Lewis & Galloway, anybody?

[patchick]

Several posters have said, in praise of Edelman, that he looks like our third-best receiver. And he certainly does -- but is that by default?

Galloway didn't look good vs. Philly, and to my eyes hasn't shown up well in practices either. As for Lewis, the only reason he didn't show up on anybody's "losers" list last night is that he was too invisible to notice.

Any thoughts on the presumed #3 & 4 receivers?

 

[JaxPats]

Several posters have said, in praise of Edelman, that he looks like our third-best receiver. And he certainly does -- but is that by default?

Galloway didn't look good vs. Philly, and to my eyes hasn't shown up well in practices either. As for Lewis, the only reason he didn't show up on anybody's "losers" list last night is that he was too invisible to notice.

Any thoughts on the presumed #3 & 4 receivers?

I can agree with that. Edelman reminded me of Welker right away, even before they said it. I liked Galloway, but I also think he needs a little more time with the book and the way things are done here. He should be fine. Lewis, well I'm still out on that.

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

I'm not sure Galloway fits so well, though it's very, very early to tell. Tommy Boy gave Galloway a serious stare down when he dropped that TD pass Brady put right on his fingers. That's cool, Brady seemed to say a minute later, I'll just throw it to someone who will catch it like Baker.

 

[JD10367]

Common sense tells us that, in 9 out of 10 situations, when a veteran like Galloway or Lewis is picked up by a team, that player sticks for at least the season. However, since we're talking about Belichick, who the hell knows what goes on in his head. We could see Galloway and Lewis do almost nothing all preseason, and still make the roster as the 3 and 4. Or he could cut them both at noon today. As fans we can only go by what we see, and we see guys like Edelman shine while guys like Galloway don't. Of course, as fans, most of us saw Cassel suck preseason after preseason and clamored for his release. And half of us still wanted Bledsoe over Brady once Drew got healthy.

The bottom line is, as long as the Holy Trinity stays healthy (Brady, Moss, Welker), it really won't matter who's on the depth chart. (As long as Edelman makes the team, I'm good.)

 

[captain stone]

To be fair, if Galloway didn't get his hands on the ball, it would've hit him in the crotch; plus, Brady threw that ball really, really hard.

However, realizing that it was their first pre-season game, I'm still disappointed in both Galloway & Lewis, the latter of whom I thought would've had closer to 4 catches/50 yards as a way of saying Hello to his former fans, who were generally overjoyed to receive a 5th-rounder for somebody who might've already been released by now, or at best would've been 8th on Philly's depth chart.

Not a good start by either - at all. But as I'm sure we'll be hearing, it's still early.

 

[Synovia]

To be fair, if Galloway didn't get his hands on the ball, it would've hit him in the crotch; plus, Brady threw that ball really, really hard. .

Yeah, that was a pretty poor pass.

He still should have caught it, but you don't throw a ball down and behind a receiver moving across the field.

 

[Patriots2001]

Galloway with his speed alone can stretch the field but he will get his shots.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I'm betting that this year Galloway will be our 3rd best WR. Edelman has got to be ahead of Lewis though

 

[spacecrime]

Several posters have said, in praise of Edelman, that he looks like our third-best receiver. And he certainly does -- but is that by default?

By default? You mean Edelman wasn't that good but isn't as bad as Lewis and Galloway?

Edelman was as good as he was. I've liked him from when he was drafted. But it was one game and he may never play that good again, or he may get buried in the depth.

But you can look at his play without considering Welker, Galloway, etc and say he did damn good this one game.

More important than how he did in the game (has everyone forgotten what BB taught us with the Cassel situation) is how a player does in practice. Edelman has been doing well enough in practice day after day that when BB set up his game plan, Edelman played with the first team and sat down when the first team sat down. There is a sidelines shot early on with Edelman sitting next to Brady on the bench.

3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th, it doesn't matter. I think he will make the team unless he totally flops. I haven't felt this good about a player early on since Cassel, Womack and Lua. One out of three so far....

 

[BradyManny]

Yeah, that was a pretty poor pass.

He still should have caught it, but you don't throw a ball down and behind a receiver moving across the field.

Are you talking about the play in the 1st quarter or the should've-been-a-TD in the 2nd? For the latter, I'm guessing that if Galloway had been seeing what Brady was seeing, he would have turned earlier and caught it in stride for 6.

Like patchick, based on this game and practices, I'm disappointed in Galloway thus far - suffice to say, he doesn't seem to be on the same page as Brady,yet.

 

[farn]

We're not seeing the whole picture. From all accounts, there is no reason to think Galloway & Lewis won't make the cut.

