The New England Patriots thought they might get a steal in second-round draft pick Ja'Lynn Polk. Instead, they didn't even get 100 yards out of the rookie receiver.
Patriots EVP of player personnel Eliot Wolf admitted during the NFL Scouting Combine this week that the club might have overloaded Polk early, leading to the struggles.
"I hate to use this analogy, but you know in The Dark Knight when it's 'The hero you need isn't the hero that you have?' He was a young player that came in and he's mature, he's smart. I think organizationally, we maybe put too much on his plate early," Wolf said, via Pats Pulpit. "I think that really kind of stunted his growth a little bit. He's aware of that, and we've talked about it."
Setting aside the jumbled Dark Knight quote, Wolf's assessment tracks.
Polk flashed during offseason work, enough that the previous staff pushed him into duty early. He was a regular early in the season, including five starts from Weeks 2-6. The rookie played 100 percent of the snaps in Week 5's loss to Miami but caught just one pass for 13 yards.
From there, the staff walked back his playing time. The wideout missed Week 8 due to a concussion and played sparingly down the stretch. In his final eight games, he caught just two passes for 9 yards on seven targets. Polk missed Week 18 due to a shoulder injury.
The optics of Polk's struggles are worse considering that the Pats traded down three spots with the Los Angeles Chargers, who selected Ladd McConkey with the 34th pick. McConkey earned 1,149 yards on 82 catches and seven touchdowns. Polk, the No. 37 pick, had 87 yards on 12 catches with two scores.
Wolf believes a full offseason with the new staff under Mike Vrabel and coordinator Josh McDaniels will give Polk a new lease in 2025.
"He's going to continue to work hard and rehab and do the things that are necessary to improve," Wolf said.
The Patriots are almost certainly going to add to the wideout crew this offseason, in free agency and the draft. Even with a stockpile of underperforming wideouts, Polk should get an opportunity to carve out a role and prove New England didn't whiff on another second-round pick.