Ryan Mallett Playing Time

[ALP]

so since there's the trade ryan mallett thread and its been getting traction heres this:

we have quite a bit of opportunities/games now that we have blown out the other team, it wasnt even close, and it happened early....yet mallett just did not come in

usually i would attribute this to BB being BB, but I remember when Cassel was backup he would actually go in such games and be allowed to throw the ball

mallett barely goes in, and i do not think he's attempted a pass all season, could this be because BB knows he's pretty good, and wants to hide him so that other teams dont see any value in him and we can bring him back as a backup after his contract is up, or because BB already knows Mallett is no good, and doesn't want other teams to think any less of him?

I just think the fact that Mallett wasn't given a chance to throw the ball and get some practice in real, live action this season is an indicator of something, im just not sure exactly of what

 

[Welkerstache]

Maybe...

1) A lot of scores/situations don't allow adequate margin to let the backup enter the game, given our D's penchant for untimely collapses.
2) Brady pushes hard to be in on every snap.

Also...
3) You might want to be more specific about situations where you thought Mallet should have played?

 

[OMGWTFJUDD]

so since there's the trade ryan mallett thread and its been getting traction heres this:

we have quite a bit of opportunities/games now that we have blown out the other team, it wasnt even close, and it happened early....yet mallett just did not come in

usually i would attribute this to BB being BB, but I remember when Cassel was backup he would actually go in such games and be allowed to throw the ball

mallett barely goes in, and i do not think he's attempted a pass all season, could this be because BB knows he's pretty good, and wants to hide him so that other teams dont see any value in him and we can bring him back as a backup after his contract is up, or because BB already knows Mallett is no good, and doesn't want other teams to think any less of him?

I just think the fact that Mallett wasn't given a chance to throw the ball and get some practice in real, live action this season is an indicator of something, im just not sure exactly of what

I'm a complete spud on the intricacies of football tactics and coaching, couldn't figure this out either and I came to the same conclusion.

That probably doesn't help you much but it does seem strange that a guy his size, with that arm and apparent potential didn't get much of a show. Particularly in a season where rookie and near rookie QB's have shown they can get the job done.

So, FWIW, I think he's a keeper and BB doesnt want Malletts head turned by the flutter of a cheque book.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

This really is PS material. That said, Mallett isn't going to remain here past 2014 unless Brady is done and gone. Backups don't sign cheap extensions to wait opportunity out. They want to become FA ASAP so they can get a shot somewhere else in March, preferably where the QB position is truly in question and they have a shot at competing to be the starter when teams are looking for draft alternatives. Hoyer didn't get that because they RFA'd him, and then cut him on the eve of the season. Too late to learn the playbook and personnel and actually compete. Mallett would probably get a shot even under those circumstances because he has a big arm. Coaches and GM's are always somewhat intrigued with big arms.

 

[Sciz]

Why did the Patriots cut backup QB Brian Hoyer? Well… - NFL.com
(From Rapoport, right after Hoyer was cut)

Mallett didn’t have a great rookie year, and the Patriots were concerned. Then, he showed up after his offseason in Arkansas at 10 percent body fat. Mallett had worked, and the Pats noticed. He’s already won employee of the week a few times, impressing them to no end. In games, the Patriots have actually hid Mallett, calling screen pass after screen pass so as not to show off his arm.

I'm going to take a different route and go with competitive advantage when it comes to hiding Mallett. If Brady were to ever go down, it sounds like the Pats feel like they could still win games, but that a lack of game film on Mallett would help.

Although, if the Pats were going to get a reasonably high pick for Mallett, I'd rather have it be in the 2014 draft rather than the upcoming one. I'm awfully unimpressed with this draft class right now. In that sense, I suppose it'd be good to make sure teams don't want him already.

