Will the offense be better in 2014?

[AzPatsFan]

I think they will sign Dustin Keller after June 1 as well. If he is healthy, he is a freakish athlete at the move TE position.

Height: 6021
Weight: 242
40 Yard Dash: 4.53
20 Yard Dash: 2.65
10 Yard Dash: 1.62
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 26
Vertical Jump: 41
Broad Jump: 10'11"
20 Yard Shuttle: 3.94
3-Cone Drill: 6.88

I would love to see him in the role Hernandez played. His size, speed, and strength would be fun to watch.

Hernandez was a Fourth rounder. Keller was a First.

You can argue that questions about Aaron Hernandez dropped him from 2-3 to 4, but he was never considered a First round talent, but Keller was.

However if signed, Keller on one gimpy leg, is better than Aperp in Jail.

 

[Brady6]

Hernandez was a Fourth rounder. Keller was a First.

You can argue that questions about Aaron Hernandez dropped him from 2-3 to 4, but he was never considered a First round talent, but Keller was.

However if signed, Keller on one gimpy leg, is better than Aperp in Jail.

I think that if the two tight end offense was that important to Belichick he would have take Amaro or ASJ at #29, or CJF at #62. He seems content moving in a different direction. Keller being signed would give us the ability to incorporate some two TE sets into are playbook.

Part of the appeal of the TE was the financial aspect. You could have a player like Gronkowski who gives you the type of production and weapon that the top outside receivers give for half the price. That has actually changed now though Jimmy Graham is fighting to be paid as a WR and that will continue.

 

[varjao]

We won't be elite yet we were third in points last season.

ok keep reading the numbers only, I'll keep looking context.

 

[supafly]

I think it is quite reasonable to expect a better offensive showing, simply due to an improvement in OL and WR alone. On top of that we are expecting healthier seasons from Gronkowski, Amendola, Vollmer, and Vereen.

Those reasons alone seem to warrant excitement and hope, at least for me anyway.

It's also just as reasonable to assume the same kind of points production through different means, with an improvement in our defense and the amount of pts/yrds that they give up just as well.

I think we're looking more for point differential average per game, vs. seeing an improvement on one side of the ball or the other.

 

[Ivan]

Will be better? Certainly.

Will be elite? Nope. It will be enough for us to make the playoffs, then in january, we will see how the chips will fall.

I look at it this way, last year pretty much everything that could go wrong went wrong for the Patriots and yet they made it to the AFCCG. They got all they could out of that team and this year's version is a much better team overall. They haven't had any of the offseason drama and they have bolstered both the offense and defense. Ultimately I have them as a top 5 defense and a top 5 offense, and that should be good enough to win it all if they are relatively healthy when they get to January. The only thing they lack offensively is a #2TE and that's about as good a position as you want to be in at this point of the offseason as they can still get depth their if they choose to.

Bottom line, for me, this year's offense will be better all the way around and it will show on the field.

 

[Ivan]

I think it is quite reasonable to expect a better offensive showing, simply due to an improvement in OL and WR alone. On top of that we are expecting healthier seasons from Gronkowski, Amendola, Vollmer, and Vereen.

I honestly think Amendola is going to open everyones eyes and the perception of him is going to change radically for the better. I realize he has to stay healthy given his track record but the guy can flat out play, and he was a shell of himself playing with that injury last season. Hopefully opposing defenses look past him the way Patriot fans are because he's going to do a lot of damage if that is the case.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Here's my problem with this offense. Yes, the opening cast look to be improved, mostly via experience and health (before contact begins). But we are still fragile at the all important game changing TE spot. I don't expect a Gronk near-equivalent but the drop off to Hooperson is vast, too vast for the rest of the offense to compensate enough to be deep playoff winning calibre w/o His Gronkness. When we had The Prisoner we had some threat from that position. Now we have none except for maybe one surprise play per game.

 

[Mack Herron]

Here's my problem with this offense. Yes, the opening cast look to be improved, mostly via experience and health (before contact begins). But we are still fragile at the all important game changing TE spot. I don't expect a Gronk near-equivalent but the drop off to Hooperson is vast, too vast for the rest of the offense to compensate enough to be deep playoff winning calibre w/o His Gronkness. When we had The Prisoner we had some threat from that position. Now we have none except for maybe one surprise play per game.

No question TE and LB are way too thin. In May. I expect important additions after June 1 and again during TC.

 

[Triumph]

We won't be elite yet we were third in points last season.

21 points came via the defense and approximately 100 points were scored on 2 sorry teams in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Elite NE offense was 2 - 2 vs 2013 post season teams narrowly beating Denver and New Orleans, but losing to Cincinnati and Carolina.

