Who is our best TE?

[patriot lifer]

Ben Watson - doesn't have naturally soft hands and struggles blocking.

David Thomas - has naturally soft hands but isn't seeing much playing time.

Chris Baker - we've seen him as a receiving TE with the Jets now and then. not sure about blocking ability.


I find something wrong with naming Watson our best. I don't think he can catch or block (and those are pretty important dimensions of a TE). What's more I can't imagine him being resigned.

So who's our best? Is it still Watson?

 

[Frezo]

I'd say Watson. His blocking improved a lot last season.

 

[jbb9s]

BB traded his best tight end to KC.

 

[Number Cruncher]

put me down for a "Baker"....

Watson to me is fast turning into a stiff..... that fumble against the Jets... the hands of stone... yup, definately Baker....

 

[mgteich]

You could post a poll.

My answer is Baker. But more importantly it doesn't matter much. We have five TE's on the team. We should be able to find three for the roster and one that is capable of starting in our various offensive sets.

 

[alvinnf]

Baker.....

 

[signbabybrady]

Watson and I don't think it is close. Watson has developed into a pretty good blocker he is no Graham but he is good. Without even consider his catching abilities he forces defenses to respect his speed. Sure we hoped we were getting better hands but he is a pretty damn good TE. Brady likes him in the red zone and dont underestimate what having Brady back will mean to him. Also Baker will free him to be a little more active in the pass game again.

 

[alvinnf]

Watson and I don't think it is close. Watson has developed into a pretty good blocker he is no Graham but he is good. Without even consider his catching abilities he forces defenses to respect his speed. Sure we hoped we were getting better hands but he is a pretty damn good TE. Brady likes him in the red zone and dont underestimate what having Brady back will mean to him. Also Baker will free him to be a little more active in the pass game again.

Watson is a Camaro, the NFL is full of Porsche's. We gotta get outta the 70's man.

 

[primetime]

Watson and I don't think it is close. Watson has developed into a pretty good blocker he is no Graham but he is good. Without even consider his catching abilities he forces defenses to respect his speed. Sure we hoped we were getting better hands but he is a pretty damn good TE. Brady likes him in the red zone and dont underestimate what having Brady back will mean to him. Also Baker will free him to be a little more active in the pass game again.

Baker's a superior blocker and has much better hands, especially in the red zone. Watson seems to make mental errors and for a guy with his speed he's not open downfield that much (though the Patriots don't often call on the TE to go downfield to be fair).

I think it's a push, though Watson made too many mistakes last year so I'm probably biased towards Baker, who I've always liked.

 

[signbabybrady]

Watson is a Camaro, the NFL is full of Porsche's. We gotta get outta the 70's man.

Look at his numbers two years ago with Brady, Moss, and Welker....He gave you alot that year. Moss and Welker are your Porche's and since you used the anology Porches are expensive Watson = Value

 

[alvinnf]

Look at his numbers two years ago with Brady, Moss, and Welker....He gave you alot that year. Moss and Welker are your Porche's and since you used the anology Porches are expensive Watson = Value

You know your right, he's good enough, and with the addition of Baker that postion looks solid. Iforgot that we don't have Gates, we've got welker and Moss. The more important? for this team is the #2 reciever.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Going objectively by the numbers, Baker is ranked higher than Watson. Total value, value per play, and catch rate are all better for Baker. Per Football OUtsiders.

Baker Total Value +18, 26th overall. Value per play 1.9%, 22nd. Catch rate 71%

Watson Total Value -73, 43rd overall. Value per play -29.4%, 40th overall. Catch rate 47%

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Football analysis and NFL stats for the Moneyball era - Authors of Pro Football Prospectus 2008

Going strictly by the numbers, Watson was terrible and didn't even rank amongst the top 32 tight ends in the league while catching less than half his passes. Baker's athleticism probably doesn't compare to Watson's, but his numbers in terms of actual performance were much better in 2008.

 

[patriot lifer]

i know that next year i will be more confident in baker's ability to successfully catch a pass than 'ole Benny. With Watson, I'm always worried he's going to drop what's thrown to him. With a guy like Kevin Faulk (to make a contrast), I/we know he's catching anything thrown in his direction (even if it's a crummy pass). With Watson, I'm not comfortable with him making any catches. He doesn't have naturally soft hands. Now grom what I seen of Baker, I feel that we can have more confidence in him making catches.

And I'm sure Baker is at least as good a blocker as Watson.

 

[fgssand]

Ben Watson streaking down the middle of the field is going to command much more defensive attention than any other TE on this team rright now. End of story.

 

[VJCPatriot]

Ben Watson streaking down the middle of the field is going to command much more defensive attention than any other TE on this team rright now. End of story.

And the chances of Watson catching that ball while streaking down the middle are less than 50/50. It won't matter if the QB doesn't have confidence in him making the catch. You HAVE reviewed the numbers above, haven't you?

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Ben Watson - doesn't have naturally soft hands and struggles blocking.

David Thomas - has naturally soft hands but isn't seeing much playing time.

Chris Baker - we've seen him as a receiving TE with the Jets now and then. not sure about blocking ability.


I find something wrong with naming Watson our best. I don't think he can catch or block (and those are pretty important dimensions of a TE). What's more I can't imagine him being resigned.

So who's our best? Is it still Watson?

i'd imagine it's watson but it doesn't matter because we should be using a lot of two TE sets next year. i think that's the whole purpose of bringing baker on board. otherwise, watson would been cut. i'm surprised wendy's boy is still on the team.

 

[JSn]

Can we look at 2007 numbers instead of 2008? I mean Moss fell down the hill by 12 TD's for crying out loud. No one's barking about Moss dropping sure TD's this year.

Watson is our best TE and was #3 in rec. TD's in 2007 and his blocking in 2008 was vastly improved over 2007.

There's an obvious trend here to select whipping boys, repeat the same tired lines ("Kaczur is a turn-style" being one of my fave examples of forum-wide insanity), and try to sound smart.

Ben Watson knows the system, has elite speed, has shown improvement blocking, declined less in every area than our star receivers and gets the blame for uncaught balls that were throwaways.

Put away the glue kids, Ben is our #1 TE if you play Madden. If you watch real Football, Ben suits certain situations where Baker will suit others. Wendy suits maintaining bench stability in the case of a sudden loss of gravity.

 

[CrazyDave]

Who is our best TE?

As Mr. Brady likes to say, "The next one."

 

[PATRIOT64]

I hope Chris Baker is not just another 'younger' version of Kyle Brady - Brady was a superior blocker too ... Until he arrived here

 

[mgteich]

A younger version would have been fine in 2007.

I hope Chris Baker is not just another 'younger' version of Kyle Brady - Brady was a superior blocker too ... Until he arrived here