I think Galloway will be #3 and Lewis will be #4. Now... if Edelman continues to show more and more, that could easily change. But maybe Edelman is getting the time to play so that BB can get a decent peek. I'm pretty sure Lewis and Galloway have shown enough in their careers that BB pretty much knows what he has with them.

We'll see... one thing's for sure : there should easily be room for Edelman on this stacked roster - that says something.

 

[signbabybrady]

I thought Lewis was looking good in training camp but the last week or so they seemed to be giving Edelman mor looks and both Galloway and Lewis were getting less reps.

If they both were not new to the team I wouldn't think much more than them just trying to figure out how good Edelman is. But one would think there are only so many reps till the season starts. I think Galloway is pretty safe because he has some serious speed and has more than proven in his career that he can put up numbers. But if Lewis doesn't prove he is better than Edelman he may be part of a numbers crunch.

 

[Metaphors]

Several posters have said, in praise of Edelman, that he looks like our third-best receiver. And he certainly does -- but is that by default?

Galloway didn't look good vs. Philly, and to my eyes hasn't shown up well in practices either. As for Lewis, the only reason he didn't show up on anybody's "losers" list last night is that he was too invisible to notice.

Any thoughts on the presumed #3 & 4 receivers?

I tend not to assign numbers to receivers since they don't mean much. The different receiver positions have specific roles and requirements...and even those can be variable depending on formation.

Moss is obviously on the field as a split end/flanker (he is effective as either) and Welker will spend most of his time in the slot in a 3 wide set. So this leads me to the following questions:

1) Who lines up wide opposite Moss?

A key consideration for this position is to be able to threaten all areas of the field. Stallworth was inconsistent on short routes so corners could play soft in single coverage. Gaffney couldn't threaten deep so he couldn't force a safety to shade his side. I think this is your "#3" receiver.

2) Who gets on the field in the 4 wide set?

This is harder to get a read on because it depends on formation. A standard 4 wide just takes a TE off the field and substitutes a slot receiver. A trips formation puts an end and flanker on the same side with a slot receiver with another end on the opposite side. So your ideal "#4" receiver should be able to play flanker or slot to give you maximum flexibility in your formations.

Based on these points, my take on the players:

- Galloway: I'll give him a pass on the TD drop because I doubt he has run many 5 yard slants with a Brady fastball coming at him. However, he will quickly end up in the Brady doghouse that has ended the Patriots career of a number of receivers. For now, his deep speed and ability to draw a safety (preventing a defense from rolling too much over to Moss) keeps him as the starter opposite Moss in the 3 wide.

- Edelman: Dude has gotten on Brady's good side, hasn't he? In a 4 wide with 2 receivers in the slot, he seems ideal paired across from Welker. He could stay on the field in a trips formation because Welker has shown he can split wide...but will be looking to see if Edelman works outside as the preseason progresses. The fact that Edelman ran with the 1's last night leads me to put him in the lead for the 4-wide receiver.

- Lewis: No real evidence to how he is fitting in at this point so all we have is that he is running with the backups. He seems like a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. That flexibility is useful as a backup for all the receiver positions, except...

- Aiken: ...Lewis doesn't play special teams. Aiken is a special teams captain and has reliable hands (though can struggle to get open). Looks almost certain that Aiken sticks and is on the receiver depth chart somewhere.

- Tate: If he is fully healthy at some point this year, his return ability is enough that he could be a game changer. He has enough natural receiving skills to fill out the back end of the receiver depth chart. Can't see "redshirting" him if he is healthy because special teams play is HUGE in the playoffs.

So IMO..........

Moss - Starting flanker/split end
Galloway - Starting flanker/split end
Welker - Starting slot
Edelman - 4-wide, backup slot, special teams
Aiken - Backup split end, special teams

Lewis looking for injuries to stick but time runs out when/if Tate comes off PUP.

 

[patchick]

We're not seeing the whole picture. From all accounts, there is no reason to think Galloway & Lewis won't make the cut.

My question wasn't really about roster cuts, it was about the fact that the two veteran WRs presumably in contention to line up opposite Moss have looked disappointing and out of sync with Brady. If that doesn't change, it's a cause for concern.

I tend not to assign numbers to receivers since they don't mean much. The different receiver positions have specific roles and requirements...and even those can be variable depending on formation.

Moss is obviously on the field as a split end/flanker (he is effective as either) and Welker will spend most of his time in the slot in a 3 wide set. So this leads me to the following questions:

1) Who lines up wide opposite Moss?

