Weak Link in Offense, the Offensive Coordinator?

[TealSox]

Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Sammy Morris, Kelly Washington.

Last year, there was a clear void at the wide receiver position. Caldwell and Chad Jackson were brought in as Deion Branch was on his way out. Still no Branch and some guy named Gaffney came out of no where when the Patriots were considered to have no one.

This year is a whole different story as we have all seen thus far.

Kelly Washington, Welker, Stallworth.

This isn't a overwhelming corp, but should prove decent enough when you toss in Brady, Watson, Gaffney and Caldwell. Keep in mind that Stallworth is no #1 and has a history of being inconsistant. Welker has two good years under his belt, but is key in the return game more than the passing game. And Washington has potential (just like Caldwell did last year) but has only flashed that talent on occassions rather than amount to more than Caldwell did for us last year.

I digress....

All areas of the offense has more talent than they have had in years passed and Josh Daniels to run the show.

Hard to blame Daniels for any shortcomings of the offense when you consider what he was working with, but some came down hard on him at times (often or less often). One has to wonder what he has in store for all these weapons and if he is capable of handling this type of show (if any). Consider that Stallworth is a one year guy (for all practical purposes), Daniels needs to see what Stallworth can do rather than leave to much to question in the second year of the contract.

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

 

[Canada's #1 Pats Fan]

He's got his weapons in place now, there is no arguing that. If this offense does not produce, it falls squarely on the OC. This is after a whole year, not just 1 or 2 games where the chemistry argument could be used.

 

[wrangler]

Before we get into the OC thing let us see how our D fares in the draft.?

If there is an OC problem we should defer to the HC, ya think????

Just a thought.

 

[Patjew]

Hard to blame Daniels for any shortcomings of the offense when you consider what he was working with, but some came down hard on him at times (often or less often). One has to wonder what he has in store for all these weapons and if he is capable of handling this type of show (if any). Consider that Stallworth is a one year guy (for all practical purposes), Daniels needs to see what Stallworth can do rather than leave to much to question in the second year of the contract.

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

NEM's back?

If it's "Hard to blame Daniels for any shortcomings of the offense when you consider what he was working with", why even question if he's the weakest link? Maybe we should actually wait for him to perform poorly before we start casting stones.

 

[holyredeemer]

This isn't a overwhelming corp, but should prove decent enough when you toss in Brady, Watson, Gaffney and Caldwell. Keep in mind that Stallworth is no #1 and has a history of being inconsistant. Welker has two good years under his belt, but is key in the return game more than the passing game. And Washington has potential (just like Caldwell did last year) but has only flashed that talent on occassions rather than amount to more than Caldwell did for us last year.



All areas of the offense has more talent than they have had in years passed and Josh Daniels to run the show.

I dont really agree on your assessment of Welker. I know that wasnt the topic of the thread, but I just want to point out that he DID have over 60 catches last yr. and IMO he wasnt just brought here to improve our returning dept. Welker will catch quite a few balls here, that I am sure of. Your description of him was a little too Tim Dwight for me.

As for the OC. His name is Josh McDaniels. And, I agree. This yr. his playcalling better show up big time because he now has far more versatility to work with then he did last yr. Not to mention all of the explosiveness now packed on that side of scrimmage. Though he didnt fare too badly last yr. He did still show some young mistakes. But hey, thats why they are called growing pains. Learn from your mistakes, move on, and put your players into their best position to win. However, there is no way that he would be the only one to share the burden if the offense doesnt light it up.

IMO he's a young OC with a TON of upside as a coach and playcaller. Lets not get the noose ready just yet.

 

[RPCity]

How about we at least wait until camp starts before we start throwing jabs at McDaniels?

 

[unoriginal]

Hard to blame Daniels for any shortcomings of the offense when you consider what he was working with...

PatJew nailed it, but I'll repeat his point here for emphasis... your above quote would work well in a thread called "Strong Link in Offense, the Offensive Coordinator?"

You know, at no time since 2001 have I ever been concerned with the level of coaching on the Patriots. Meanwhile, there have been numerous people who simply won't stop *****ing about it. Just goes to show how different we all are. All hail diversity!

 

[Zuma]

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

IMO most probably.

 

[DarrylS]

Just to remind everyone BB is listening to tunes with his headphones, not paying attention to the play calling. Everything that goes on with this team goes through him.

What were we #7 in offensive production last year? We went to the AFC championship game, not bad for people who blame Josh for everything. I for one thought our team and WR's were ok, glad to see BB and the braintrust disagreed.. we are past the time in this teams tenure that we can just pick up WR's off of the street and expect this team to go to the Superbowl. This team is much different, if we do not score much this year or our O production is subpar then we can complain.. lets wait before we criticize.

 

[solman]

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

I think that Daniels has performed very well.

I also think that his age makes it less likely that we will lose him after a succesful season.

This is a big plus considering the rate at which we lose coordinators.

