Tag: Nelson Agholor

The New England Patriots have a very specific job for receiver Nelson Agholor. He creates space for the rest of the offense. Maybe he doesn’t get as many receptions (32), fourth on the team, despite his 595 snaps, second among Patriots receivers, and targets (54), second on the team.

But Agholor is getting his job done, so long as he is assisting his teammates in creating separation. It’s not as simple as saying that the production of tight end Hunter Henry and receivers Kendrick Bourne and Jakobi Meyers is a credit to Agholor. But there’s definitely a connection.

ESPN’s Seth Walder drew up a chart that showed he’s running deep fades and go routes — both routes where the receiver runs straight downfield — more than most receivers in the NFL. Meanwhile, he’s barely running shallow routes, like a flat, a hitch or a short out.

Here’s a look.

Anyway, for contrast, here's Nelson Agholor. Who has one of the highest rates for Go routes *and* deep fades. pic.twitter.com/3yfMzcvBhp

— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) December 6, 2021

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This shouldn’t come a surprise to folks watching the games — and to those who are familiar with Agholor’s strengths that he showed with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2020. Agholor proved a reliable deep threat when paired with quarterback Derek Carr. They made for an impressive duo that could stretch the field.

Patriots quarterback Mac Jones and Agholor have not developed that same connection. But they haven’t needed to. Jones and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels have a way of chewing up defenses by dialing up short throws. That’s working so well, in part, because defenses have to respect Agholor when he’s streaking downfield. It also shows why he’s less efficient than most receivers on the Patriots, catching just 59.3% of his targets, sixth-best on the Patriots.

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Nelson Agholor’s production hasn’t met his price tag — not yet. The New England Patriots signed Agholor to a two-year deal worth up to $24 million this offseason, and it immediately implied he would be the No. 1 receiver in the offense, paid more than Jakobi Meyers and fellow free-agent signing, Kendrick Bourne (three years, $15 million).

Agholor has not been a WR1. He is, in fact, the lowest graded receiver (67.8) on the depth chart, behind Meyers, Bourne and N’Keal Harry, according to Pro Football Focus, the digital scouting service. They are hardly the end-all, be-all when it comes to evaluations. But his counting stats aren’t flattering either: 32 targets (tied for 54th in the NFL), 19 receptions (tied for 57th), 275 receiving yards (58th) and two touchdowns (tied for 32nd). Compare those numbers to the fact that Agholor is the 24th highest-paid receiver in average earnings in 2021, a deal that, at the time they inked it, looked like a misevaluation of the free-agency market.

One of his two touchdowns and his two of his longest receptions have been the products of trick plays, with Kendrick Bourne throwing a 25-yard touchdown to Agholor against the Jets and Meyers throwing a 30-yarder to Agholor against the Buccaneers. We shouldn’t discount those yards — but they are more a product of trickeration and game planning than of Agholor’s separation skills or ability to generate yards after the catch. In fact, you could argue the Patriots have needed to run so many trick plays this year, because Agholor has struggled to generate separation and yards after the catch. He has 61 yards after the catch, which is seventh-best on the Patriots. His yards per route run is 1.21, 11th best on the Patriots. His average separation yards (2.6) are fewer than Meyers (3.1), Bourne (3) and tight ends Hunter Henry (2.9) and Jonnu Smith (4.2).

There isn’t anything Agholor is doing well at this point. Quarterback Mac Jones has struggled to target the deep portion of the field, which is surely a factor that limits Agholor’s production. He is, after all, supposed to be the team’s deep threat that can stretch the defense. But considering all of Agholor’s statistics, you have to wonder whether it’s more of a chicken-egg question. Is Agholor actually limiting Jones’ ability? Perhaps that’s more of a factor than we’d initially anticipated.

New England made a concerted effort to get tight end Jonnu Smith involved in Week 7 by giving him five targets in one half before he left with an injury. It’s worth wondering if the Patriots might try to feed Agholor at some point in the coming games with hopes of getting him more involved.