Jello_Biafra
Footballguy
Who the heck is the #1 guy there (besides Welker)? Is it Branch?
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Patriots WRs (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Jello_Biafra
- Start date
King of the Jungle
Footballguy
Sidney Rice would be a great fit in their system IMO. They really missed a down-field threat and it allowed the Jets to dominant them in the playoffs. Back to reality though...
Look for more of the same TE sets and short passing game that spreads it around. Keep an eye on Taylor Price and his offseason developments.
Look for more of the same TE sets and short passing game that spreads it around. Keep an eye on Taylor Price and his offseason developments.
loose circuits
Footballguy
CompetitiveEdgeFootball
Footballguy
The only thing that makes a Patriots receiver a "#1" or "#2" is the slots that you have to write them in on the depth chart. Since Moss' departure he pretty much spreads the ball around evenly to the TE's, Welker and Branch. I'd be surprised to see Tate/Price emerge as anything more than a 65 catch player with maybe a couple big games. Both have the ability to break a catch for a TD, but I can't see this offense keying in on either one.
Couch Potato
Footballguy
Welker will be in his usual slot position. He'll be #1 in targets.
Branch will start outside. He was targeted at least 7 times (10 or more 4 times) in 7 of his 12 games after coming over from Seattle last year (including playoffs). Likely targeted most after Welker.
On the other side they hope to have Brandon Tate ready to be the deep guy to take the top off the defense. Price is another option if he has developed sufficiently. But these guys won't have prominent roles in terms of targets.
Hernandez will take some of the WR2 duties as he's a TE in title more than in actuality. He's likely to out-target Tate/Price.
Gronkowski will be the true tight end and will get a lot of red zone looks as he did last year. How many targets he gets will depend to some extent on the health of the OL and how much he has to stay in to help with pass protection.
The wild card in all this is whether they land a WR once free agency begins. Names like Steve Smith (CAR) and Ocho have been rumored. That would make things very interesting, especially Smith. Branch's value would plummet obviously if this happened.
Branch will start outside. He was targeted at least 7 times (10 or more 4 times) in 7 of his 12 games after coming over from Seattle last year (including playoffs). Likely targeted most after Welker.
On the other side they hope to have Brandon Tate ready to be the deep guy to take the top off the defense. Price is another option if he has developed sufficiently. But these guys won't have prominent roles in terms of targets.
Hernandez will take some of the WR2 duties as he's a TE in title more than in actuality. He's likely to out-target Tate/Price.
Gronkowski will be the true tight end and will get a lot of red zone looks as he did last year. How many targets he gets will depend to some extent on the health of the OL and how much he has to stay in to help with pass protection.
The wild card in all this is whether they land a WR once free agency begins. Names like Steve Smith (CAR) and Ocho have been rumored. That would make things very interesting, especially Smith. Branch's value would plummet obviously if this happened.
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Couch Potato
Footballguy
I agree with everything you said here except the 65 catch figure for Tate/Price. If that exceeds 40 I'd be pretty surprised. I see these guys as situational threats and behind Welker, Branch (or a FA such as Steve Smith or Ocho), Gronk, and Hernandez for catches. 65 is a pretty high number given the role I expect to see for that position.
CompetitiveEdgeFootball
Footballguy
Yeah 65 being the top end of what I expect from one of those guys, maximum, and certainly not both.
Sudoku_in_the_Bathtub
Footballguy
Welker, Gronk, Hernandez.....everyone else. Even if they bring in a FA, I don't expect them to top 50 catches.
fruity pebbles
Footballguy
price is the guy im watching.
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barker132000
Footballguy
I like price to take branch's job by years end
Jason Wood
Zoo York
Chad "new name" Johnson ne Ochocinco'Jello_Biafra said:
DawnBTVS
Footballguy
A little tired of the repetitive "Patriots are missing/need the deep threat" talk. It came up often upon the departure of David Givens and has now cropped up again since Randy Moss left.
Fact is that the Patriots can go vertical with guys like Brandon Tate and Deion Branch. Even their TEs, especially Hernandez, can get deep. It's just that they rely on their route running to get the separation as opposed to simply running a fly and utilizing track speed (aka they aren't pure downfield threats ala Moss or Jacoby Ford). With that said, I think the Patriots realized how one dimensional their passing attack became when Moss could really only run the fly/deep ball route essentially leaving the defense to be able to cover everything short. The Patriots seem to be moving away from a primarily deep receiver and focusing on guys who can get separation short and middle (12-15 yard routes) which will allow them chances at deep balls and big plays after the catch.
I think the break down will go...
