Matt Chatham with a nice takedown of the "Pats are too cheap and won't get WEAPONZ" crowd

[QuantumMechanic]

The Patriots have a long—and apparently easily forgotten—history of trying to put weapons around Tom Brady. They’re clearly open to scrutiny on whether they’ve succeeded, but the not trying part…it’s just not paying attention, or willful ignorance if you still believe it.
Chad Ochocinco was a move everyone fawned over when the transaction happened in 2011, yet forgotten when it failed. Brandon Lloyd in 2012 was precisely an Emmanuel Sanders-type addition to the Patriots offense that already hummed around Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker. They went out and signed one of the most sought after free agent WRs in the 2013 free agent class in Danny Amendola. They drafted a big-bodied pass-catcher in the 2nd round last year in Aaron Dobson at a draft position higher than either Julius Thomas or Eric Decker were selected by the Broncos.

How anyone can read that as half-assing it relative to what the competition is doing, I have no idea.

Read the whole thing (and a lot of the other articles at FbF, too).

http://www.footballbyfootball.com/column/reviewing-the-no-weapons-for-brady-tale

 

[Uncle Rico]

Was just reading this and coming to post it. GREAT column and worth a read. Tough to excerpt one or two parts, but good comments comparing the Broncs-Loading-Up-for-Peyton vs Pats-Stranding-Brady argument.

Mentions D Thomas (picked before Manning came to Denver, by you-know-who) and Decker (ditto, left for more money, Sanders signed for less — "very Patriot-y"). J Thomas fourth round pick did nothing for two years; can you imagine that happening here ("Going into the third season without catching a ball as a fourth round pick?! I have a general sense how that would be received publicly if that same scenario played out in New England…) Talks about going cheap on proven back Moreno ("Smells like Patriot Spirit"). And this:

The really telling part to this tale will be the roster effect when Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas require contracts that aren’t at the rookie level that they are currently producing big numbers under. Pro tip: they won’t both get top-of-market deals without some decision to thin the dollar allocations to other pass-catcher spots on the current roster. In other words, if you pay a top of market tight end like Julius Thomas (like the Patriots did Rob Gronkowski), the decision to also carry a potential top-of-market wide receiver salary in Demaryius Thomas will undoubtedly make you go young or low-dollar at several other spots.

That’s just how it works. Not for the Patriots. For everybody.

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't believe the Patriots are cheap. However, that article was lousy. It ignored so much reality that it might as well have been one of this board's homers posting.

When he re-read it, he'll wish he hadn't already posted it.

Chatham had better step it up, a lot, if he wants that site to succeed.

 

[SeanBruschi54]

Also have we all forgetten how we tried to sign Reggie Wayne a few years ago?

We also tried to sign Steve Smith (chose Baltimore), Joe Jurevicious (sp?) (Chose Cleveland) and Derrick Mason (chose Baltimore). Its not for lack of effort, sometimes people jut choose different locations.

 

[Danger Zone]

I don't believe the Patriots are cheap. However, that article was lousy. It ignored so much reality that it might as well have been one of this board's homers posting.

Having a different opinion = dismissed as a homer

 

[Rob0729]

Was just reading this and coming to post it. GREAT column and worth a read. Tough to excerpt one or two parts, but good comments comparing the Broncs-Loading-Up-for-Peyton vs Pats-Stranding-Brady argument.

Mentions D Thomas (picked before Manning came to Denver, by you-know-who) and Decker (ditto, left for more money, Sanders signed for less — "very Patriot-y"). J Thomas fourth round pick did nothing for two years; can you imagine that happening here ("Going into the third season without catching a ball as a fourth round pick?! I have a general sense how that would be received publicly if that same scenario played out in New England…) Talks about going cheap on proven back Moreno ("Smells like Patriot Spirit"). And this:

That is the thing most of the media misses with the Pats/Denver comparisons along with the fact that most of the best players on the Broncos were there before BOTH Manning and Elway. Elway inherited both Thomases, Ryan Clady, and others. He inherited the fourth overall pick to get Von Miller. And all of them except for Clady are on rookie deals.

 

[cavtroop]

I don't believe the Patriots are cheap. However, that article was lousy. It ignored so much reality that it might as well have been one of this board's homers posting.

When he re-read it, he'll wish he hadn't already posted it.

Chatham had better step it up, a lot, if he wants that site to succeed.

I look forward to your point by point dissection of the article.

 

[FrodoBagginz]

I completely agree. There hasn't been a lack of effort even though the majority of time those efforts have failed. And BB finally tried to solve our weapon problem through the draft. Boyce is a failure but there is some hope with Dobson but injury is holding him back and Brady isn't getting any younger. We should have gotten some WR weapon/weapons years ago in the draft. Dobson may be too little too late.