That's my big question. Lewis & Galloway have decent size and blazing straight-line speed. They're they candidates to play that key role, and right now they're not inspiring confidence.

 

[JonVaughnTD]

Yeah lets judge people based on one pre season game.

I mean Matt Cassel was great last preseason and everybody was completely confident with him as Brady's backup, right?

 

[patchick]

Yeah lets judge people based on one pre season game.

...and weeks of practices.

The two vets don't seem to have found their rhythm in the offense yet. Are we not allowed to say that? We've seen cases in the past where "name" receivers never found their comfort zone with Brady, even as less heralded players did. (E.g. Gaffney overtaking Stallworth.)

 

[signbabybrady]

I tend not to assign numbers to receivers since they don't mean much. The different receiver positions have specific roles and requirements...and even those can be variable depending on formation.

Moss is obviously on the field as a split end/flanker (he is effective as either) and Welker will spend most of his time in the slot in a 3 wide set. So this leads me to the following questions:

1) Who lines up wide opposite Moss?

A key consideration for this position is to be able to threaten all areas of the field. Stallworth was inconsistent on short routes so corners could play soft in single coverage. Gaffney couldn't threaten deep so he couldn't force a safety to shade his side. I think this is your "#3" receiver.

2) Who gets on the field in the 4 wide set?

This is harder to get a read on because it depends on formation. A standard 4 wide just takes a TE off the field and substitutes a slot receiver. A trips formation puts an end and flanker on the same side with a slot receiver with another end on the opposite side. So your ideal "#4" receiver should be able to play flanker or slot to give you maximum flexibility in your formations.

Based on these points, my take on the players:

- Galloway: I'll give him a pass on the TD drop because I doubt he has run many 5 yard slants with a Brady fastball coming at him. However, he will quickly end up in the Brady doghouse that has ended the Patriots career of a number of receivers. For now, his deep speed and ability to draw a safety (preventing a defense from rolling too much over to Moss) keeps him as the starter opposite Moss in the 3 wide.

- Edelman: Dude has gotten on Brady's good side, hasn't he? In a 4 wide with 2 receivers in the slot, he seems ideal paired across from Welker. He could stay on the field in a trips formation because Welker has shown he can split wide...but will be looking to see if Edelman works outside as the preseason progresses. The fact that Edelman ran with the 1's last night leads me to put him in the lead for the 4-wide receiver.

- Lewis: No real evidence to how he is fitting in at this point so all we have is that he is running with the backups. He seems like a jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. That flexibility is useful as a backup for all the receiver positions, except...

- Aiken: ...Lewis doesn't play special teams. Aiken is a special teams captain and has reliable hands (though can struggle to get open). Looks almost certain that Aiken sticks and is on the receiver depth chart somewhere.

- Tate: If he is fully healthy at some point this year, his return ability is enough that he could be a game changer. He has enough natural receiving skills to fill out the back end of the receiver depth chart. Can't see "redshirting" him if he is healthy because special teams play is HUGE in the playoffs.

So IMO..........

Moss - Starting flanker/split end
Galloway - Starting flanker/split end
Welker - Starting slot
Edelman - 4-wide, backup slot, special teams
Aiken - Backup split end, special teams

Lewis looking for injuries to stick but time runs out when/if Tate comes off PUP.

Very nice Breakdown of the WR position....I will only add that I could see them keeping 5 WR plus Aiken who I see as one of the STs only guys of which there can only be 4-6 including kickers and long snapper everyone else that plays STs will have to have some sort value as a starter or reserve. I have said it a few times in various threads but I think it will be really interesting to see where the numbers at each position add up to after final cut.

Different opinions I have seen have people calling for 5 RBs or 4 TEs or 6 WRs....with some of the rookies on the O-line there are more there than we can carry....D-line seems stacked with 7 guys and BB is still looking...LBs seem to have just enough until you add in Alexander and Cuiricui and the DBs are stacked plus Slater, Richardson and Herna-Daze. 4 QBs...it really seems like they have at least one extra guy at every position thats worthy of making a 53 man roster.

 

[Metaphors]

it really seems like they have at least one extra guy at every position thats worthy of making a 53 man roster.

Wouldn't it be ironic if this was the one year the Pats aren't decimated by injuries?

 

[kas]

Nice post and I agree with most of it. However, one point to clarify:

Lewis does play special teams and is pretty good. In fact, on Edelman's big return, Lewis made a really nice block that I noticed.

IMO it's looking like a 6 WR roster.

 

[RoughingthePasser]

It's too early to tell what the rec. roster will be....but you can count on Moss and Welker.