In every NFL offense, there's a receiver who is considered the engine of the passing game.
The engine might not be the big-play threat, or the touchdown maker, but it's the straw that stirs the drink, the chain-mover. It's essential to keep the offense on schedule, to convert on third down and string plays together to help the offense march down the field to produce points consistently. Without a productive player in that role, the offense will be inconsistent.
For the Patriots, the engine in offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels's offense is the slot receiver. Over the years, New England has become notorious for producing high-volume slot receivers from Troy Brown, to Deion Branch, Wes Welker, Danny Amendola, Jakobi Meyers and soon-to-be Patriots Hall of Famer Julian Edelman. The franchise legend will be given his red jacket at a ceremony on Sept. 20 at Gillette Stadium, along with former head coach Bill Parcells, who will go into the team's Hall of Fame as a contributor.
While catching passes for Tom Brady, Edelman played in McDaniels's offense for his final nine seasons in New England, amassing 1,000-yard seasons on three different occasions. Edelman won three Super Bowls with the Patriots and was named the most valuable player in Super Bowl LIII. Although he deserves most of the credit for his own success, part of Edelman's greatness came from being the primary "Z" or "F" receiver in the offense, moving around the formation as a matchup weapon for McDaniels against middle-of-the-field coverage.
Edelman explained to Patriots.com what it takes to play in the slot for McDaniels, starting with processing coverages almost like a quarterback.
"It comes with being able to take pre-snap pictures and post-snap pictures and being able to see change in defense and recognize what's going on and being able to adjust on the fly. Your route could be something completely different while being on the same page as the quarterback," Edelman said. "If your personnel was able to digest and process information, that's when those guys got a lot of balls."
The coaching points for current receivers coach Todd Downing are similar to how Edelman described them, with Downing explaining why the slot is so productive in McDaniels's system.
"It's a position that we put a lot on their plate from a decision-making standpoint. For that reason, they have a lot of options or freedom to get open within the confines of their assignment. If you can find someone who makes reliable decisions and is consistent with how they approach the game, it makes for a friendly target for the quarterback, so therefore you get production," Downing explained.
Although we could marvel at Edelman's career for a while, he will not be suiting up for the 2025 Patriots. Instead, New England's primary slot receivers will be third-year pro DeMario Douglas and undrafted rookie Efton Chism III. Plus, four-time Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs will likely factor into this equation as well. This summer, Douglas has arguably been the Patriots' best receiver in training camp. He has been praised for putting in the work during the offseason to learn his role in the offense, honing in on the details, while Chism has been a breakout player in camp and fits like a glove in McDaniels' system.
Before we get into the film, let's explain the difference between a "Z" and an "F" receiver. The "Z" receiver, or flanker, is a movable chess piece. McDaniels often uses this player in shifts or motions to get him free releases off the line of scrimmage, highlighting their ability to get open quickly. The "F" receiver, on the other hand, lines up almost exclusively in the slot in a three-receiver set. Edelman clarifies that he was more of a flanker, whereas Amendola ran most of his routes out of the slot. In their Pats careers, Edelman ran just 45.8% of his routes from the slot, while Amendola ran 70.9% from the slot position, according to PFF.
"I was more of the Joker. I had a lot of catches on the outside. People just put me in the slot position because I had a lot of catches in the slot. But, a lot of the time, if you see the condensed receiver into the formation, digging out the force, hitting the safety, I was that guy a lot. They used to move me around," Edelman said. "Danny [Amendola] was a traditional slot. We're different."
By using Chism's preseason tape, we can explain the roles and how the Z/F receiver's routes adjust on the fly depending on the defense's coverage. Although it's not universal, the general rule of thumb is that receivers sit versus zone coverage and break away from man coverage.
For example, Chism is playing in a two-receiver set when he shifts across the formation before the snap. New England runs a "spot" concept on the play, with the tight end (in) and running back (flat) creating horizontal stretch in the defense. When the Vikings fall into zone coverage, Chism sits in the soft spot and gets the Patriots closer to the end zone.
This time, Chism is the No. 3 receiver (inside slot) in a 3x1 formation. New England runs a variation of the stick concept with an outside vertical route to clear out coverage, a diagonal or flat route, and the hook route from Chism. With the defense in quarters coverage, Chism's goal is to settle between the two underneath zones right over the sticks, giving backup QB Joshua Dobbs an easy target to move the chains on third down.
As mentioned, the key to success in the slot is knowing when to sit and when to run away from coverage. Above, the Vikings defense rotates into an inverted Tampa-2 scheme, with the left boundary corner dropping into the deep half. Chism gets matched on the pole runner as the inside slot receiver in a four verticals variation. With the split-safety structure, Chism continues across the field on a crossing pattern, moving the chains on third down.
During the regular season, the expectation is that Diggs and Douglas will be featured in these roles, with Chism waiting in the wings, similar to how Edelman initially sat behind Welker. To Edelman, he sees Douglas having a huge year, while the Pats current top slot receiver has been texting the Patriots Hall of Famer for tips on how to play in McDaniels's offense.
"I know that inside that building they think highly of Pop Douglas," Edelman said. "I could see him catching 80-to-90 balls this year because of having Josh McDaniels, a guy that knows how to use that slot, use matchup play, getting different bodies on different bodies. That's what the slot does. You're putting them in so many different spots they're getting different matchups."
"That's what I'm talking about," Douglas said of Edelman's 80-plus catches prediction. "That's a blessing. Every time Jules comes here, I'm excited to just pick his brain a little bit. It's a Patriot legend who comes through here to see us practice and chat with us. He doesn't have to waste his time coming here to talk to us, but he does.
