The Pats' receivers

[patsfan-1982]

if all the news is true and welker, will be there to start the season this could be one scary receiving core


you have Randy Moss, and Torry Holt, who is not the same guy he was a few years ago but IMO is still a much better #3 then jabar gaffney, ever was


Wes Welker, the best slot receiver in the NFL and he's mini me Julian Edelman, as the #4 WR



Brandon Tate, and Taylor Price, as the young deep threats. Rob Gronkowski, is a real TE who has the body to go against big LB's and catch that 5 to 8 yard ball to open up thing up for welker, and Aaron Hernandez, takes ben watsons place as the TE with speed.



i can't wait to see this passing game in action

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

I hope you are right but it all depends on Welker. [I believe he should have been PUP's for his own protection but that is another discussion]. I full functional Welkers will free up the other guys.

Holt is going to be great to watch and hopefully he will take some of the heat off Moss.

Price is a total mystery; on paper he looks great but so did Chad Jackson; I am fully prepared for him to be a dud (at least this year) or a slow learner.

Hernandez is a different story; I think he will shock the league (at least at first) and a lot of teams will wonder about the 112 chances they had to pick him and didn't; could be this year's steal of the draft.

I don't expect much from Tate and wonder if he will get cut; please prove me wrong Mr Tate. It probably depends on whether he screwed up in the off season or stayed in Foxborough and worked hard.

Edelman will be good if he avoid the big hits he took last year.

Gronk may be required to mostly block so it is hard predict that he will catch a lot of passes but he could be interesting. I would also like to see him running around in the defensive backfield putting devastating blocks on LBs as he was famous for in college.

 

[BillBelichickFan79]

How can you say Holt is better than Gaffney when you haven't even seen him play a down of regular season football, or not even pre-season football, with Brady and this offense? Everyone thought Galloway, that long-needed deep threat across from Moss to keep the defense honest (myth), was a huge upgrade over Gaffney last year, but they were dead wrong.

Holt should be a good addition due to his route running ability and intelligence, but I don't get how you can see he is already better than Gaffney when Gaffney came up with some huge catches and had a great rapport with Brady.

Hernandez has grown on me and he should be a nice guy to get good matchups with, especially down the seam.

Gronk is that much needed all around TE, chains mover, and red zone target.

I don't think any of us saw a ton of Price in college but from what we've heard, it sounds encouraging. I saw one or two games and he seemed fearless going over the middle and had good speed at the combine. Would've preferred Mike Williams, but Price is still nice.

Welker and Moss when healthy is a dynamic duo as we've seen. Edelman looks like he's ready to become a consistent part of this offense and I LOVED the way he played in that Ravens playoff game for the most part.

The guy I really love is Tate. I think he's our version of Percy Harvin. Not as explosive, especially after knee troubles, but still an electric playmaker. I think he will surprise a lot of people and could be a great KR/PR in addition to a big play threat. He kind of reminds me of Greg Jennings for some reason.

 

[patriot lifer]

and to boot, our qb doesn't have a broken finger and ribs. Always a plus.

 

[The Dynasty]

Still need to have a decent running game to set up the pass as well as having an OL to protect Brady. I think a decent running game will be there, but I am still a bit concerned with the OL. Brady got hit more than any other season last year and we haven't really changed anything on the OL. I think the OL is definitely a concern and they need to perform and protect Brady because otherwise we won't even get to see how talented our WR's are.

 

[mgteich]

We will need to see if Holt has anything left. I presume that he has. If not, Patten could make the team.

There has been a lot of talk about Price. I expect him to be inactive for most games, even if Welker is injured. For example, we might start the season with Moss, Edelman, Holt and Tate active. Edelman and Tate would also be returners. When Welker is healthy, I see even fewer possibilities for Price.

