What Josh Gordon's reinstatement means for Patriots

The NFL has reinstated Josh Gordon, and unless he makes another off-field mistake, he should be an important part of New England’s offense in 2019. His return is great news for the Patriots, whose passing game will different this season without all-world tight end Rob Gronkowski.

Predicting how the 28-year-old Gordon will play immediately after a long layoff is mostly speculation. He'll undoubtedly be rusty. When he's on top of his game, however, he is among the best receivers in football. He's in the class of someone such as Atlanta’s Julio Jones.

At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Gordon is a big, powerful man who moves with violence and grace. Most players with his dimensions are mostly straight-line athletes who build up speed as they get downfield. But Gordon doesn’t have to decelerate before getting into his breaks and loses little speed on sharp cuts. Gordon has loose hips for a big wideout and doesn’t take much time to get up to full speed.

With Gronkowski retired, tight ends will catch few passes from Tom Brady, who will direct a run-heavy team that uses a lot of big personnel. With a tight end shortage, the Patriots could use more three- and even four-wide receiver sets. (Don’t forget that running back James White is more a receiver than a runner.) Expect the Patriots to run the ball plenty with the extra wide receivers on the field.

Slot receiver Julian Edelman, who might be in line to lead the NFL in targets in 2019, and White will be Brady's go-to receivers. But after them, the trust factor Brady has with the other receivers is questionable. Phillip Dorsett is a pure burner on the outside. First-round pick N’Keal Harry (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) has outstanding size, contested catch skills and after-the-catch running ability. But he has been slow to acclimate to the Patriots’ system, not a surprise for most young receivers in New England. He could be used all over the formation in time, as well as in the screen game.

The talk of camp and the preseason has been rookie wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who is best out of the slot with his sharp route running and quickness. He catches everything. But obviously Edelman owns the slot position for the Patriots.

Where does Gordon fit in? He and Brady have played plenty together, so there is more familiarity there than with several of the other pass-catchers. As a Patriot, Gordon has averaged 18 yards a catch. He’ll be asked to run mostly deeper routes outside the numbers. Dorsett will do this as well, but in terms of their body type and overall physicality, Dorsett isn’t in the same stratosphere as Gordon.

The Patriots were a little short on outside downfield weapons. Not anymore. As usual, things are falling into place in New England at just the right time.