1: Wes Welker
2: Deion Branch (People can write off him but he absolutely has Brady's trust and that cannot be ignored, even if he isn't as talented as guys like Tate and Price)
3A: Rob Gronkowski
3B: Aaron Hernandez (Feel free to flip if necessary)
4: Brandon Tate (Will get chances on deep balls but I would be surprised if he caught more than 35 passes)
5: RB Danny Woodhead
6: Julian Edelman/Taylor Price/RB leftovers
I'd say the only real bets are Welker, Branch, maybe Tate for the risk/reward scenario. Outside of that, their will be reliance on the TEs and RBs (Woodhead, Vereen, among others)
Fact is that the Patriots can go vertical with guys like Brandon Tate and Deion Branch. Even their TEs, especially Hernandez, can get deep. It's just that they rely on their route running to get the separation as opposed to simply running a fly and utilizing track speed (aka they aren't pure downfield threats ala Moss or Jacoby Ford). With that said, I think the Patriots realized how one dimensional their passing attack became when Moss could really only run the fly/deep ball route essentially leaving the defense to be able to cover everything short. The Patriots seem to be moving away from a primarily deep receiver and focusing on guys who can get separation short and middle (12-15 yard routes) which will allow them chances at deep balls and big plays after the catch.
I think the break down will go...
1: Wes Welker
2: Deion Branch (People can write off him but he absolutely has Brady's trust and that cannot be ignored, even if he isn't as talented as guys like Tate and Price)
3A: Rob Gronkowski
3B: Aaron Hernandez (Feel free to flip if necessary)
4: Brandon Tate (Will get chances on deep balls but I would be surprised if he caught more than 35 passes)
5: RB Danny Woodhead
6: Julian Edelman/Taylor Price/RB leftovers
I'd say the only real bets are Welker, Branch, maybe Tate for the risk/reward scenario. Outside of that, their will be reliance on the TEs and RBs (Woodhead, Vereen, among others)
Adebisi
Footballguy
I don't necessarily disagree with anything else you've said here, but I don't think anyone ever really considered David Givens a deep threat.
DawnBTVS
Footballguy
He wasn't considered a "deep threat" in terms of what most people think but, ignoring players with 10 or fewer catchers, he led the Patriots in YPR in 2003 (15.0) and was 2nd to Patten's 18.4 with a 15.6 himself in 2004. Patten was more in line with what people think of when they think deep threat (fly patterns using speed) but Givens definitely had the speed and ability to go deep when asked to.I think the term deep threat itself is interesting too. Not many would have called Brandon Lloyd a deep threat until his emergence last year with the Broncos. I think a lot of players have the speed and ability to be deep threats (see Mike Wallace's success in Pittsburgh vs. the struggles of Limas Sweed who always seemed to be open on bombs but dropped the passes) but it is a matter of both production and frankly, TV highlights/coverage showing off that skill set.Fans of a team may see a WR make 1-2 big catches downfield but because they didn't score a TD, they may not get onto the highlights nationally thus people don't realize that they have the ability to be burners.
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loose circuits
Footballguy
see: Armstrong, Anthony
I dont think they have a #1 guy, that being said.
I think in order of most to least targets:
1. Welker - slow year last year, but he still has it
2. Gronkowski - Like it or not, he is their best TE, Blocking/Catching
3. Branch - he played the #1 role last year with not so #1 numbers, but he showed that he is still good to go in the pats system
4. Hernandez - Needs to work on a lot of things, I honestly thought they were gonna make him a WR
5. Edelman - He is more of a WR than tate is especially in the pats system
6. Woodhead - Expect his receiving #s to go up
7. Tate - See him moved almost exclusively to Special Teams, hes dropped enough clutch receptions.
I think in order of most to least targets:
1. Welker - slow year last year, but he still has it
2. Gronkowski - Like it or not, he is their best TE, Blocking/Catching
3. Branch - he played the #1 role last year with not so #1 numbers, but he showed that he is still good to go in the pats system
4. Hernandez - Needs to work on a lot of things, I honestly thought they were gonna make him a WR
5. Edelman - He is more of a WR than tate is especially in the pats system
6. Woodhead - Expect his receiving #s to go up
7. Tate - See him moved almost exclusively to Special Teams, hes dropped enough clutch receptions.
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Couch Potato
Footballguy
Absolutely not. Brady had it with Moss because he wasn't putting forth the effort early on, and then caused two interceptions in week 2 against the Jets by not being where he should be and quitting on routes. Overall he had 2 catches on 10 targets that week, and was the intended receiver on the two INTs, and that's a no go in Patriots-land. He was essentially phased out of the game plan in weeks 3 and 4 before they let him go. No way, despite his wishes, they'd want him back. He wore out his welcome there.
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Anonymous Internet User
Footballguy
Could the Patriots land Steve Smith (CAR)?
Seems to be in the mold of typical Pats WRs (small/speedy) and might not cost too much. I think he'd be a fantastic fit.
Edit to add: And I doubt his temper would cause a huge issue. He normally gets angry at guys who are not giving it 100%, which shouldn't be a problem in NE.
Seems to be in the mold of typical Pats WRs (small/speedy) and might not cost too much. I think he'd be a fantastic fit.
Edit to add: And I doubt his temper would cause a huge issue. He normally gets angry at guys who are not giving it 100%, which shouldn't be a problem in NE.
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Couch Potato
Footballguy
It's been rumored as a possibility, though SD seems to be mentioned most often.
az_prof
Footballguy
Personally, I don't think it is Branch or any of the young WRs on roster. The NE WR to own after Welker is not on their roster. It could be Moss or it could be Ochocinco or it could be someone else, but I wouldn't go out of my way to acquire any of those guys currently on roster.
