Can Eric Decker deliver for Patriots? His former Titans coach thinks so

Frisman Jackson was the receivers coach with the Titans last year, the only season Eric Decker spent in Tennessee. But he saw enough of Decker in a Tennessee uniform to provide a pretty clear scouting report on what sort of pass catcher the Patriots landed with they acquired Decker late last week.

With the Titans going through growing pains last season and suffering some injuries at the receiver spot, Jackson said they needed Decker to come in and provide some veteran leadership and stability at the position. The 6-foot-3, 214-pounder did just that, playing four different wide receiver spots, helping out some of the younger players, and finishing the season with 54 catches on 83 targets for 563 yards and a touchdown.

The numbers were some of the lowest of Decker's career. Part of that can be attributed to being part of a younger offense (quarterback Marcus Mariota turned 24 last season and he battled lower-body injuries that affected his accuracy). And part of it was because Decker was still in the process of working his way all the way back from health issues that limited him to just three games with the Jets in 2016. And Jackson said another factor was that Decker was considered a complementary part of a run-first offense who frequently took a back seat to the likes of Delanie Walker and (occasionally) Derrick Henry.

Despite all that, Jackson believes Decker can help New England in 2018. According to Jackson, Decker isn’t nearly the vertical threat he was in his earlier days -- he had a career-low 10.4 yards per catch last season -- but he can still use his short-area quickness to his advantage.

“For what New England does, I don’t think it’ll be a big problem,” Jackson said when asked about Decker’s inability to get separation on occasion last year. “I don’t think it’ll be an issue. He still has enough quickness.”