 

[ALP]

This really is PS material. That said, Mallett isn't going to remain here past 2014 unless Brady is done and gone. Backups don't sign cheap extensions to wait opportunity out. They want to become FA ASAP so they can get a shot somewhere else in March, preferably where the QB position is truly in question and they have a shot at competing to be the starter when teams are looking for draft alternatives. Hoyer didn't get that because they RFA'd him, and then cut him on the eve of the season. Too late to learn the playbook and personnel and actually compete. Mallett would probably get a shot even under those circumstances because he has a big arm. Coaches and GM's are always somewhat intrigued with big arms.

do you believe that may still be the case if the Pats offer the best contract?

 

[MoLewisrocks]

They won't and the most important thing to him is getting a shot to start and qualify for a substantial deal. For that to happen he has to be on a roster where there isn't an entrenched or franchise QB already starting or at best if there is the guy is injury prone or the organization isn't fully committed to him.

If he were content to be a backup they would view him as lacking the necessary drive to succeed. The only guys who get considered for those jobs are former starters who showed some capacity but failed to catch on. The Henne's and Orton's and Leftwiches of the world.

The only team I know of who gave a QB they drafted who never started an extension (a 3 year deal at higher end backup money but nothing guaranteed beyond I believe a million dollar signing bonus) before his rookie deal expired was Indy with Jim Sorgi and he got injured during that final year of his remaining rookie contract and they placed him on IR never to be seen in Indy again because they moved on the rookie 3rd stringer they had drafted named Painter. Sorgi got picked up to be Eli's backup after that but injured his shoulder and spent the season on IR before again getting kicked to the curb. As injured backups generally do.

The Patriots always love their backups and laud them for all manner of contributions and effort before moving on. Unless Brady is lost in the next two seasons Mallett is just the next guy up. Brady's replacement will be a guy who either pushes Tom as Tom pushed Bledsoe heading into a season or one who is in the right place at the right time as Tom (also) was back in 2001. They will almost certainly look in the draft or in FA for a guy to push Mallett in camp this season and/or possibly to serve as backup insurance in case for whatever reason they trade or move on from him.

Rappaport is reading into things he wasn't here to observe. Body fat aside Mallett was having a miserable camp and didn't pick up the pace until late in a very oddly conducted pre season where he and Hoyer ended up playing to a draw of sorts (although it appeared engineered to enable that to happen along similar lines to the Edelman experiment). Hoyer was cut because of his cap hit and BB's desire to use the developmental roster spot on other than a 3rd QB.

PS - Lombardi was admonishing QB needy teams to not sleep on Cassel after 2008 just as he was Hoyer heading into his 3rd and 4th seasons, just like he began talking up Mallett this season. How media spin Brady backups is meaningless. Reiss had Matt Gutierrez overtaking Cassel in the love department heading into 2008 before they even drafted KOC in the third. And all the lemmings followed his lead. And we all know how that worked out.

 

[patchick]

usually i would attribute this to BB being BB, but I remember when Cassel was backup he would actually go in such games and be allowed to throw the ball

Memory is a funny thing.

Ryan Mallett, 2012: 4 passing attempts
Matt Cassel, 2007: 7 passing attempts

Now recall that Mallett was given a shot at actually playing football in one game, but the receiver let the pass bounce off his chest for an interception, ending poor Mallett's night.

IOW, BB is doing exactly what BB has always done.

 

[voluntarysaftey]

If I'm Mallet, I'm not staying here past my rookie contract if Brady is still playing at a high level.

4 years is a lot to be a backup. You only get a limited window to be considered a starter. His best bet to become one in year 5 is with another team. Why should he wait a 5th or 6th year for Brady to retire?

 

[chasa]

the only way Bill trades Mallet is for a stud defensive player or a top tier WR(fitzgerald) with a reasonable contract.

 

[DocHoliday]

the only way Bill trades Mallet is for a stud defensive player or a top tier WR(fitzgerald) with a reasonable contract.

It's stunning to me how much people overrate backup QBs.

Most QBs bust out of the draft, and in recent history no team has ever gotten a good deal by trading for someone else's backup QB.

See Seattle, Arizona, and Chiefs. Mallet is W-O-R-T-H-L-E-S-S. Not even worth the 3rd we used on him.