 

[Triumph]

I think they will sign Dustin Keller after June 1 as well. If he is healthy, he is a freakish athlete at the move TE position.

Height: 6021
Weight: 242
40 Yard Dash: 4.53
20 Yard Dash: 2.65
10 Yard Dash: 1.62
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 26
Vertical Jump: 41
Broad Jump: 10'11"
20 Yard Shuttle: 3.94
3-Cone Drill: 6.88

I would love to see him in the role Hernandez played. His size, speed, and strength would be fun to watch.

Are those are his combine numbers pre NFL injury.

 

[PP2]

I think it is quite reasonable to expect a better offensive showing, simply due to an improvement in OL and WR alone. On top of that we are expecting healthier seasons from Gronkowski, Amendola, Vollmer, and Vereen.

Those reasons alone seem to warrant excitement and hope, at least for me anyway.

It's also just as reasonable to assume the same kind of points production through different means, with an improvement in our defense and the amount of pts/yrds that they give up just as well.
I think we're looking more for point differential average per game, vs. seeing an improvement on one side of the ball or the other.

I think the biggest improvement to our offense will be our defense.

We now have a backfield that is day and night different from last year or even the last 10 years. It is quite frankly the best backfield (admittingly on paper so far) we have fielded since the days of Harrison, Law, and Milloy.

I think that it'll take a lot of pressure off our offense if they are reassured of returning to the field in no time if they tank a drive.

 

[Rob0729]

21 points came via the defense and approximately 100 points were scored on 2 sorry teams in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Elite NE offense was 2 - 2 vs 2013 post season teams narrowly beating Denver and New Orleans, but losing to Cincinnati and Carolina.

But you have to remember that there was a freak rain storm at the end of the game against Cincy where the Pats offense was literally grounded because Brady couldn't throw the ball (although they couldn't score before that either). And against Carolina, the Pats defense couldn't stop the Panthers and if not for a flagrant pass interference play that wasn't called in the end zone at the end of the game where Gronk was literally manhandled and tackled before the ball got there, the Pats might have won that game.

And neither Baltimore nor Pittsburgh were sorry teams last year. Both were in the hunt for a Wild Card until the end of the season last year. They were both average teams. Nothing special, but certainly not sorry. But you are ignoring the 43 points the Pats put up against Indy. Or the 34 point against Denver or 30 points vs. N'Orleans.

The Pats' offense might not have been as good as some of their numbers indicates, but you are going the opposite way to discredit them.

 

[Rob0729]

Assuming Gronk, Amendola, and Dobson are healthy and can stay healthy most of the year, I think this offense will be significantly better than it was. Gronk is Gronk. Dobson showed signs of really breaking out before he broke his foot (and arguably became Brady's primary target during the last few). I think a healthy Amendola could be a 1,000 yard receiver.

Yes, I know. There are no guarantees about health with any of these guys.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Please do not use the work "breaking" when referring to Dobson

 

[patriot1136]

I would like to see them use the hurry up more

 

[mgteich]

I would like to see them use the hurry up more

The hurry up requires the players to understand the plays much better than the standard sets. This was not possible last year with all the rookies. We'll see whether a rookie center affects this situation.

 

[Ivan]

The hurry up requires the players to understand the plays much better than the standard sets. This was not possible last year with all the rookies. We'll see whether a rookie center affects this situation.

Couldn't agree more, one of the biggest problems for Brady last season was that by losing 85% of his receptions from the prior season he also lost the ability to go to the fast break offense that wreaked so much havoc on opposing defenses the season before. hopefully Stork can adapt quickly to this because that's an aspect of their offense I want to see back as soon as possible.

 

[Brady6]

This is a career defining season for Danny Amendola. If he does not produce or suffers another injury he will be released and become an Austin Collie who is only signed to one year contracts.

 

[Mike the Brit]

At some point last year I think they more or less gave up on the idea of throwing for touchdowns in the red zone (perhaps after the fiasco of the end of the game against Miami) and settled for handing the ball to Blount.

What are they going to do without Blount if Gronk isn't available and in top condition? These are the Patriots and they have outstanding coaches, so I imagine that it's one of the things they're thinking about this off-season.

 

[mgteich]

I agree that improving the red-zone offense should be a high priority for the team.

At some point last year I think they more or less gave up on the idea of throwing for touchdowns in the red zone (perhaps after the fiasco of the end of the game against Miami) and settled for handing the ball to Blount.

What are they going to do without Blount if Gronk isn't available and in top condition? These are the Patriots and they have outstanding coaches, so I imagine that it's one of the things they're thinking about this off-season.