"I texted [Edelman] not too long ago and asked him what do I need to know? That's what he's telling me. Trust the process and do your thing. Go out there and play with confidence, and nobody can stop you," Douglas continued.
Along with discussing his relationship with Edelman, Douglas also offered his two cents on playing the slot receiver role for McDaniels. The Pats wideout referred to the role as the "adjuster" because of the option routes and how others play off the slot receiver.
"You really have to know all the positions. You really have to know all the routes; you're the adjuster. I feel like that's what's so important about the slot. You have to know where to line up. You have to know all the motions, all that," Douglas said. "You're the guy who really puts everybody in place. When you line up, everyone else knows where to line up. It's a tough role, but it's fun."
Although the third-year pro figures to be the primary slot receiver this season, the buzz for the undrafted rookie is growing after Chism posted six catches for 71 yards and a touchdown in the Patriots preseason win over the Vikings, including four catches for 63 yards and a score on one drive in the second quarter. Chism, who broke Cooper Kupp's single-season receptions record at Eastern Washington (120 catches), earned a spot on the initial roster with an excellent summer.
After breaking Kupps's record, Chism impressed scouts at the Hula and East-West Shrine Bowls during the college All-Star game circuit. However, the 23-year-old only posted a 4.7-second 40-yard dash, which led to him going undrafted. Chism's straight-line speed was a question mark, but he falls into the quicker-than-fast category, posting a 6.77-second three-cone drill (79th percentile) at Eastern Washington's Pro Day. As we know, straight-line speed isn't everything: Edelman (4.52s), Welker (4.65s), Amendola (4.70s) and Meyers (4.63s) all posted pedestrian 40-yard dash times. After finding out he made the initial 53-man roster, Chism also shed some light on playing in the slot for McDaniels.
"The keys are understanding what he's asking and understanding your role. There's going to be a lot of different scenarios where Josh is going to move that slot receiver around. There's going to be a lot of different things like feeling different zones versus man concepts," Chism said. "You get so many opportunities with it, so just studying your tail off, figuring out those little nuances and trying to do them to the best of your ability."
To the Pats Hall of Famer, Chism's game reminds Edelman most of Amendola. In fact, Chism has been watching cutups of Amendola in McDaniels' offense since the spring.
"Chism runs [routes] more like Danny. The type of cutting he does, it looks more like 'Dola than me. I was an unorthodox route runner. I used to do these double jumps into the cut where no one could read it, and my explosion was different than a lot of people," Edelman said. "He looks like he's a good football player, an instinctive football player. Understands coverage, processing, he's been strong with the ball in his hands, he's made some tough catches, and he has a really strong lower end. They have a couple guys that have been playing [the slot] pretty well."
Chism responded to the Amendola comparisons by saying, "Any comparison is a good comparison. But at the end of the day, just trying to be the best Efton Chism I can be."
The Patriots legend isn't the only one impressed with Chism. Speaking to reporters earlier this summer, backup QB Joshua Dobbs gushed about Chism. In particular, Dobbs highlighted Chism's fit in McDaniels's offense.
"He fits really well within the scheme and offense. He does a great job in the routes of being fast when he needs to, but also being strategic when he needs to. He's a QB-friendly target, like in the red zone or third down. He gets a lot of good matchups, and he wins those matchups, which is most important," Dobbs said. "He's playing the mental game before practice and before the game, so he's prepared when he steps on the field. He deserves all the love he's getting, but I think he understands that it's just one day at a time."
Although the early returns on the Patriots slot options are positive, Edelman had one piece of advice in our conversation for Chism and Douglas: ball security is job security. As two smaller receivers, Douglas (5-8, 192 pounds) and Chism (5-10, 198 pounds) need to protect the rock.
"When you're a smaller guy like that, that's always going to be the thing. Are they going to be able to hold on to the football?" Edelman said. "I was a younger guy, sometimes you don't know when the journey is over. You learn that the longer you stay in that league because of the pursuit [speed of the defense]."
Another key to playing as an inside receiver is run blocking. While playing in these roles, Edelman was often tasked with blocking the "force" defender setting the edge of the defense. The former Pats wideout also explained that blocking in the run game is a way for the slot receivers to set up play-action passes.
"You're digging out safeties, and you're digging out the force. You're also setting up your play-actions, you're setting up your routes. If you came off hard every time in certain formations, guys didn't know if it was a run or a pass. It can help you with everything. It's not just important for the run game. I used it for my pass game as well," Edelman said. "Bill [Belichick] would always say the receiver's job is to get open and catch the ball. When we got in the receiver room, Chad [O'Shea] would say get open, catch the ball and compete in the run game. He'd add that third one when no one is around because we took it to heart."
For the Patriots current slot receivers, it remains to be seen if they can hold their own in the run game like Edelman did. Run blocking was an underrated aspect of Edelman's game. He wasn't afraid to stick his nose in there against bigger bodies, and was a feisty run-blocker for his size who won his matchups more often than not. To be a full-time slot receiver, Chism and Douglas will need to do their share in the run game.
That said, the most important aspect of the role is getting open and catching the ball, of course. McDaniels has a knack for designing plays where the slot has favorable coverages and matchups to win on routes between the numbers. Now that he's back directing the Pats offense, one would expect that the slot receiver will again be a featured piece in the passing game.
"I wouldn't say it's freedom, but it's like, get open, get open. I know you can get open, get open. Just know your details, the fundamentals, and do your techniques," Douglas added.
For years, the slot machine was paying out in Foxboro, and if this summer is any indication, the slot receiver is back to being the engine of the Patriots passing game.
DISCLAIMER: The views and thoughts expressed in this article are those of the writer and don't necessarily reflect those of the organization. Read Full Disclaimer
