How has Ocho not been let go yet?

[GrogansArmy]

Don't get me wrong, I'd been hoping BB would grab him for a few years now and I was ecstatic when we got him... but he's just not working out.

Too many big dropped passes, slow on learning the offense, and no longer able to go vertical as we all had hoped.

For the money we are paying him, he should be in on 80+% of the offensive plays, and yet, I'd say we only have him on 25% of the plays. I was at the game today and I don't think I saw him on the field for more than maybe 7 or so plays.

I don't know, I guess I'm just disappointed as I really wanted him here and I thought he would give us the vertical threat that we sorely need, but he just doesn't seem to be panning out.

Our offense can't be that difficult to learn - Moss picked it up no problem. Welker picked it up no problem. Woodhead picked it up no problem. Gronk and Hernandez seem to have picked it up no problem.

Why is Chad having such a hard time? I really had such high hopes for him on our team :/

 

[Sciz]

It's week 13. That means Ochocinco has been a Patriot exactly as long as Moss had before his FIRST game as a Patriot. And Brady called Moss one of the smartest WRs in the game.

And him disappointing is a horrible reason to release him. You have to look at his value relative to other options, not relative to expectations.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Because he's one of the top 3 WRs on this team, and is a good football player. Why the hell else?

 

[MP-Logick]

For the money we are paying him, he should be in on 80+% of the offensive plays, and yet, I'd say we only have him on 25% of the plays. I was at the game today and I don't think I saw him on the field for more than maybe 7 or so plays.

He's doing what they're asking of him at the moment...he's the third receiver on a team that mainly uses 2 WR 2 TE 1 RB sets.

 

[Deus Irae]

OK, let's cut Johnson right now. Let's all get together and convince BB to get rid of him.



Now.....




Who's the replacement, considering neither Moss nor T.O. are options?

 

[sbpatfan]

I have no proof but the Patriot offense, is like, super super complex bro.

Also the lockout. He's trying really hard, and learning the offense even though his production has been somehow decreasing. Plus its not his fault we use tight ends so much!

Did I miss any of the cliche excuses?

 

[GrogansArmy]

Please. He's a huge let down. 6 Mill for him to get one catch every 3 games? Thats not what was expected of him.

 

[Deus Irae]

Please. He's a huge let down. 6 Mill for him to get one catch every 3 games? Thats not what was expected of him.

The money means nothing. It's a sunk cost.

 

[Keyser Söze]

He gets weak legs when the balls thrown to him, catch and hits the ground.

 

[GrogansArmy]

He gets weak legs when the balls thrown to him, catch and hits the ground.

Nah, thats Branch. Much as I love Branch and was upset when we let him go to Seattle, he's kinda wuss. Ocho has balls. He's just not using them.

 

[supafly]

Please. He's a huge let down. 6 Mill for him to get one catch every 3 games? Thats not what was expected of him.

As others have pointed out, what is the benefit of cutting him NOW???

If they didn't already do it, then why would they do it during a stretch run?

The money is already gone, and cap implications obviously are not an issue for this yr's team.

He provides use as a depth WR in case of injury, and may still be of some use as an option to at least stretch the field/keep the defense honest/decoy role.

There's always the feeling that he may still come in handy with a clutch catch or TD when the real games start in January, and the coaches apparently feel as though he is making some sort of progress (or at least not going backwards). We did see him in the no-huddle today, so that's a good sign.

The bottom line is that his depth WR position is not going to see many looks with Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Branch ahead of him as options. And that's not even taking into account any of the Woodhead/Faulk looks either.

At the end of the yr, he may still provide something close to what Tate did last yr, minus a few catches and a TD or two. It really shouldn't be that far off.

 

[GrogansArmy]

As others have pointed out, what is the benefit of cutting him NOW???

If they didn't already do it, then why would they do it during a stretch run?

The money is already gone, and cap implications obviously are not an issue for this yr's team.

He provides use as a depth WR in case of injury, and may still be of some use as an option to at least stretch the field/keep the defense honest/decoy role.

There's always the feeling that he may still come in handy with a clutch catch or TD when the real games start in January, and the coaches apparently feel as though he is making some sort of progress (or at least not going backwards). We did see him in the no-huddle today, so that's a good sign.

