FOXBORO – Patriots undrafted rookie wide receiver Efton Chism drew the attention of his quarterback, Drake Maye, during organized team activities and minicamp.
Maye, while speaking broadly about the Patriots’ rookies, joked that it felt like Chism had caught “50 passes” during OTAs. Chism, a 5-foot-10, 198-pounder who has drawn easy comparisons to Patriots slot receivers of the past, was the star of the Patriots’ third open OTAs session,
catching seven passes
on seven targets during 11-on-11 work.
A team source said Chism earned those opportunities, including ones in the first-team offense with Maye, with his consistency and ability to pick up the mental aspect of the game quickly.
Head coach Mike Vrabel echoed those sentiments Tuesday before the second and final day of Patriots minicamp practice.
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“I think he’s a talented player. I think he has a certain skill set. He’s dedicated. He’s studied extremely hard. He has a good feel for what we’re asking him to do,” Vrabel said. “I think the biggest thing for receivers is that there’s trust from the guy that throws the football. When you earn the quarterback’s trust – any one of them that we have, any one of the three – it doesn’t take you long to figure out who the quarterback trusts. It’s the ones they target. That’s a good indicator.”
Chism was a favorite target of Maye, Joshua Dobbs and fellow undrafted rookie Ben Wooldridge during the spring, but his next test comes during training camp when the pads come on. Standout performances during unpadded, non-contact OTAs are not necessarily an indicator of future success.
But Chism is certainly taking the correct approach at learning Josh McDaniels’ historically difficult offensive playbook.
“Just grinding it,” Chism said. “I’m here late. I’m up early, doing it all – looking at flash cards. I’m a big flash cards guy. But walking through it, everything I can just to try to get that extra step and just keep stacking those extra steps each and every day.”
Chism, a Monroe, Wash.-native, watched Seahawks slot receiver Doug Baldwin growing up. He also studied his fellow Eastern Washington alum Cooper Kupp. But he plans on putting in more work on Patriots slot receivers of the past like Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola, Wes Welker and Troy Brown.
Chism, like those four wide receivers, isn’t necessarily a speed demon on the field, but he has the requisite change of direction skills to play inside.
“That’s kind of another one of my goals coming these next couple weeks we got the time off, is just to go through a bunch of (Patriots) seasons, watch a bunch of games, see how they did it, because it’s pretty much same offense, a lot of the same stuff,” Chism said. “So just see how they did it, and trying to try to develop that into my game.”
The 23-year-old said he would specifically watch to see how they get open against man coverage.
“Obviously, they feel zones very well. I think that’s very special with all of them, seeing when they sit, when they run, certain things like that,” Chism said. “But I mean, in this league, especially coming from the FCS, people are going to say the man coverage is going to be the biggest part of getting open. So, you know, just seeing what they did and take that.”
Chism earned FCS first-team All-American honors in 2024 by posting 120 receptions for 1,311 yards with 13 touchdowns. Over five years at Eastern Washington, Chism caught 346 passes for 3,852 yards with 37 touchdowns. He also contributed as a punt returner (56 returns for 257 yards) and kick returner (31 returns for 651 yards).
The Patriots rookie, a non-combine invitee who ran a 4.72-second 40-yard dash with a 1.62-second 10-yard split, 34.5-inch vertical leap, 9-feet, 10-inch broad jump, 6.77-second 3-cone drill, 4.06-second short shuttle and 16 bench press reps of 225 pounds at his pro day in March, would have liked to hear his name called during the 2025 NFL Draft but will use his undrafted status as motivation.
“I think there’s a bunch of little things – taken from an FCS school, not getting drafted – I’m always gonna bring up myself for motivation, but at the end of the day, it’s just opportunity. And Coach Vrabel said that: ‘Don’t care how you got here, it’s opportunity now.’ So I’m excited.”
Undrafted players have an uphill climb to make an NFL roster, but Welker, Amendola and Jakobi Meyers, another former Patriots slot receiver, all entered the league as undrafted free agents. Edelman was a seventh-round pick, and Brown was an eighth-rounder.
Chism is also in a crowded group of wide receivers. Stefon Diggs, Mack Hollins and Kyle Williams look like locks, while Chism has a chance to compete with Javon Baker, Demeer Blankumsee, Kendrick Bourne, Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, John Jiles, Ja’Lynn Polk and Jeremiah Webb for snaps and roster spots.
Chism is far from guaranteed a roster spot, but if he continues to master the playbook and earn the trust of his quarterbacks, he could be next in a long list of unheralded Patriots slot receivers.
