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How Pop Douglas has developed into a record-setting receiver for Pats originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
FOXBORO — The news was still relatively fresh to DeMario Douglas. He’d just been informed he surpassed Deion Branch’s mark for catches by a rookie under Bill Belichick, and he couldn’t help himself from smiling.
“I passed Deion? That’s crazy,” he said. “That’s a blessing. That’s crazy.”
Douglas’ season has been crazy productive relative to the expectations that would have been reasonably set out for him as a sixth-round pick out of Liberty. No one on the Patriots has seen more targets this year (68), despite Douglas missing three games due to concussions. No one has more receiving yards (517). And his catches total (44) is lagging behind only running back Ezekiel Elliott (45).
At 1.97 yards per route run, Douglas ranks 28th among qualifying NFL receivers, checking in just behind Rams go-to guy Cooper Kupp (1.98) and just ahead of Vegas star wideout Davante Adams (1.94).
But for Douglas to be mentioned in the same breath as Branch — who had 43 catches for 489 yards back in 2002, when Douglas was just a 1-year-old — meant the world. He’s been shown tape of the oh-so-shifty Branch since arriving in Foxboro back in the spring, and when he teamed up with former Louisville star Malik Cunningham, he heard even more about the Super Bowl MVP.
Branch is the director of player development and alumni relations at his alma mater Louisville, and he served as interim head coach for the Cardinals in their Fenway Bowl appearance last year.
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“I’ve watched his film, how he was separating,” Douglas said. “How he was getting open, how he did stuff in his routes to get open. I felt like that’s helped me, too. Watching his film, watching Troy Brown’s film, I added a little old school to my game just seeing how they became successful.”
Douglas ran a…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/pop-douglas-developed-slot-receiver-191038934.html
Author : NBC Sports Boston
Publish date : 2023-12-29 19:21:06
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