The New England Patriots offense, aside from their surprising outing against the Buffalo Bills, has been one of the worst units in the NFL to start the 2023 season. While Mac Jones has been inconsistent at best, his supporting cast around him hasn't been great either. The collective group of playmakers on this team are so bad that 2023 sixth-round pick Demario Douglas might be the most explosive option of the bunch.
As previously noted, Douglas is just a rookie, but he's taken the field in each of the six games he's been healthy for this season. Kendrick Bourne, DeVante Parker, and JuJu Smith-Schuster are technically the top three wide receivers on offense, but Parker has not looked good this season, and Smith-Schuster has struggled with injuries. That has opened up playing time for Douglas, and he's looked really good when he's been on the field.
Forcing a sixth-round rookie into a big role seems like a bad idea, but the Patriots, at 2-5, don't really have many other options unfortunately. Douglas has looked like the most explosive playmaker this team has at their disposal, and if New England wants to continue their sudden turnaround after their Week 7 win over the Bills, Douglas' role is going to have to continue to expand.
The Patriots need to keep getting Demario Douglas the ball
Through six games, Douglas doesn't have wildly impressive numbers, as he's hauled in just 14 passes for 197 yards. Those totals may not seem great, but Douglas is fifth on the team in receptions, and third in yardage, and it's worth noting he also missed a game due to a concussion. Simply put, when Douglas has the ball in his hands, good things typically happen.
With Douglas returning from a concussion last week, while Smith-Schuster remained out with the same ailment, the Patriots had practically no choice but to give Douglas the ball. The result was a four catch, 54-yard performance in the air, and another 20 yards on the ground on a single carry. While Bourne is Jones' favorite target under center, having a guy in Douglas open things up for him is crucial.
Douglas adds an element to this offense that New England desperately lacks. Douglas is fast and extremely shifty; despite playing limited snaps, he's already pulled off two of the most lethal jukes across the league this season. Douglas' ability to rip off big plays, while also creating separartion on underneath routes, is precisely what New England has been missing after they absent-mindedly let Jakobi Meyers walk in free agency last offseason.
Douglas is still incredibly raw, but it's telling that opposing defenses are worried about the threat he poses with the ball in his hands. Bourne is a similar player, but without Douglas, teams can focus pretty much all their attention on him, which kills the offense. Parker cannot create any sort of separation on his routes, and Smith-Schuster's burst has been nonexistent so far this season.
The Patriots as a team are in a weird spot as they head into Week 8. They managed to upset the Bills in Week 7, but there's still not much faith they will be able to pull off something similar against the Miami Dolphins this upcoming weekend, and even if they do, does this team really have a fighting chance of reaching the playoffs? It seems unlikely.
Seeing what this team has in Douglas, who has shown the potential to be a star playmaker for this squad, seems like the best course of action at this point. Writing off Smith-Schuster after seven games seems premature, but he just has not looked good for New England so far. Signing Smith-Schuster was a bad decision, but there's no sense in compounding that decision by giving him playing time over Douglas when both guys are healthy.
We are already seeing that sort of decision happen with Parker and Kayshon Boutte, as Parker has looked awful this season, while Boutte has taken a backseat to him after showing potential in Week 1 when Parker was unable to play. Again, New England made a poor decision to hand Parker a confusing extension right before the season, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should automatically be playing over Boutte.
Ultimately, that's a discussion for another time. As a daunting trip to Miami looms, the Patriots may have figured out some answers on offense in their win over Buffalo that could help them out moving forward. Protecting Jones under center was a start, but Douglas also flashed several times throughout that game. Getting their most explosive playmaker the ball is crucial, and Demario Douglas should be a key part of the game plan throughout the rest of the season, regardless of what the team's record is.
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