pass receiver combination pack: remarkable skill, enormous vanity, throw-me-the-damn-ball mindset. The inquiry for the Patriots: Just how much of each will he show in New England?
Advertisement
Here’s the easy fact: New England hasn’t had a reputable receiver in half a years. No Patriot has actually completed greater than 1,000 backyards in a period, or balanced greater than 60 backyards a video game, considering that Julian Edelman in 2019. The group’s leading receiver in 2014 was limited end Seeker Henry, that completed 674 backyards obtaining and balanced simply over 42 backyards a video game. It’s not surprising that, after that, that the group went 4-13 for the 2nd year straight … and the group has actually had problem drawing in marquee freelances for that precise factor.
In Houston, Stefon Diggs was not WR1. He will certainly remain in New England. (AP Picture)
(CONNECTED PRESS)
Diggs, on the other hand, exceeded 1,000 backyards every period from 2018 to 2023 for both the Vikings and the Costs. He left Buffalo using profession last year, winding up in Houston with C.J. Stroud. He was about on rate to include one more 1K year, completing 496 backyards via 8 video games, prior to experiencing a season-ending non-contact ACL injury versus Indianapolis that sidelined him for the remainder of the year.
To put it simply, Diggs has actually been just one of the video game’s ideal receivers considering that 2018. That’s a straightforward truth. Likewise a reality: 2 different groups have actually traded Diggs away in the plausible prime of his occupation. There is, to place it euphemistically, a factor for that.
Advertisement
So right here’s what we have currently. A group seriously searching for an offending identification. A previous WR1 aiming to proceed his march towards Hall of Popularity candidateship. They’re with each other currently in Foxboro. And … it might simply exercise?
First, Maye. A young quarterback is just comparable to his receivers, and with all due regard to Demario Davis, Kayshon Boutte et cetera of New England’s obtaining corps, Maye really did not specifically have a whole lot to collaborate with last period. Tom Brady might possibly have actually transformed this collection of who-are-these-guys right into a reputable toolbox, however Brady’s been gone from New England for a long period of time currently.
Maye has the prospective to rise to one more degree, however to do that, he’ll require to confirm he can run a huddle and a storage locker space. And what much better means to do that than to satisfy the obstacle of a pass receiver that was publishing 1,000-yard periods while Maye was still a Charlotte high schooler?
Which brings us to Diggs. He gets on the incorrect side of 30 for a receiver– he’ll transform 32 2 days after Thanksgiving– and he understands he’s closer throughout of his occupation than the start. He’s approximated that he requires concerning 3,500 backyards to get to 14,000 for an occupation, which he takes into consideration Hall of Fame-caliber region.
Advertisement
He will not arrive by being an additional choice, which he remained in Houston behind Nico Collins. Luckily, he remains in among minority areas in the organization where he strikes that pleasant place– WR1 at his phase of his occupation + sensible quarterback– therefore it remains in his benefits to make this job.
When it comes to the storage locker space or mindset problems, well– the Patriots are currently Mike Vrabel’s program, and Vrabel will not think twice to go down the hammer on any person wandering off outside the event lines. Diggs can bring healthy and balanced mindset and professionalism and reliability to a franchise business in determined demand of both.
This is a threat for everybody entailed– Maye, Diggs, the Patriots franchise business. However it’s a threat all sides require to take, and one that might return New England from afterthought to, at a minimum, respectability. It’s a begin.
.
