2020 Patriots Questions: Who Will Lead Team In Receiving Yards, Touchdowns?
BOSTON (CBS) -- We have finally reached Week 1 of the 2020 NFL season, which is the beginning of a new era for the New England Patriots. In addition to all the unknown that will go with teams playing football during a pandemic, the Patriots are going through quite the change in personnel with Cam Newton taking over for the departed Tom Brady.
No one really knows what to expect in 2020, from both a Patriots standpoint and a league standpoint, but we're going to take a crack at it anyways. The WBZ-TV and CBS Boston Sports team will be answering a handful of questions regarding the Patriots as we count down to kickoff Sunday afternoon against the Miami Dolphins.
Stats are for losers, but we're gonna talk about some stats this time around. Here, the sports team makes their picks for who will lead the Pats in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Dan Roche, WBZ-TV Sports
Yards will be Julian Edelman. Cam Newton will love throwing to the veteran, who finds a way to get open, get crushed, and just keep going. Touchdowns I'm going to say N'Keal Harry. He's got the hands for a goal line offense and has a chance to be the next Gronk in terms of that kind of TD production.
Levan Reid, WBZ-TV Sports
The leading receiver in yards will be Edelman. His skill set is so different than any other offensive player in the league and he just moves the chains constantly. Harry will lead the way in touchdowns, potentially reaching double digits. He should be a monster in the red zone.
Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
Yards, forget it, it's Edelman. Touchdowns, let's go with an optimistic view on Harry and say that Newton is able to turn him into the red zone weapon he should be. He's got the size and strength to do it, and he showed some glimpses last year. Maybe he'll have a better connection with Cam than he did with Tom.
Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
For yards, you have to go Edelman. That's an easy one because if he's healthy, he's going to make lots of big gains for Cam Newton.
As for touchdowns, that's a little tougher. I'm leaning toward Harry, since he's such a big target in the red zone, but it will all depend on is health and understanding of the playbook. Rookie tight end Devin Asiasi is a nice dark horse in this category.
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You can watch the Patriots kick off their 2020 season Sunday on WBZ-TV — the home of the New England Patriots! Coverage begins Friday night at 7 p.m. with Patriots All Access and kicks off Sunday at 11:30 a.m. with Patriots GameDay. The Patriots and the Dolphins square off at 1 p.m., and stick to WBZ-TV after the game for Cam Newton's first postgame press conference on Patriots 5th Quarter!