Patriots player profile: DeMario Douglas is a dynamic weapon in the slot

Previewing the Patriots wide receiver heading into his third NFL season.

One of the New England Patriots’ biggest weaknesses under Bill Belichick was drafting and developing wide receivers. For every Julian Edelman, there was a group of Aaron Dobsons, Taylor Prices and N’Keal Harrys — all players who failed to live up to their draft statuses while with the Patriots.

Belichick’s last draft before leaving the team, however, looks like it produced another quality player at the position: in two seasons with the team, former sixth-round pick DeMario Douglas became a quality receiving option for the Patriots.

Hard facts

Name: DeMario Douglas

Position: Wide receiver

Jersey number: 3

Opening day age: 24 (12/18/2000)

Measurements: 5’8 2/8”, 192 lbs, 72 1/2” wingspan, 30 1/4” arm length, 8 3/4” hand size, 4.44s 40-yard dash, 7.05s 3-cone drill, 4.29s short shuttle, 39 1/2” vertical jump, 11’2” broad jump, 12 bench press reps, 7.34 Relative Athletic Score

Experience

NFL: England Patriots (2023-) | College: Liberty (2019-22)

A two-way player, Douglas flew under the radar during his high school career at Pedro Menendez (St. Augustin, FL) and at Mandarin (Jacksonville, FL). Despite going 72-1,382-16 as a receiver and picking up 8 passes as a cornerback, the no-star recruit received only a handful of scholarship offers at the FBS level. One of them came from Liberty University, where he ended up spending his entire four-year college career.

Between 2019 and 2022, Douglas appeared in 40 games with 17 starts. Steadily increasing his output as a receiver, he finished with 172 catches for 2,193 yards and 16 touchdowns; he also scored a pair of punt return touchdowns and averaged 14.0 yards per carry. Coming off a productive redshirt junior campaign that saw him lead the Flames in receiving for a second straight season, he opted to forgo his final year of eligibility to turn pro.

Douglas had to wait until the 210th overall selection in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft to hear his name called, but he quickly proved himself a player to keep an eye on. Seeing regular action with the starters from his rookie offseason on, he went on to become the most productive wide receiver on the team over the last two seasons. In total, Douglas is heading into 2025 with 115 receptions, 1,182 receiving yards and 3 touchdown on his résumé.

Scouting report

Strengths: Douglas is dynamic player both before and after the catch. He has the flexible hips and efficient feet to be a “phone booth” receiver — an agile target who limits wasted movements by combining quickness and change-of-direction skills. He also offers good burst and the straight-line speed to be a factor both horizontally and vertically. If given a free release at the line of scrimmage, he can shake man-to-man cornerbacks of all sizes, and also pick up yards after the ball finds his hands as a receiver or on designed runs.

Speaking of his hands, Douglas has shown a reliable pair of mittens; his career drop percentage stands at just under 1.9 percent. He generally runs a crisp and well-grown route tree, and is tough to get hands on given his snap at the start of his routes (combined with the fact that he is best used off the ball). Despite his frame, he does not shy away from contact.

Weaknesses: Standing at just 5-foot-8 and 192 pounds, Douglas is undersized and might be best used in a set role rather than on an every-down basis. He lacks the play strength to regularly beat press-man coverage and is easily re-routed once defenders get their hands on him. He also is of limited use as a blocker in the run game; the willingness to use his natural leverage are there, but his frame as well as inadequate power and punch can fail him in that regard and makes it hard for him to sustain blocks.

Douglas needs to keep working on his chemistry with quarterback Drake Maye, especially when going against zone or in off-script situations. He also has had some issues with concussions (2) and fumbles (4) over his first two seasons in the NFL.

2024 review

Stats: 17 games (7 starts) | 679 offensive snaps (62.1%), 1 special teams snap (0.2%) | 84 targets, 66 catches (78.6%), 621 yards, 3 TDs | 3 carries, 16 yards (5.3 yards/carry) | 1 drop (1.2%), 1 fumble, 2 penalties

Season recap: Event though he missed three games due to a pair of separate concussions, Douglas showed considerable promise during his rookie season; he was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise lackluster offense. The same can be said about his sophomore campaign as a Patriot, although his usage slightly changed within a new-look unit under coordinator Alex Van Pelt.

