After spending heavily in their quest to upgrade their defense, the New England Patriots finally landed a big-name playmaker on offense when they signed Stefon Diggs to a three-year, $69 million contract last Tuesday. And while there are some concerns about Diggs, whether it be his return from a torn ACL last season, or questions about his attitude off the field, his arrival could help the Patriots out in a big way.
New England didn’t get much production from their wide receivers in 2024, which impacted rookie quarterback Drake Maye’s production under center. But with Diggs on board now, the Patriots have a proven chain-mover leading their pass-catching corps, and assuming they continue to utilize him in the slot like the Houston Texans did last season, he could immediately return to his form prior to his ACL injury.
“In 2024, Diggs lined up in the slot 43% of the time, which was a notable increase compared to 27% during his time with the Bills … Meanwhile, the slot in New England — which was a staple over the years with Troy Brown and Wes Welker, among others — could use a rebirth. It was expected that Douglas would be the top option in 2025, but Diggs’ arrival could alter plans at times depending on the other receivers on the field (e.g. Mack Hollins outside). The Patriots across the past three seasons are 29th in slot receiving yards per game (62.6), 28th in completion percentage when targeting the slot (64.7%) and 30th in expected points added to offense when targeting slot receivers (32.68),” Mike Reiss of ESPN recently noted.
Stefon Diggs’ arrival could take Patriots offense to another level
In four seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Diggs established himself as one of the top wide receivers in the NFL, racking up at least 100 receptions, 1,150 receiving yards, and eight touchdowns every season. Even last year with the Texans, Diggs was off to a hot start in his eight games played, catching 47 passes for 496 yards and three touchdowns before he suffered his aforementioned season-ending injury.
While there are questions about how Diggs moving into the slot would impact Demario Douglas, who was New England’s top wide receiver option last year, those are questions that the team hasn’t had to worry about in recent seasons, simply because they didn’t have the necessary talent at their disposal. Now that they do, they could unleash a new offensive attack on the NFL, but it is worth noting they still have several areas, namely the left tackle position, that need to be addressed before the 2025 campaign gets underway.
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