Demaryius Thomas has a steep learning curve.
He’s learning the New England Patriots’ system, which is notorious for flunking veterans like Reggie Wayne, Eric Decker, Nate Washington and so many others. When looking at Thomas’s chances of catching on with the Patriots, it’s worth noting that Thomas struggled with the Houston Texans after joining them in at trade at midseason in 2018. They have a similar offense to New England, with Houston coach Bill O’Brien previously serving as the Patriots offensive coordinator. What’s more, Thomas is dealing with an Achilles injury, and it’s not clear when he’ll return to the practice field, where he’ll need to work on his rapport with Tom Brady, a challenging man to please.
Will Thomas fit with the Patriots? Wayne, a former NFL receiver and current NFL analyst, weighed in.
“I think he fits in well,” Wayne said on NFL Network this week. “But I think he’ll struggle more than [rookie receiver] N’Keal Harry will struggle. And the reason I say this is because you have a 31-year-old rookie [in Thomas] all of the sudden. And I say rookie because it’s his first year in this offense. … This is his sixth offensive coordinator. That’s six different playbooks during his career. You’ve been accustomed to a certain way. And now, all of the sudden that has to change.”
Wayne also issued a warning on Harry: Pump the brakes. Wayne worried that Harry, the 32nd overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, would struggle to acclimate to the rigors of playing with Brady, who expects his pass-catchers to match his intellect. That’s why Thomas and Harry could struggle. Wayne said that, in his 12th year with the Indianapolis Colts, coaches Chuck Pagano and Bruce Arians arrived and changed everything Wayne knew about the team’s system: new names, new terminology, new route depths and new ways of doing things.
He said it was like going “from English to Greek.”
“So now you have to reprogram yourself to do that all over again,” Wayne said. “I think [Thomas] can do it, but it’s going to be a process.”
