The New England Patriots have taken an entirely different approach this offseason after building a wide receiver crew that is predicated on height.
In the past, the Patriots have stuck to their guns and brought in shorter wide receivers that are crafty in the slot. Julian Edelman and Wes Welker are the greatest examples of successful slot receivers in New England. This trend began to change last season when the Patriots brought in Cordarrelle Patterson and Josh Gordon.
Since then, the Patriots drafted N’Keal Harry in the first round and signed Demaryius Thomas. They also brought in receivers like Dontrelle Inman, Maurice Harris and Jakobi Myers. All of those receivers are 6 foot 2 or taller, and that is an incredibly scary thought when the guy throwing them the ball is Tom Brady.
One perspective that hasn’t been covered, is from the eyes of a defensive back that has to see them every day. Duron Harmon weighed in on the insanely tall receiving corps while speaking to media on Thursday.
“They’re not just tall, but they’re big, strong,” Harmon said. “Going against receivers like that, it makes it a lot tougher on you. With their catch radius, they’re able to use their body to get open a little bit more.
“You’ve got to be more physical with them, but you can’t get into too (much) of a physical match, because at the end of the day they might end up overpowering you.”
It will be a tough objective for the defensive backs every day in practice, but it will reap numerous benefits. The secondary will get more familiar with larger receivers, and there is also the fact that these guys will get in the end zone and create more points for the offense.
“You might have to go back and forth with how you’re playing them,” Harmon said. “Hopefully they bring some of that mismatch to our offense and do a good job scoring some points.”
It will be an interesting season for Brady — who will be without Rob Gronkowski — but he’ll be compensated with a receiving corps that’s notably taller than he’s ever had.
