Sixth-round draft pick Demario Douglas compares his game to this current Patriots player

Many teams in the NFL may view a 5-foot-8, 175-pound player as an outlier. The New England Patriots, however, now have two players with those exact same measurables.

After using one of their sixth-round selections in this past weekend’s NFL Draft on wide receiver Demario Douglas, he will now team up with a player with the exact same size in Marcus Jones. The receiver is quite aware of Jones’ game, noting he has watched him “from afar since college” due to their similarities in height.

“He plays everywhere,” Douglas said in his introductory conference call. “He just can do it all. That’s how I was in high school. In high school, I played everything. I wish I could’ve done it in college, but hey. Then watching him actually do that at the highest level is amazing.”

Jones did do it all for the Patriots last season, establishing himself as a serious three-phase player as a rookie. Despite playing 371 defensive snaps and being the teams primary returner in the kicking game, Jones also was used as a gadget offensive player in the back half of the season.

Why Douglas ideally won’t be playing any cornerback in Foxboro, and likely won’t take return duties from Jones despite his collegiate success at the position, his offensive usage could replicate how Jones was used.

Douglas did not post top-tier agility testing times, but clocked an impressive 4.44 second 40-yard dash. That long speed and burst are noticeable while watching him at Liberty, where he finished with 79 catches for 993 yards last season. Even at 5-foot-8, Douglas can threaten defensive backs vertically and is slippery after the catch - forcing 20 missed tackles as a ball carrier last season.

“If you would use one word, I’d say electric,” Douglas said when asked to describe his game. “I’d say I can do it all, play inside receiver, outside, and then I also add value to special teams, punt return, kick return.”

New England will likely have a plan for their sixth-round selection from the jump, as they worked with him throughout the East-West Shrine Bowl. As first-round pick Zay Flowers practiced just one day, it was Douglas who primarily took on his role the rest of the week.

“Being able to work with Demario and all those guys and Troy [Brown] and Ross [Douglas] as wide receivers, being able to work with those guys… just kind of further solidified our feelings on the players after spending a week with them,” Matt Groh said in his post-draft video conference.

“I felt like I just knew how I got along so good with the staff,” Douglas added. “I’d say the staff did a great job of coaching me and making me already feel like I’m in the NFL as I was going through the process. So, I believe I’m home.”