The bottom line is that his depth WR position is not going to see many looks with Welker, Gronkowski, Hernandez, and Branch ahead of him as options. And that's not even taking into account any of the Woodhead/Faulk looks either.

At the end of the yr, he may still provide something close to what Tate did last yr, minus a few catches and a TD or two. It really shouldn't be that far off.

I see what you're saying, but you have to admit Chad's been a disappointment so far. At least as far as what we expected of him.

 

[sbpatfan]

I have no doubt in my mind Ocho would've been cut already if it wasn't for an even more worthless reciever (Taylor Price) sitting behind him. Its either Ocho or Todd from the Taco Bell drive through window at this point.

 

[Sciz]

I have no proof but the Patriot offense, is like, super super complex bro.

You could learn a lot if you paid attention to those who are smarter than you rather than mocking them.

 

[Texxx]

It amazes me that people still continue to stick up for him with as worthless as he has been in NE. The people that have all year need to call it a day and just eat the crow. CJ has been awful the past 3 seasons and it was a bad idea to bring him here. He won't be here next season at least.

 

[sbpatfan]

You could learn a lot if you paid attention to those who are smarter than you rather than mocking them.

Hahaha, highlight of my day hearing that from you of all people. Good one man!

 

[supafly]

I see what you're saying, but you have to admit Chad's been a disappointment so far. At least as far as what we expected of him.

I absolutely agree with you.

For the WR who is making the most money at a ridiculous clip, no doubt.

I think they either expected a much bigger role from him (which believe it or not, I'm not entirely sold on, considering that Brady has a great chemistry with Branch), or they felt that he could contribute on some, lesser level.

I didn't really understand the signing then, due to the use of the 2 TE set so much, and the obvious reliance on Welker as our #1.

Who knows what the hell they were thinking? Maybe they thought that he'd give Branch a good run for taking over that role, or that they'd have good use from him in primarily wide sets (that's my guess..I suppose)

 

[supafly]

It amazes me that people still continue to stick up for him with as worthless as he has been in NE. The people that have all year need to call it a day and just eat the crow. CJ has been awful the past 3 seasons and it was a bad idea to bring him here. He won't be here next season at least.

I would definitely tend to agree with you there. I never really liked the signing that much, and it seemed very "un-patriot like" to me at the time.

Then again, who knows? The man who makes the decisions is a hard one to read sometimes.

 

[Banjo]

Chad will probably stay for the rest of the season, but he won't be back next year. Not unless he makes some big plays in the playoffs

 

[supafly]

I have no doubt in my mind Ocho would've been cut already if it wasn't for an even more worthless reciever (Taylor Price) sitting behind him. Its either Ocho or Todd from the Taco Bell drive through window at this point.

I think that you do make sense on some level, but remember that BB doesn't really take the overall positional depth into account all that often when making personnel decisions, as we've seen with CB and S this yr.

If he kept one guy around just b/c there weren't any better options, then he likely would feel as though he'd be hurting the team by keeping him, so I'm not really sold on that thought.

Another thing that I'd keep in mind is that even if "Todd from the Taco Bell drive thru" (who I hear has a wicked ass double move) was signed, he wouldn't be seeing much action either. There's simply not enough balls to go around.

You always want to take advantage of getting Welker the ball as much as possible, that's a given and he provides Brady with his go-to guy when the chips are down. Then you have Brady and Branch's great rapport with each other, as far as timing, changing plays, being in the right spot, trust, etc go. On top of that you have the TE's that had already established themselves as a major part of offense last yr, so we all know BB was going to use them just as much. Not only that, you have Woodhead and Faulk, maybe even BJGE dumpoffs...so any WR below the true #5 option isn't going to get many balls thrown their way.

They were keeping Price as a developmental project (most likely) for next yr, and beyond. At least that is what I believe the thinking was, besides maybe some minor contribution here or there. I don't think that BB really expected too many people to beat out Branch for the majority of the reps. Not in this kind of offense that relies so heavily on timing, trust, and being in the right place.

When it became apparent that Price may not provide much use or competition into the future and they needed a roster spot, it was probably almost a no-brainer for Belichick. My guess is that he takes it yr by yr, and that he will re-evaluate, load up again via the draft and FA/cuts, and go from there. I would venture that next yr we will likely be in a very good place as far as guys who are catching the ball from Tom go, just as we are this yr.