- A year after WR misery, something is brewing in New England: The Patriots’ wide receiver corps ranked 30th in PFF receiving grade last season. The unit is up to ninth through Week 5 this year, led by Stefon Diggs.
- Diggs and Maye are looking to cause chaos in a recently quiet division: The Bills have won five straight AFC East titles, but the Patriots showed on Sunday Night Football that they’re out to buck the trend.
- The New England Patriots outdueled the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills in Week 5: Dive into the PFF game recap for advanced stats, snap counts, early player grades and more!
Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
By the end of the 2024 NFL season, no team’s wide receivers had accounted for fewer yards, explosive passing plays and first downs than the New England Patriots’ young group.
It was supposed to be a corps of budding stars, with rookie draft picks Javon Baker and Ja’Lynn Polk, 2023 sixth-rounders DeMario Douglas and Kayshon Boutte and 2022 second-rounder Tyquan Thornton spearheading a turnaround. Instead, it was a ragtag bunch that struggled to provide much of a safety blanket for first-year passer Drake Maye. There was always promise in that room, but the team sorely needed a veteran presence to glue everything together. A 4-13 record showed as much.
One season later, 31-year-old Stefon Diggs is proving to be that sought-after puzzle piece.
Biggest Differences in Team WR PFF Receiving Grade Rank from 2024 to 2025
| Team | 2024 Rank | 2025 Rank (Through Week 5) | Difference |
| 1. Dallas Cowboys | 26 | 5 | 21 |
| 2. Chicago Bears | 28 | 8 | 20 |
| 3. New England Patriots | 30 | 14 | 16 |
| 4. Miami Dolphins | 21 | 7 | 14 |
| 5. Indianapolis Colts | 17 | 4 | 13 |
Out are Baker, Polk and Thornton, and in is Diggs — signed to a three-year, $65.3 million deal this offseason — with Boutte, Douglas and Mack Hollins working behind him. Maye has since developed into the 13th-highest-graded quarterback in the NFL through five weeks of his second season while sitting one victory away from matching New England’s 2024 win total.
Diggs’ 359 receiving yards leave him less than 300 away from being the team’s most productive wide receiver since the start of last season, and he boasts the league’s fourth-best PFF receiving grade (85.4). He could very well end up as the franchise’s first 1,000-yard receiver since Julian Edelman in 2019.
It was all on display when the Patriots took down the Buffalo Bills, the NFL’s last unbeaten, on Sunday Night Football behind Maye and Diggs, as well as head coach Mike Vrabel in his first season.
Maye didn’t throw any touchdowns, but he logged two big-time throws. One was to Diggs, who saw his quarterback scrambling to the right and keenly spun around cornerback Tre’Davious White, opening up a small window for Maye to drop in a 32-yard completion. One play later, running back Rhamondre Stevenson found the endzone.
Diggs finished the contest with 10 catches for 146 yards and his first 90.0-plus PFF receiving grade (92.2) since Week 6 of 2022, when he played for the Bills.
Highest PFF Receiving Grades Among WRs in Week 5 (Min. 10 Snaps)
| Player | PFF Receiving Grade |
| 1. Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots | 92.2 |
| 2. Ryan Flournoy, Dallas Cowboys | 90.4 |
| 3. Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 86.9 |
| 4. Jaylen Waddle, Miami Dolphins | 84.6 |
| 5. Josh Downs, Indianapolis Colts | 82.4 |
In stark contrast to last season, New England’s wide receivers rank 20th in receiving yards, tied for 13th in first downs (34) and tied for 15th in plays of 15-plus yards (16), among other improved marks, through Week 5.
The wide receiver corps is still finding its footing. Drake Maye is still a second-year quarterback. But it’s no small feat to take down a top contender on the road — in primetime — to tighten things up in what is often considered one of the NFL’s least competitive divisions. Maye and Diggs are leading the charge as the Patriots aim to return to juggernaut status.
This news was originally published on this post .
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