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Perry's Stock Watch: Douglas makes Pats history with latest big game

darren hartwell
·2 min read
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Perry's Stock Watch: Douglas makes Pats history with latest big game originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Bill Belichick's track record of whiffing on Day 1 and Day 2 wide receivers in the NFL Draft is well-established. But he may have found another Day 3 gem in Demario Douglas.

The New England Patriots' sixth-round pick out of Liberty earned a spot on the initial 53-man roster with an impressive training camp, and since has become a focal point of the offense in Year 1 after several injuries at the receiver position.

Douglas continued his strong rookie campaign Sunday night in Denver by catching five passes for a game-high 74 yards in the Patriots' stunning 26-23 upset of the Broncos. Douglas' leaping grab from Bailey Zappe for a gain of 41 yards in the third quarter set up New England's first touchdown of the night and helped spark the team's second-half comeback.

Douglas also made a bit of history Sunday night: He's up to 44 receptions on the season, surpassing Deion Branch (43 receptions in 2002), for the most catches by a Patriots rookie receiver in a single season under Bill Belichick.

In fact, Douglas is well on his way to having the best campaign by a Patriots rookie pass-catcher in the Belichick era. At 517 receiving yards through 15 games, he needs just three more yards to surpass Aaron Dobson (519 yards in 2013) for the most receiving yards by a Patriots rookie since Belichick took over in 2000.

That's partially a reflection of how low the bar is for rookie wideouts in New England under Belichick. (For context, Douglas' 45 receptions rank 14th among all rookie pass-catchers as of Sunday night and are less than half of Puka Nacua's 96 catches.) But it still shouldn't diminish Douglas' impressive rookie campaign: The 23-year-old now leads the team in both receptions and receiving yards and has tallied five receptions or more in five of his last six games.

Douglas is one of three players who earned a "Stock Up" label in Phil Perry's "Stock Watch" report for Week 16. See below for the full Stock Watch and check out the video above for Perry's full breakdown.

Stock Up

Stock Down