This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/patriots as Training Camp Proving Patriots WR is Clearly in Trouble. The New England Patriots entered training camp having a very stacked battle at the wide receiver position, with 12 players competing from anywhere between five to seven spots on the roster.

The first week of training camp for the New England Patriots is in the books, and while the team has only scratched the surface of the preseason work, enough has happened to get a general sense of where some players currently stand.

FOXBORO, Mass. — There’s little sugarcoating the poor results of the New England Patriots’ last three draft classes (Drake Maye not withstanding). Good teams land four or five starters in each draft class, and the Pats are significantly behind pace in recent years, which is essentially why they’ve fallen to the depths of back-to-back 4-13 seasons.