A big battle for survival
Young receivers face ups and downs
FOXBORO — On one play at Patriots training camp this week, Riley McCarron looked like an upand-coming slot receiver, beating rookie cornerback Duke Dawson and hauling in a well-placed ball from Tom Brady on a deep corner route.
On one of the next reps, McCarron simply looked confused. He pushed his route toward the sideline. The throw from Brady arrived to the inside, and McCarron needed to reach backward for it. The ball slipped through his hands.
Either Brady made the wrong throw or McCarron ran the wrong route. However, Brady’s displeasure could be heard from 50 yards away.
This sequence represented a teaching moment for McCarron, the second-year slot receiver vying for a spot on a crowded depth chart.
This is a trip down memory lane for Julian Edelman, who years ago was in the exact same position.
“You know, you’ve got to learn calculus when you just got out of regular math,” Edelman said, referring to the steep learning curve for young receivers. “You definitely can relate to a lot of those things and try to help them out as much as possible to get them to feel a little more comfortable, and I think that’s what we all try to do. We all try to learn from each other and help each other out. As a veteran, that’s what you’ve got to do, I guess.”
For well over a decade, the Patriots have stashed developmental slot receivers on the 90-man roster. The ultimate success story is Edelman, drafted in the seventh round in 2009. When the Pats traveled to Kent State to work out Edelman, they sent running backs coach Ivan Fears. They didn’t know he’d become one of the great receivers in franchise history. Hell, they didn’t even know he’d become a receiver.
By the time Edelman arrived, Wes Welker was in the midst of the prime of his career. He averaged 7.4 catches for 83.9 yards per game from 2009-12. That spring, the Patriots signed Danny Amendola and Welker left for Denver.
Edelman and Amendola carried the receiving corps for the five seasons since. When one was injured, the other picked up the slack. When they played together, they fueled the quick-paced attack. Now Amendola is gone to Miami, and the Patriots search for youth at the slot receiver position is on again so they can someday execute another seamless transition.
DeAndre Carter, a compact 5-foot-8, 188-pound receiver, was with the team in the 2016 offseason. He impressed at times during training camp, but failed to make the roster. The Pats took a shot on undrafted free agent Austin Carr last summer. Like Carter, the 6-1, 195-pound Carr stood out intermittently — five catches for 44 yards and a touchdown in his preseason debut, for instance. Ultimately, he didn’t do enough to earn a spot on the team.
This summer, two undersized slot receivers are gunning for a job.
There’s McCarron, who spent the majority of 2017 on the practice squad, and rookie sixth-round pick Braxton Berrios. There’s no guarantee that even one will make it.
Both are hoping to leave their mark in each practice.
“It’s a huge opportunity to come in,” said Berrios, who starred at Miami. “You know nothing, so you ask a bunch of questions, you soak everything up, and you’re learning everything new. You’re going along. That’s the main thing. It’s just learning, and just putting your head down and every day just try to get better at the little things.”
What was once a deep receivers corps for the Patriots has been depleted by injury. Kenny Britt and Malcolm Mitchell haven’t participated in drills this summer. Jordan Matthews was released this week, creating additional reps for Berrios and McCarron.
Berrios was a busy man yesterday, catching four passes from Brian Hoyer. McCarron beat the coverage on a corner route from the slot for Hoyer’s first completion in 11-on-11s. That was the positive.
The negative: On a jet sweep, McCarron ran into the back of lead blocker Dwayne Allen and dropped to the ground.
That’s the nature of camp. It’s bound to be up and down, especially for young receivers trying to grasp a complicated system and earn Brady’s trust.
If nothing else, Berrios and McCarron can lean on Edelman, who remembers what it’s like to be thrown into calculus class.
“Julian’s been awesome,” Berrios said. “He really has. Really, anything across the board, he’s been there and he’s helped me along the way.”