BTW, I see nothing wrong with Price not being able to crack the active roster much in his first year. Injuries COULD give him opportunities. Or, Price could beat out Tate for WR reps. My bottom line is that if we only use four wide receivers, and really only need three in any game if we have a receiving TE. After a few games, I expect those four to be Moss, Welker, Edelman and Holt, with the possibility of Tate beating out Holt for reps.

In the end, Price is our #6 wide receiver.

if all the news is true and welker, will be there to start the season this could be one scary receiving core


you have Randy Moss, and Torry Holt, who is not the same guy he was a few years ago but IMO is still a much better #3 then jabar gaffney, ever was


Wes Welker, the best slot receiver in the NFL and he's mini me Julian Edelman, as the #4 WR



Brandon Tate, and Taylor Price, as the young deep threats. Rob Gronkowski, is a real TE who has the body to go against big LB's and catch that 5 to 8 yard ball to open up thing up for welker, and Aaron Hernandez, takes ben watsons place as the TE with speed.



i can't wait to see this passing game in action

 

[Kontradiction]

Look, I'm as hopeful as everyone else. But, aside for Moss, Welker, and Edelman, we really don't know what we have in this receiving corps. Brandon Tate looks like a legitimate deep threat. He was able to get behind the defenses he played against last year (really burned his man against Tampa Bay... only to have Brady under throw him) and Brady seems high on him, but he has had some lingering knee issues over the last couple of years which have kept him off the field. Is he healthy? How is his route running? Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, and Taylor Price are all rookies with promise.

Promise is one thing. Translating those skills to the field is a different thing. Hernandez's route running was excellent in college and I'm really hopeful for him this year. But he hasn't even put on pads at a professional level yet. Gronk could be a huge red zone target for us and could be the pass catching presence at TE that this offense needed for the last year or so. But, again, he hasn't put on pads at a professional level yet either. On top of that, he was notably chewed out by B.O.B. during mini-camps. Taylor Price is also a rookie with promise coming out of a run-first system in college. How is his route running? Can he adjust on the fly by what Brady wants and sees? Can he be one of the few rookies (Edelman and Branch) that actually contributes significantly in their rookie years?

Torry Holt looks to still have something left if his time in Jacksonville is any indication. But he's never played with Brady before. Remember we were all really high on Galloway last year only to be disappointed when he couldn't get on the same page with Brady and the offense. Just because a veteran with a good track record is coming in doesn't mean he's automatically going to stick in the offense. And yes, I'm fully aware that Galloway and Holt are two different types of receivers. What of Patten? He was great earlier in the decade. Does he have anything left to give?

So yeah, the WR corps looks good on paper right now. But let's see how they do in TC and the preseason before we get overly optimistic about them.

 

[patsfan-1982]

How can you say Holt is better than Gaffney when you haven't even seen him play a down of regular season football, or not even pre-season football, with Brady and this offense? Everyone thought Galloway, that long-needed deep threat across from Moss to keep the defense honest (myth), was a huge upgrade over Gaffney last year, but they were dead wrong.

Holt should be a good addition due to his route running ability and intelligence, but I don't get how you can see he is already better than Gaffney when Gaffney came up with some huge catches and had a great rapport with Brady.

Hernandez has grown on me and he should be a nice guy to get good matchups with, especially down the seam.

Gronk is that much needed all around TE, chains mover, and red zone target.

I don't think any of us saw a ton of Price in college but from what we've heard, it sounds encouraging. I saw one or two games and he seemed fearless going over the middle and had good speed at the combine. Would've preferred Mike Williams, but Price is still nice.

Welker and Moss when healthy is a dynamic duo as we've seen. Edelman looks like he's ready to become a consistent part of this offense and I LOVED the way he played in that Ravens playoff game for the most part.

The guy I really love is Tate. I think he's our version of Percy Harvin. Not as explosive, especially after knee troubles, but still an electric playmaker. I think he will surprise a lot of people and could be a great KR/PR in addition to a big play threat. He kind of reminds me of Greg Jennings for some reason.