Although his name did come up during this year's coaching musical chairs...

 

[jczxohn1]

For OC complaints refer to http://www.patsfantalk.com/
Don't bring it here.

 

[BelichickFan]

How about if we see how things go now that he has better talent to work with before calling him a weak link ? We were 7th in the league in scoring last year, you know.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Just to remind everyone BB is listening to tunes with his headphones, not paying attention to the play calling. Everything that goes on with this team goes through him.

What were we #7 in offensive production last year? We went to the AFC championship game, not bad for people who blame Josh for everything. I for one thought our team and WR's were ok, glad to see BB and the braintrust disagreed.. we are past the time in this teams tenure that we can just pick up WR's off of the street and expect this team to go to the Superbowl. This team is much different, if we do not score much this year or our O production is subpar then we can complain.. lets wait before we criticize.

LOL There was a program on NFLN a week or so ago with sideline highlights snipets from the season focusing on HC's actions and interactions. Bill was found to be not just discussing play calling but making the call on a number of those snipets (after a brief pause for what have we got, "ok...let's go with..."). Some people just can't grasp the fact that this is and has always been his show, his scheme, his call. He modified Charlie's intended call on the Brady to Patten TD in XXXVI based on his observation of the Rams D. It's not like say a Herm Edwards run organization where the HC stands on the sidelines making faces when things don't work, and then his OC gets axed at the end of the season and a new guy with different ideas is brought in to run the offense because Herm has no clearly defined concept of what to do with it. Nor is it a situation like NO or Seattle for example where the HC calls all his own plays and the OC is just there to facilitate.

Hey, except for a couple of ill advised throws by QB's to unfamiliar receivers, and a late defensive meltdown, Josh did fine as the winning OC the Pro Bowl. He can apparently perform in the position reasonably well with or without all pro talent permeating his roster. It was also worth noting that while our coaching staff was in attendance, only one Patriot player was (and as a last minute injury replacement at that). Which kind of speaks volumes about our 2006 season.

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

How about if we see how things go now that he has better talent to work with before calling him a weak link ? We were 7th in the league in scoring last year, you know.

Please don't muddy such a fine thread with something as silly as facts.

 

[ClevTrev]

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

Not sure. Are you proposing the Pats have Daniels clean out his locker now that there is some depth at the WR position? That's the only thing that's changed on offense.

 

[Pujo]

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

Absolutely! I wouldn't trust him to catch a pass, and I think he'd do even worse on the O-Line. I hope Belichick keeps him on the sidelines and out of the game.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Just when we thought it was safe to get back in the water, here comes TealSox.

Is it just a coincidence that someone with "sox' in their user name would start a thread like this.

 

[UGAPatsfan]

Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, Sammy Morris, Kelly Washington.

Last year, there was a clear void at the wide receiver position. Caldwell and Chad Jackson were brought in as Deion Branch was on his way out. Still no Branch and some guy named Gaffney came out of no where when the Patriots were considered to have no one.

This year is a whole different story as we have all seen thus far.

Kelly Washington, Welker, Stallworth.

This isn't a overwhelming corp, but should prove decent enough when you toss in Brady, Watson, Gaffney and Caldwell. Keep in mind that Stallworth is no #1 and has a history of being inconsistant. Welker has two good years under his belt, but is key in the return game more than the passing game. And Washington has potential (just like Caldwell did last year) but has only flashed that talent on occassions rather than amount to more than Caldwell did for us last year.

I digress....

All areas of the offense has more talent than they have had in years passed and Josh Daniels to run the show.

Hard to blame Daniels for any shortcomings of the offense when you consider what he was working with, but some came down hard on him at times (often or less often). One has to wonder what he has in store for all these weapons and if he is capable of handling this type of show (if any). Consider that Stallworth is a one year guy (for all practical purposes), Daniels needs to see what Stallworth can do rather than leave to much to question in the second year of the contract.

So could it be that Daniels might now be the weak link on the offense?

HELLO NEM...you really should be less obvious! ; )

 

[NYCPatsFan]

How about we at least wait until camp starts before we start throwing jabs at McDaniels?

Until camp starts? That's way too early for me. I plan to wait for the first three/four games before making any comments.

 

[Stokes]

NEM's back?

Hah, that's exactly what I thought when I saw the title of this thread! Come on though, it makes perfect sense to question the OC of the #7 scoring offense in the league last year (24.1 ppg, from NFL.com) that scored 34 in the AFC championship game before the season even starts. No need to look at how the O actually performed last year or give the guy a chance this year. No need to address the fact that McDaniels is already highly regarded around the league as evidenced by the fact that there's already interest in him as a head coach (OK, it was the Raiders, but still). Oh and forget about the fact that one of the best football minds of our generation thinks enough of him to have/keep him as the OC of his team. Nope, let's ignore all that and start in with blaming him 6 months before the season starts. Makes sense to me!

sorry I didn't see that others had already posted the scoring offense ranking before me.