Early season effect of Welker and Boldin changing teams (1 Viewer)

[Maggot Brain]

It appears that decisions by NE and Balt to part ways with these 2 historically productive players will greatly affect the way things shape up in both conferences. Baltimore and Ozzie claim(rightly IMO) that the money saved allowed them to upgrade a defense that was in major need of replacement playmakers for the departed Lewis and Reed. Paying Flacco so much may not have been wise-or maybe getting his deal done before he won a SB?And I'm sure that the decision to let Welker go couldn't have factored in the loss of Hernandez, Vereen and Gronk.

Both Flacco(losing Pitta hurt a lot) and Brady(especially after last night's performance vs NYJ) are definitely out of their comfort zones. Of course, it's early in the season and things should change, but the decisions have made both teams weaker thus far.

Peyton Manning and Colin Kaepernick seem to have acquired some immediate chemistry with these guys that will only improve as the season goes on.

 

[Man of Zen]

I'd really like to see Boldin put up a few huge seasons with Frisco.

I think that guy is and always has been a legit HOF-level talent. He just went to a system that gave him the opportunity to earn a ring, while simultaneously destroying his mid-career statistical HOF resume.

To me, he's got a game that should age well, and if he can remain the alpha male on a team that takes passing even a little bit seriously, I think he could play himself back into contention. Be interesting to see what happens when Crabtree heals up.

 

[FUBAR]

Both are/were underrated. But losing the Tight Ends hurts NE and Baltimore at least as much.

 

[DoubleG]

Both are/were underrated. But losing the Tight Ends hurts NE and Baltimore at least as much.

In both situations, the WR wasn't the only passing-game loss for the respective team. For both teams (Pats especially) the TE position is a huge part of the offensive game plan.

In Boldin's case, there was a huge boost to his possible productivity the second Crabtree went down. So there is more at work in his productivity than simply a change in scenery. He went from being the "possession" WR in Baltimore to "the" WR for the Niners.

 

[parrot]

Does anyone really think that the Patriots would look all that different at this point if they had Welker in the slot rather than Edelman/Amendola (who've been pretty damn productive)?

 

[Modog814]

Does anyone really think that the Patriots would look all that different at this point if they had Welker in the slot rather than Edelman/Amendola (who've been pretty damn productive)?

I could guarantee you that Welker would have more than 69 yards if he hauled in 13 receptions.

I do think they'd be better, but probably not much different. To your point, the Gronk and Hernandez losses hurt much more than Welker (whom they have had at least some replacement for). I think Gronk owners should be salivating because once he comes back I see Brady just locking onto him.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Does anyone really think that the Patriots would look all that different at this point if they had Welker in the slot rather than Edelman/Amendola (who've been pretty damn productive)?

I find it hard to equate a chronically injured Amendola or a largely unproven Edelman with Welker's numbers over the last few years. 100 plus receptions in 5 of 6 years is sick numbers to replace. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/W/WelkWe00.htm

 

[Maggot Brain]

I see some tough times for Brady until they get Gronk and/or the young WR's on the same page. Taking away Edelman until Dobson or Thompkins prove they can perform better has GOT to be in the mix with the defensive coordinators they face coming up. At the very worst, Edelman will continue to have a poor YPC as a result of this. Best case is he still catches 13 of 18 targets for minimal yards, like yesterday

 

[Sweet Love]

Edelman last night reminded me of Mike Furrey...you can jam it in there all day and a nifty receiver with good hands can catch the ball all day. Unfortunately, it actually comes to the detriment of their team when they can only average a YAC equivalent to the opposing team RB's YPC. What make Welker and Boldin special is that not only can they get open to make those short grabs, but they can actually do something when they get it. The YAC for the WR slot and the missing TEs is why we are seeing struggles by their former teams.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Edelman last night reminded me of Mike Furrey...

Yes

 

[TALL hobbit]

Does anyone really think that the Patriots would look all that different at this point if they had Welker in the slot rather than Edelman/Amendola (who've been pretty damn productive)?

yes - because I think Welker would've played last night - while Amendola couldn't.

 

[MoveToSkypager]

Does anyone really think that the Patriots would look all that different at this point if they had Welker in the slot rather than Edelman/Amendola (who've been pretty damn productive)?

Without a doubt yet. This shouldn't be a question.

 

[Anarchy99]

As I posted in another thread, people are wanting to flame BB for making horrible decisions that led to the debacle last night. However, at the time Welker en+ded up going to Denver there were several things going on that skewed things now.

1) The Pats wanted Amendola regardless of what happened with Welker. They tried acquiring him the past 1-2 years prior to year. The first year he was out essentially the whole season and last year they could not work out a deal to trade for him. They would have been happy to have both Welker and Amendola, but most people think it was an either/or proposition.

2) At the time Welker defected, the Pats had big plans for Hernandez and he was going to take on a much larger role in the offense as the "Plan B" if Welker left. And we all know how that turned out.

3) While personnel changes were being evaluated, the expectation was that Gronk was rehabbing his arm injury and would be good to go for training camp. There was nothing out about him needing back surgery (although I guess it's possible NE knew before the public did).

4) With everything else going on, the Pats were confident that they could renegotiate a more cap friendly deal with Lloyd, who was still under contract for 2 more seasons. From what I can tell, they had several discussion with Lloyd and his agent but it looks like Lloyd would rather hang up his cleats than play again.

5) So there was a plan at one point for the Pats to have had a receiving corps of Welker, Amendola, Lloyd, Edelman, Dobson, Boyce, Gronk, and Hernandez to go with Vereen out of the backfield. In that scenario, the rookies could have been brought along at a snail's pace and learned the system and played minimal roles (or would have ended up on the practice squad).

But that's not how things turned out, and had their roster had all those guys people would be raving that the Pats had already scored almost 100 points over their first two games.