Demario Douglas the early surprise standout at Patriots training camp

BOSTON -- Seemingly every year, some rookie or unknown Patriots player shows up to training camp and grabs a ton of attention. Occasionally, that player turns out to be someone like Malcolm Butler. Other times, the player fails to survive final roster cuts.

It's a crapshoot, obviously, trying to forecast and predict how an early pop can translate into a rookie season and beyond. Still, if you can't get a little excited about a football player in late July, then why bother getting out of bed in the morning?

With that preamble out of the way, the early leader for surprise standout at Patriots camp this year would be rookie receiver Demario Douglas.

The Patriots drafted Douglas out of Liberty University. New England spent a sixth-round pick on Douglas, who's 5-foot-8, and he was the second receiver they drafted, having spent an earlier sixth-round pick on Kayshon Boutte out of LSU. Naturally, expectations weren't particularly high for Douglas when he was selected, especially with a depth chart full of proven NFL receivers like DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kendrick Bourne to go along with Tyquan Thornton, who was a second-round pick a year ago. But the undersized, speedy receiver is changing that outlook with his work this week in Foxboro.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Douglas has gotten some run with the starting offense. His speed has stood out, but head coach Bill Belichick complimented the mental aspect ofDouglas' game when asked about him on Friday morning.

"Demario's working at returns and, offensively, inside and outside, so it's a big jump for him from a competition level in college. But he seems to be transitioning pretty well," Belichick said. "He's a smart kid. He picks things up well, learns quickly, so all things that work in his favor."

That's all well and good, but Belichick did issue a word of caution. 

"But we'll see how it goes when things get more competitive next week," Belichick said.

That is a reference to the fact that on Monday, the Patriots will be in full pads for the first time, which figures to present very different challenges for Douglas, who was listed at 170 pounds in college. That number rose to 179 during draft season, and he's currently listed at 192  pounds on the Patriots' roster. Withstanding the physicality of the NFL will be a major challenge for Douglas, but thus far he has at least shown that he'll get the opportunity to prove himself next week.

With it still being so early in camp, the video highlights aren't exactly plentiful. Thus far, it's been more about Douglas' usage and speed, which looks like it will translate to the NFL level.

Of course -- of course, of course, of course -- there's a long, long way to go for Douglas. But as training camp progresses to full pads, and as the preseason begins and the joint practice sessions take place, Douglas will be the unexpected rookie worth watching.