With Van Pelt and company taking over, Douglas had a quiet start to the season and did not look like the at-times uncoverable go-to receiver he was in training camp (after he had returned to form following an early-summer hand injury). He was targeted just three times over the first two games, while looking more like a WR3 than the WR1 he projected as.

Heading into Week 3, Van Pelt and company adjusted their approach to employing Douglas and he promptly delivered one of his most productive games of the season (7-69). Three weeks later, he caught his first career touchdown and had a career-high 92 receiving yards in what was quarterback Drake Maye’s starting debut.

With Maye at the helm as opposed to Jacoby Brissett, Douglas’ per-game averages improved across the board.

His targets and receptions per game went from 4.4 and 3.6 to 5.2 and 4.0, respectively, and he also averaged more yards (30.6 vs. 39.0) and found the end zone three times total. As a result of this development, plus his availability for all 17 games, he ended the season with new career highs in targets (84), catches (66), yards (621), and touchdowns (3).

Compared to his rookie season, however, Douglas was less efficient in 2025. Be it in terms of yards per route run (1.7 to 1.4) or yards per catch (11.4 to 9.4), he did not manage to best his 2024 output. Part of it had to do with his depth of target dropping from 8.0 to 5.9 yards downfield, but he also gained fewer yards after the average catch (7.0 to 5.6).

Based on the small sample size, there does not appear to be any reason for concern, though. The drop in efficiency can be chalked up to his role in the Van Pelt offense rather than any issues with Douglas’ own game or performance.

At the end of the day, he still was one of Drake Maye’s favorite weapons and a generally productive and reliable target for the young passer.

2025 preview

Position: Starting Slot-WR | Ability: Quality starter | Contract: Signed through 2026

What will be his role? Playing just under two thirds of offensive snaps, Douglas was a part-time starter in the slot in 2024. He projects to fill a similar role for new offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has a history of making the position a focal point in his scheme. Accordingly, it would not be a surprise to see the third-year man increase his opportunities.

What is his growth potential? As mentioned above, Douglas’ physical limitations have so far prevented him from becoming a regular three-down contributor in the NFL in the mold of a flexible slot/Z target such as Julian Edelman (who regularly played 80-plus percent of snaps). There is only so much Douglas can do about those, but he can add to his game in other areas: by steadily working on his blocking technique and strength, improving his vertical route tree, and strengthening his connection with Drake Maye.

Does he have positional versatility? Douglas had an inside/outside/backfield split of 78:21:1 last season, indicative of him primarily being seen as a slot target with limited value elsewhere. Time will tell whether or not that will change under Josh McDaniels. His relative lack of versatility thus far also extends to special teams. Douglas was used as a punt returner during his rookie season, but a concussion on one runback plus a change in coaching staff seems to have altered the Patriots’ approach to using him in the third phase of the game; he played only one kicking game snap in 2024.

What is his salary cap situation? Entering the third season of his four-year rookie contract, Douglas is carrying a salary cap number of $1.063 million. The deal itself is pretty straight forward, consisting of a non-guaranteed $1.03 million salary as well as a fully-guaranteed $33,333 signing bonus proration.

How safe is his roster spot? Even with the Patriots adding the likes of Stefon Diggs and Kyle Williams this offseason, Douglas is as close to a lock as any wide receiver on the roster. As the current starting slot, he is significantly closer to the top of the depth chart than the roster bubble.

Summary: The Patriots’ most dynamic weapon outside of two unknown quantities — rookies TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle Williams — DeMario Douglas is one of the few established playmakers on the roster. As a result, it will be fascinating to see his role and usage evolve under a new coaching staff.

What do you think about DeMario Douglas heading into the 2025 season? Please head down to the comment section to share your thoughts.