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#17 Taylor Price 6-0, 205, age 23, rookie; 3rd round (#90) '10
#84 Torry Holt 6-0, 190, age 34, 12th year; 1st round (#6, Rams) '99; FA (Jaguars) '10
#88 Sam Aiken 6-2, 220, age 30, 8th year; 4th round (#127, Bills) '03; FA (Bills) '08
#18 Matthew Slater 6-0, 198, age 25, 3rd year; 5th round (#153) '08
#86 David Patten 5-10, 190, age 36, 13th year; UDFA (Giants) '07; FA (Browns) '10
#10 Darnell Jenkins 5-10, 191, age 28, 1st year; UDFA (Texans) '08; FA (Bucs) '10
#13 Buddy Farnham 6-0, 185, age 23, rookie; UDFA '10
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On the offensive side of the ball, this position might be the most unpredictable. There is talent here, no question about it, but health (of the older receivers) and inexperience (of the younger receivers) make this position a tough one to gauge at this point. Offseason additions include veterans Torry Holt and old friend David Patten, and rookie Taylor Price. Going into camp, the Patriots have 13 receivers listed on the roster, though two of them are on the Reserve/Military list.
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Summary If Moss and Welker can be healthy, they’re still the best 1-2 receiving combo in the league. Edelman and Holt figure to be big contributors as well, with Tate and Price learning the position and contributing here and there. This has the potential to be a very strong positional group on the roster, but like many others, there are a number of “ifs” and unknowns in play here. Having Welker to start the season would be huge.
#17 Taylor Price 6-0, 205, age 23, rookie; 3rd round (#90) '10
#84 Torry Holt 6-0, 190, age 34, 12th year; 1st round (#6, Rams) '99; FA (Jaguars) '10
#88 Sam Aiken 6-2, 220, age 30, 8th year; 4th round (#127, Bills) '03; FA (Bills) '08
#18 Matthew Slater 6-0, 198, age 25, 3rd year; 5th round (#153) '08
#86 David Patten 5-10, 190, age 36, 13th year; UDFA (Giants) '07; FA (Browns) '10
#10 Darnell Jenkins 5-10, 191, age 28, 1st year; UDFA (Texans) '08; FA (Bucs) '10
#13 Buddy Farnham 6-0, 185, age 23, rookie; UDFA '10
Interesting competition here. Will they keep more than five? Will Aiken stick because of his ST play? Will Troy Holt make the cut? Keep both Tate and Price? This position will be fun to watch. Will they keep six receivers? Moss, Welker, Edelman, Tate, Price, Holt? On the outside looking in: Aiken. Adios: Patten, Jenkins, Slater, Farnham.
Interesting competition here. Will they keep more than five? Will Aiken stick because of his ST play? Will Troy Holt make the cut? Keep both Tate and Price? This position will be fun to watch. Will they keep six receivers? Moss, Welker, Edelman, Tate, Price, Holt? On the outside looking in: Aiken. Adios: Patten, Jenkins, Slater, Farnham.
I'd be shocked, SHOCKED!, if they didn't keep both Price and Tate. Breer on 98.5 after practice seemed impressed with Price.
This could be a best-case scenario with the wide receivers when it comes to Randy Moss. He said this very well could be his last year with the New England Patriots, and he's talked about how he wants to play longer. He knows if he wants to get another contract, he has to play well. That's good for Randy Moss and it's good for the New England Patriots. I'd look for Julian Edelman to make progress on what he did last year, in that Welker role when Welker isn't there. The more reps he gets at it, the stronger the depth will be. I view Brandon Tate as a wild card. He's a guy everyone is excited to see, to see what he can do on the field with an entire offseason under his belt. Can he be someone Brady can count on? That's something to look for.
Interesting competition here. Will they keep more than five? Will Aiken stick because of his ST play? Will Troy Holt make the cut? Keep both Tate and Price? This position will be fun to watch. Will they keep six receivers? Moss, Welker, Edelman, Tate, Price, Holt? On the outside looking in: Aiken. Adios: Patten, Jenkins, Slater, Farnham.
Should the Pats elect to start Welker on PUP, it could give them an opportunity to take a longer look at someone and delay their decision for the final WR roster spot for a few more weeks too.
David Patten looked surprisingly good. He looked light on his feet, ran his routes fast, and just moved everywhere quickly. Torry Holt looked good but didn’t stand out to me in any special way.
Randy Moss was catching everything thrown to him, which was unfortunate for James Sanders trying to cover the guy and win a roster spot at the same time. I could watch Brady-to-Moss all day.
Brandon Tate was all over the place, running hard and making good catches. He dropped one biggie that would have been a touchdown. – Matthew Slater dropped three that I saw.
Q. Hi Mike, can you talk a little about the difference between Torry Holt and Joey Galloway, as relates to how he might fit on this team? I recall that last year, you were high on Galloway heading into camp to fill the role of veteran WR.
A. Galloway seemed like a one-trick pony, whereas Holt looks like more of a technician to me. But I did think it was interesting that when the top two receivers were on the field today, it was Randy Moss opposite Brandon Tate.
Q. What's Patten's chances of making the team? I always liked him, great hands.
A. I see him on the outside looking in, but he's the type of player who helps a team simply by his presence. The younger receivers can learn a lot from watching and listening to Patten.
Q. Were you able to see how the offense looked today in terms of the line, WRs & TEs, and RBs? I guess just wondering about the overall look and if some of the question marks have answers.
A. The top group I saw was LT Light; LG Kaczur; C Koppen; RG Neal; RT Vollmer; TE Crumpler; TE Gronkowski/Hernandez; WR Moss; WR Tate; RB Maroney; QB Brady.
Q. Do you think Brandon Tate is fully recovered from his various injuries and ready to make a major impact catching the football and especially on special teams?
A. Tate has a great chance in this camp. He is fully healthy. It's been one practice and I'd like to see more of him to better answer the question.
Q. So how has Edelman looked going into his second year? Has he been getting most of the slot wr snaps?
A. Looks very comfortable to me. Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio previously said that Edelman was one of the team's offseason award winners. That speaks to the quality of his offseason work.
Predicted Role: Tom Brady has said that Tate is having a great off-season - but whether that's true or Brady is building up his teammate's confidence (or possibly both) will be seen once the team starts having contact in the practices. Tate should emerge as the team's leading kick returner - causing the release of Matthew Slater. Tate should also shine as part of the #3 WR rotation with Torry Holt and Taylor Price. All three receivers should be a big part of the offense, with Tate leading the way early in the season.
Summary: Tate will prove why he was a 3rd round draft pick. He's had plenty of time to recover from his injury and should provide a spark for the offense and the return game. He'll allow the team to release Matthew Slater and, possibly, Terrence Wheatley. Look for Tate to be the new, albeit much larger, Deion Branch for the offense - nothing Earth shattering, but extremely productive.
Interestingly Hill also projects Tate to begin the season as the #3 WR - but finish the year as the #4 WR.
Wide Receiver
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