The_Dragon

I wouldn't really be bothered with what Chargers fans/players have to say on Caldwell. I'd judge Caldwell solely on his performance with the Pats. He stepped up this year and exceeded the expectations of most Pats fans it's fair to say. By the start of next season he will have had another off-season with Brady, the benefit of having other settled receivers around him (Gaffney, Jackson, Brown etc), and the experience of a post-season run behind him. I'd expect him to get even better. His numbers might not improve dramatically given the Pats system but he will perform better.


As a reference I'd cite the example of Mike Vrabel - he was never hugely valued in Pittsburgh and yet look what he did with the Pats.

PromisedLand

Wasn't the San Diego game big? Wasn't the Jets game big? Sure, he dropped a couple of easy passes, but it wasn't characteristic of the way he has played this year. Also, there is no reason to believe it was a case of choking under the pressure, because we have played other big games in which he has done well. I think he just had a bad day.

Having said that, I agree he should not be our top WR. We need to find someone better than him this offseason - or pray that Chad Jackson takes a big step forward by next season. A WR corps of <new #1> - Caldwell/Jackson #2 - Gafney/Jackson #3 (depending on how much Chad improves) would be a major step forward for the offense.

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dhamz

That comment is ludicrous. That Philadelphia game was week 7 (which by the way is exactly how many rushing yards the king of class had in that game). A team that loses 3 of its last 4 games can under no circimstances blame missing the playoffs on week 7.

ajmitch81

If you go to NFLDRAFTCOUNTDOWN.COM and check out their rankings from 2002 in the archives -- Jabar Gaffney and Reche Caldwell are their number five and seven ranked Wide Receivers, respectively.

Conversely, Deion Branch and David Givens are rated twenty two and thirty.

So I ask -- maybe it's the system, and if Branch can look as good as he did as well as Givens, maybe Gaffney and Caldwell could be just as good... They're not exactly old.