Even though Bill Belichick himself was not down in Mobile to watch the practice sessions leading up to this year’s Senior Bowl all-star game, the New England Patriots were well-represented through members of their scouting department. Those team reps also held the first two reported meetings of the 2022 pre-draft cycle.
According to Jim McBride of the Boston Globe, the Patriots met with a pair of wide receivers this week. New England’s scouts spoke with North Dakota State’s Christian Watson and with Nevada’s Romeo Doubs.
“It was good. It was really good,” Watson said about meeting with the Patriots’ representatives. “Every team obviously wants to pick your brain and kind of see what you’re about, so every meeting I’ve had so far has been good.”
A big-bodied receiver at 6-foot-5, 208 pounds, Watson is coming off a productive senior campaign with the Bisons. He caught 43 passes for 801 yards and seven touchdowns and also had 15 rushing attempts for 114 yards and another score.
Doubs was no less productive at Nevada. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver ended his final year with the Wolfpack with 80 receptions for 1,109 yards and 11 touchdowns. Like Watson, he has proven himself capable of attacking the deep parts of the field when aligned on the outside of the offensive formation.
“I’m really confident in my deep back game,” he said. “I understand that being a complete receiver, you must work on everything, working on the technique and route running, releases off the line and being able to track footballs with hand-eye coordination.”
As for his meeting with the Patriots, Doubs felt that it went well.
“The meeting was great. I loved meeting with the Patriots,” he said. I was able to show off my personality and who I am to them both as a young man and a football player. So, it was awesome.”
Despite investing in free agents Kendrick Bourne and Nelson Agholor last offseason, the wide receiver position remains a need for New England. While neither Watson nor Doubs are expected to come off the board before the middle rounds of this year’s draft, they would give the team and starting quarterback Mac Jones some developmental young talent to work with.
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