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5 takeaways from Day 6 of 2025 Patriots training camp
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Derrick White humorously recalled finding out about 2022 Spurs-Celtics trade from Gregg Popovich
The Patriots appear to have more young talent currently than they have in recent years, thanks to the addition of Christian Gonzalez, Drake Maye, and a number of other young players.
ESPN released their rankings of the top teams with players under the age of 25 on Tuesday.
New England shot up to No. 7 on the list after ranking 25th the previous year.
This is the new, different Patriots, a group of young talent on the rise! Aaron Schatz of ESPN wrote. On August 30, Maye, a very talented young quarterback, will be 23. Even though he had poor offensive line and receiver play previous season, he was 17th in QBR (58.6).
However, the offense can be saved by the young talent. Campbell, a first-round rookie, is 21 years old. 22-year-old center Jared Wilson was selected in the third round. The Patriots have Kyle Williams, a 22-year-old rookie, along with DeMario Douglas, 24, and Kayshon Boutte, 23. They might even be able to get something out of 23-year-old Ja Lynn Polk, a 2024 second-round pick who had a difficult rookie season but has a lot of potential.
This season, the Patriots have superior weapons at the skill positions surrounding Maye.
Even though Stefon Diggs recently suffered an ACL tear, his addition will probably immediately improve the receiving room.
The Patriots haven’t had a top receiver like Diggs in years, so Douglas, a talented slot receiver, has a shot to succeed in that role. With Diggs and Douglas on the loose, Boutte, who had a successful season the previous year (43 catches, 589 yards), would get even less attention.
Will Campbell appears to be crucial to both this list and the Patriots’ offensive performance this season. Despite occasionally being dominated during his first padded session, the rookie left-tackle showed more promise on Tuesday. He is anticipated to have an immediate impact as the fourth overall choice in the draft.
Jared Wilson is having a great start, occasionally playing both center and left guard with the first team.
Despite missing the first four practices, Polk had a touchdown reception on Monday that was worthy of a highlight and nearly had another on Tuesday. Javon Baker, the more physically endowed (albeit thus far less productive) of the two receivers from last year’s draft class, was left off the list.
The only members of the Patriots defense listed were cornerbacks Gonzalez and Marcellas Dial.
After missing all but four of his rookie season, Gonzalez is now enjoying a healthy season and is regarded as one of the league’s best young cornerbacks. Last season, Dial mostly played on special teams, but with Carlton Davis and Gonzalez dealing with ailments, he could get more action during this training camp.
Keion White, a 2023 draft pick and defensive end, celebrated his 26th birthday in January.
Schatz argued that the Patriots had significantly less young defensive talent. This year, they acquired the majority of their new defenders in free agency and focused their early round selections on offense. The Patriots only took one defensive player, sixth-round cornerback Marcellas Dial Jr., who will be 25 in December, even in the 2024 draft.
It appeared that quarterbacks were heavily represented on this list. The Patriots were among five of the top seven teams with a QB under 25.
Boston.com’s Khari Thompson reports on professional sports. Khari worked as a college football reporter for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, prior to joining the team in 2022.
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