Latest news with #PopDouglas
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Patriots Have 5 Wide Receiver Spots Locked Down Ahead Of Preseason Week 2
The Patriots are preparing for their second preseason game this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. The team has been in Minneapolis since Tuesday, and participated in joint practices with the Vikings on Wednesday and Thursday. The Patriots dominated in their first preseason game against the Commanders, and it would be nice to see a similar performance in preseason Week 2. Most of the starter spots and key reserves are already locked down, but there is still plenty to be sorted out at the bottom of the roster. One of the position groups that will come down to the wire is the wide receivers. We've known that Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Mack Hollins, and Kyle Williams are locks for a while now, but there may be a fifth receiver who can now officially be considered a lock. Evan Lazar of recently published his 10 takeaways from joint practices, and an entire paragraph was dedicated to the receiver position. Lazar thinks Kayshon Boutte is clearly the fifth receiver after an impressive summer. 'Five wide receivers appear to be clubhouse leaders for roster spots: Stefon Diggs, Pop Douglas, Kayshon Boutte, Mack Hollins and Williams,' said Lazar. Of course, the team will likely keep six receivers, which means there's only one spot available. 'After that, Javon Baker and undrafted rookie Efton Chism III have separated into their own tier as roster candidates,' Lazar explained. 'Although he flashed as a receiver on day two, Baker's push is mostly coming from adding special teams to his repertoire, while Chism has become a favorite target for backup QB Joshua Dobbs. It'll be interesting to see if the Patriots keep both Baker and Chism on the initial roster. ' The team COULD decide to keep seven receivers, though, and it wouldn't be surprising. 'It's not unheard of to carry seven receivers. In fact, the Pats carried seven initially last season.' Chism is likely the favorite to land the sixth spot for now, as Lazar also said Chism was the best receiver on the second-team offense in practice this week. There's a good case to be made for Baker as well after Mike Vrabel praised the UCF product's performance against the Commanders. Related Headlines Kelsey Plum Addresses Perceived Jab at Caitlin Clark from WNBA All-Star Game NASCAR News: Kaulig Racing Presidents Addresses Ty Dillon's Future with Team NASCAR Starting Lineup for Richmond: Cook Out 400 Starting Grid, Cup Series Qualifying Results
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Why Patriots' Pop Douglas is a late-round fantasy steal
Yahoo Fantasy analyst Matt Harmon and contributor Ray Garvin examine New England's third-year receiver's fantasy potential with a friendly early-season schedule. Hear the full conversation on the 'Yahoo Fantasy Forecast' podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. View more Video Transcript When I look at Pop Douglas' usage from last season on a high-end outcome, that top 10 percentile outcome based on how he was used in 2024, you're looking at about 13.6 points per game you can expect from him in 2025. That's not groundbreaking. That's nothing that's going to win your league, but if you're talking about a player that's going to be able to give you 12, 13 points per game on a consistent weekly basis potentially on the high end, there's probably gonna be some weeks in which he spikes, in which he pops, and for me, what I'm looking for is I'm chasing the opportunity. If we are expecting this offense to take a step forward, to play better, to utilize their players to their skill set more, there's going to be a beneficiary. And in my, in Josh McDaniel's offense, that is his. Historically been the player occupying that slot role. I don't know how Diggs' knee is gonna hold up, but what I do know is when Pop Douglas was on the field and got some quality targets from some very inconsistent throwers of the football, he's been able to succeed and perform well. So I'm just banking on that trend continuing with Pop getting that usage while everything kind of shakes itself out around him. And if you want to invest into Pop Douglas, cause he's again a guy that is not drafted right now in Yahoo Leagues, expert consensus rank wide receiver 69. I've got him around like 62. He might be a guy that you want to just take with one of your last few picks, stick him at the end of your bench because I don't know if you've seen the early season schedule for the Patriots from a secondary perspective. I just mentioned the Raiders, not a great secondary, they're the first team they're gonna play in week one. The Dolphins, dude, Ray, I mean, I know you used to play ball. I know you tore your Achilles up recently, but like, you might be able to line up at cornerback for the damn Dolphins right now, pal. They do not have a good situation going on there. The Steelers, that's definitely a tougher matchup and the Panthers in week 4. Like, we might come out here and Pop Douglas is a near, you know, 70% of the route sort of player. He's leading the team in targets per route run. The first two weeks of the season's schedule, he might be a guy that people are looking at as a potential Year 3 leap candidate, simply because, like, all right, he crushes it in the first couple of weeks here. Close
