The New England Patriots are now in the thick of training camp. Six practices (including two with full pads) are in the books and the team is roughly a week away from its preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers. With Wednesday serving as a day off for Jerod Mayo's team, now is as good of a time as ever to take the temperature of the roster and highlight a handful of players who are putting together a strong camp thus far.
We'll cast aside some of the more known commodities when coming up with this list, so you won't see the likes of Jacoby Brissett, Hunter Henry, Christian Gonzalez and Kyle Dugger, who have all started out strong. Instead, we'll highlight some rookies and lesser-known players on the roster.
One player you won't see on this list is No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye. So far, the rookie has endured an up-and-down camp. While he has flashed some prowess with the deep ball, the young quarterback is green and has gone through some rookie lumps, which is exactly why Brissett is here in the first place. Maye will likely need a bit more seasoning before being vaulted up the depth chart as the starter, so he'll continue to work behind Brissett.
In any event, let's get to five players who are setting themselves up to be a factor on the Patriots roster as soon as Week 1.
Polk has been New England's best receiver in camp by my estimation. During Tuesday's second full padded practice, the second-round rookie hauled in two touchdowns during red zone drills from Brissett and Joe Milton III, proving to be a key outlet in that area of the field.
Corner pocket 1️⃣@JBrissett12 | @jpolk_22 pic.twitter.com/3ERslmxgKK
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 30, 2024
The touchdown Polk hauled in from Brissett was arguably the play of the day. Polk made a ridiculous leaping catch over cornerback Marco Wilson to come down with the reception, as you can see in the video above.
Whether it's been on shorter routes within the confines of the red zone or deep 50-50 balls during competitive drills outside of that area, Polk has shown up in a major way. If he can carry that into the regular season, it's a massive development for an offense that desperately needs a go-to option.
After years of swinging and missing at the wide receiver position in the NFL Draft, could the Patriots have hit on not one, but two pass catchers?! Again, it's early in camp, but Polk (as we mentioned above) and Javon Baker have both shown out. Baker has been more of a deep threat through the first six practices and has proven to be a steady hand when any of New England's quarterbacks want to test the secondary deep.
On Sunday, Baker made a Willie Mayes-style over-the-head reception during one-on-ones and followed that up with another leaping grab over two defenders on Monday.
Bake brings it down 👀@JBrissett12 | @Javondbaker1 pic.twitter.com/O33I7TSmSu
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) July 29, 2024
"I told him he reminds me of George Pickens," fellow Patriots receiver K.J. Osborn said of Baker on Monday. "Bigger like that. Really, really, really talented. Raw. You see him jump up and make big plays. ... It's exciting to see him come along and continue to make plays."
While it may be a rough start for Drake Maye, New England's draft class is impressing through this first week of camp, which includes third-round pick Caedan Wallace. How the Patriots' offensive line would shake out was one of the biggest questions coming into camp, and it seems -- at least at this moment -- that Wallace is cementing himself as the starting left tackle. The team did move tackles around like a Rubik's Cube at the start, but Wallace has been with the first-team O-line at left tackle through the first two practices with full pads, which is a notable development.
White was a player on our radar dating back to the spring when Jerod Mayo singled him out as a player who has made a notable improvement from last season. The 2023 second-round pick has only carried that momentum into camp and had an impressive day on Tuesday. During a one-on-one period, he had a dominant win over Mike Onwenu, who is the team's best overall lineman. I also saw him disrupting a number of times during competitive team drills. His development is welcomed regardless within this defense, but could take on even more of a priority with defensive tackle Christian Barmore (blood clots) sidelined indefinitely and pass rusher Matthew Judon in the middle of a contract dispute.
Hunter Henry is the TE1 within New England's offense, but Austin Hooper seems to be locking up that spot right behind him. The veteran tight end has been a heavily involved figure in the passing game throughout camp, and -- in my view -- has been Steady Eddy, catching most balls that come his way. In years past, the Patriots have longed for a second pass-catching tight end they could deploy alongside Henry in 12-personnel and it seems like they may have found something here with Hooper.