Jabar Gaffney, best year for the pats was 38 rec 468 yards IMO it's not a stretch to call Torry Holt, a future hall of famer whos worst year of he's Career was 51 rec for 722 yards better then Gaffney,


galloway, was 37 years old and did not want to catch the ball if he was going to get hit it had noting to do with picking up the system or geting on the same page with brady


Torry Holt, has played most of he's Career in a high powered complicated pass happy offense kinda like the one the pats run so im sure he can pick it up and get on the same page with brady,


he is not a 1000 yard WR but saying he is better then Gaffney, is not saying much IMO

 

[Deus Irae]

Jabar Gaffney, best year for the pats was 38 rec 468 yards IMO it's not a stretch to call Torry Holt, a future hall of famer whos worst year of he's Career was 51 rec for 722 yards better then Gaffney,


galloway, was 37 years old and did not want to catch the ball if he was going to get hit it had noting to do with picking up the system or geting on the same page with brady


Torry Holt, has played most of he's Career in a high powered complicated pass happy offense kinda like the one the pats run so im sure he can pick it up and get on the same page with brady,


he is not a 1000 yard WR but saying he is better then Gaffney, is not saying much IMO

A team with a bad receiver corps, the Jaguars, cut Holt. You should also take that into account.

 

[patsfan-1982]

We will need to see if Holt has anything left. I presume that he has. If not, Patten could make the team.

There has been a lot of talk about Price. I expect him to be inactive for most games, even if Welker is injured. For example, we might start the season with Moss, Edelman, Holt and Tate active. Edelman and Tate would also be returners. When Welker is healthy, I see even fewer possibilities for Price.

BTW, I see nothing wrong with Price not being able to crack the active roster much in his first year. Injuries COULD give him opportunities. Or, Price could beat out Tate for WR reps. My bottom line is that if we only use four wide receivers, and really only need three in any game if we have a receiving TE. After a few games, I expect those four to be Moss, Welker, Edelman and Holt, with the possibility of Tate beating out Holt for reps.

In the end, Price is our #6 wide receiver.

i agree about price, i think in a few years he could be the next david givens, but it also took givens a few years befor he started makeing big plays for the pats

 

[Sciz]

A team with a bad receiver corps, the Jaguars, cut Holt. You should also take that into account.

$9M total over the next two seasons is a lot for a 700 yard receiver. He got $1.7 for a year with us. I think it had more to do with money than his inability to be more than a 3rd receiver. I still hope he's no better than 4th though.

 

[RayClay]

If Holt's much better than Gaffney, I'm psyched. I though Gaffney did a damned good job complementing our other receivers.

 

[mgteich]

I believe that Holt will be more productive than gaffney, especially Gaffney in his first year.

In any case, when Welker is healthy, we need the second wide threat. We have several players competing for those reps: Edelman (primarily a slot receiver in 2009), Holt, and Tate. We even have rookie Price.

I'm sure the team would like to see Edelman continue to develop and become our #3.

 

[RayClay]

I believe that Holt will be more productive than gaffney, especially Gaffney in his first year.

In any case, when Welker is healthy, we need the second wide threat. We have several players competing for those reps: Edelman (primarily a slot receiver in 2009), Holt, and Tate. We even have rookie Price.

I'm sure the team would like to see Edelman continue to develop and become our #3.

When people analyze wide receivers they sometimes forget there's only one ball, there are running plays etc. and if receivers are all running long routes, they're much easier to cover.

What I'm saying is getting 5, 100 reception fast receivers doesn't translate to 500 catches. I think we saw that with Joey Galloway and many other hot receivers who did nothing here. The one guy who will thrive the most with Moss and Welker is a guy who can work the middle and break one with some YAC when Moss is dragging all the coverage north and Welker is demanding coverage.

If Holt can do that, fine but i doubt he'll step in and play that role any better than Gaffney, who did an exceptional job IMO.