Kenbrell Thompkins released by Patriots: Team finally dealing with target distribution problem

October 4th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Once an undrafted prospect, soon a starting wide receiver and eventually a non-factor, Kenbrell Thompkins was waived by the Patriots Saturday evening.

Thompkins, a graduate of the Cincinnati Bearcats organization, played 12 games for the Patriots a year ago. He caught 32 passes as a secondary target of Brady’s and hauled in 4 touchdowns. His 466 receiving yards were second only those of Julian Edelman while his game winning touchdown catch in Week Seven against the Saints served as possibly one of the moments of the year.

However, in the 8 games Thompkins has played in since then, he has not scored. In the back half of last season he was a player whose stat sheet was riddled with “inactive” notes, dropped passes and as a result, decreased numbers of targets from Brady.

So far in 2014, Thompkins, who was expected by many to mature greatly this season, has been a non-factor.

He had just 6 receptions for 53 yards and did not play consecutive games in the first 4 weeks of the NFL set. He showed an inability to keep with drawn up routs and as a result was actually targeted on just one play verses the Raiders two weeks ago.

While Tom Brady threw pass after pass in the direction of Julian Edelman, Thompkins just stood there on the other side of the field watching while his importance to the Patriots organization melted away.

Reports first started filtering in that he had been dropped just after 5pm and such reports were confirmed within about a half hour. The Patriots had put Thompkins on waivers, calling up Ja’Gared Davis from the practice squad. If Thompkins clears waivers, he will be eligible to be signed to the practice squad by New England.

Beyond Thompkins, the Patriots are a team in wide receiving turmoil this season. Save for the man at the top – Edelman -- the depth chart at the position has been in rotation throughout the first 4 weeks of 2014.

5 year vet, Brandon La’Fell, was promoted to number one WR last week in Kansas City. There he hauled in 6 catches for an impressive 119 yards and a touchdown, missing just two targets. On top of LaFell, the Patriots roster is also filled with names that, even though they are currently inactive, could serve as possible targets at wide receiver if Brady ever manages to branch out beyond Edelman.

25 year old Brian Tyms will not play verses Cincinnati despite his 4 game suspension concluding last week. When he does however, his quick feet and incendiary forward speed have been predicted by many to provide the Patriots with a reliable deep threat.

Lastly, second year wide receiver Aaron Dobson brings a similar skill set to the table as Thompkins. Last season he, like Thompkins went through a statistical roller coaster, catching 6 passes in Week Seven before getting shut down in the final three weeks of the year in which he caught for just 27 yards. Dobson however has gone beyond statistical ups and downs in 2014, getting benched last week for behavioral issues and catching just 1 pass so far. But over the course of a long season, he could find his way back into the WR mix.

All and all, today’s sudden placement of Thompkins on waivers was understandable. Brady for a reason probably very similar to those that prevent him from throwing at many of his other receivers did not feel comfortable targeting Thompkins. Finally the Pats front office did something to deal with that.