The New England Patriots will face some pretty difficult roster decisions heading into the 2025 NFL season, and perhaps their biggest challenge will be determining their receiving corps.

The Patriots will obviously be keeping Stefon Diggs on the roster, and Mack Hollins, DeMario Douglas and rookie Kyle Williams seem like locks as well. Beyond that, however, it’s a complete mess, and there are even some who feel New England will keep seven wide receivers instead of the usual six.

One of the hottest names in Foxborough in recent weeks has been undrafted rookie Efton Chism III, who is already evoking memories of Julian Edelman and Wes Welker. However, there is no guarantee that the Eastern Washington product will make the team.

Well, Chism’s high-school coach Michael Bumpus has fired a stern warning to the Pats as far as his ex-player is concerned, and he feels the Patriots would be making a grave mistake if they don’t opt to keep the diminutive slot weapon.

“The Patriots would be freaking silly not to put this kid on the 53-man (roster),” Bumpus told Meghan Ottolini of WEEI. “(He’s) the hardest working kid I’ve ever coached. And I’ve coached for 14 years at my facility. We have at least 100, 120 athletes come through a year that play football. He just works his butt off, man.”

Chism hauled in 120 receptions for 1,311 yards and 13 touchdowns during his final collegiate campaign, representing his only 1,000-yard season at Eastern Washington. He finished just shy of 1,000 yards the year prior, totaling 927.

“He has great hands and makes good decisions,” added Bumpus. “But he’s also used to tackling somebody. So he’ll be a gunner. He’ll do the dirty work, and he’ll be fine.”

The general consensus seems to be that Chism will be on the initial 53-man roster, but we’ll see what happens in the coming months.