Patriots Rookie Wideout Trending Down Going Into Preseason Finale

Javon Baker did plenty of talking after the New England Patriots drafted the wide receiver in the fourth round of this year's NFL draft. He felt there weren't 10 receivers better than him not just in the NFL, but the entire country.

Baker hasn't exactly backed up that chatter with his play on the field, though.

In fact, after two preseason games and a slew of training camp practices, Baker's stock is heading in the wrong direction. The 22-year-old has struggled with drops in the preseason, including when he couldn't come up with a perfectly thrown deep ball from Drake Maye in last week's exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

But that's not the only issue NESN's George Balekji had with Baker, which he discussed on Thursday's episode of "Boston Has Entered The Chat."

"He got the crap beat out of him right off the snap at the line of scrimmage and pushed off his route," Balekji said. "... That's a glimpse into the struggles he has. He's a fourth-round pick. This guy coming into the season at best was going to be a wide receiver-three. So, he starts as a wide receiver-four or five, it's not that bad.

"And this a reminder, it's about situations that support young quarterbacks, especially rookie quarterbacks. The situation, the wide receiver room, is still not good and Javon Baker is a glimpse into why."

Baker's big-play potential would be useful to an uninspiring Patriots offense, but the UCF product will have to get on the field first. It's projected that he's behind DeMario Douglas, Tyquan Thornton, K.J. Osborn and fellow rookie Ja'Lynn Polk on the depth chart.

That leaves Baker to battle with Jalen Reagor for New England's fifth wide receiver spot. And Baker could have his already limited playing time in the regular season squeezed even more whenever Kendrick Bourne returns.

You can catch all episodes of "Boston Has Entered The Chat" on YouTube and Spotify.