But any weapons are useless without our greatest weapon, Brady. Now we have to worry about protecting our best weapon from getting slaughtered due to the offensive line. Brady might be able to get it done with these pathetic receivers if the offensive line were good enough for run and pass protection.

 

[Deus Irae]

I look forward to your point by point dissection of the article.

Read the article. The 'dissection' is obvious.

 

[Danger Zone]

That is the thing most of the media misses with the Pats/Denver comparisons along with the fact that most of the best players on the Broncos were there before BOTH Manning and Elway. Elway inherited both Thomases, Ryan Clady, and others. He inherited the fourth overall pick to get Von Miller. And all of them except for Clady are on rookie deals.

4th overall pick..

Belichick:

2014 - 29th
2013 - 29th
2012 - 31st

Wonder who Belichick would pick if he had the 4th overall pick?

It is my firm opinion that everyone grossly underestimates how insidious and cumulative an effect drafting at an average draft position of 26 over 14 years has on a GM's ability to restock talent.

The next most successful team drafted at an average position of 21 over the same 14 years.

If you remove the 6th round pick that Belichick inherited as a statistical outlier, the Patriots average draft position drops to almost 28th.

The chances of a 1st round draft pick being a bust increase around 20 percentile points from the top of the first round to the bottom of the first round.

That means every pick the Patriots make have a 10% greater chance of being a bust than those teams even drafting in the middle of the round. Or a 20% greater chance of being a bust on average than those teams drafting in the top 5 of the round.

And by the way, in 2001 with that 6th overall pick Belichick "inherited", he chose Richard Seymour and then Matt Light.

 

[Rob0729]

I don't know about anyone else, but I kinda feel honored that Deus lumps an excellent analyst like Matt Chatham into the "Deus Appointed Homer Crowd" with the rest of us. I feel I am in good company now.

 

[Uncle Rico]

I don't believe the Patriots are cheap. However, that article was lousy. It ignored so much reality that it might as well have been one of this board's homers posting.

When he re-reads it, he'll wish he hadn't already posted it.

Chatham had better step it up, a lot, if he wants that site to succeed.

I think Chatham pretty much says there's a lot to assess when looking at the Patriots' problems right now:

If you read this as a defense-piece of the team and organization, please reread this again—you’ve missed the point. The Patriots aren’t playing well enough right now on offense, and as I’ve stated in the last several weeks, they’re telling you as much. As a former member of this organization, I’d like to know how this is going to get turned around as much as the next.

He's also pretty clear about being a homer when it comes to the Patriots. But I think as a look at one of the trendier and specific questions about the Patriots' strategies, it does make some good points.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think Chatham pretty much says there's a lot to assess when looking at the Patriots' problems right now:



He's also pretty clear about being a homer when it comes to the Patriots. But I think as a look at one of the trendier and specific questions about the Patriots' strategies, it does make some good points.

But he's full of it in the article. The Broncos didn't need a OWR1, because they had one. They didn't need an OWR2, because they had one. They didn't need a TE1, because they thought they had one in Thomas. The problem with Chatham's argument is that it's predicated on nothing beyond "They didn't go out and get what they already had". Unfortunately for that argument:

They needed a TE2 and a slot WR. They went out and got a TE2 that Manning was already familiar and comfortable with, in Tamme. They also went out and got the best slot WR in the game. Then, when Decker's deal was up, and he was going to be signed away to be a WR1 with WR1 money, they needed a replacement receiver. They went out and practically stole the guy they wanted. Sanders was literally in the office in K.C., getting ready to sign a contract, and the Broncos went at him hard enough to convince him to leave that place and sign with them.

Contrast that with NE. NE comes out looking exactly the way people have been painting things. NE tried to sign Sanders to a cheap offer sheet and failed. Then, when Sanders was on the market, they signed Lafell on the comparative cheap, instead, while Denver was the team that ponied up for Sanders. In other words, by choosing Denver, Chatham chose the worst possible comparison, and doomed his article from the start.

 

[BradyToAmendola]

No one's saying they've done NOTHING to help Brady. But.. has BB let his ego get in the way of a lot of things that have hurt us? Yep (Deion Branch 06, Welker leaving, Mankins being shipped out 10 days before the season, his refusal to take a WR high in the draft because he believes players like Julio Jones and Jonathan Baldwin are the exact same).

Sorry, but Brady's been carrying this team on his back for years.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

No one's saying they've done NOTHING to help Brady. But.. has BB let his ego get in the way of a lot of things that have hurt us? Yep (Deion Branch 06, Welker leaving, Mankins being shipped out 10 days before the season, his refusal to take a WR high in the draft because he believes players like Julio Jones and Jonathan Baldwin are the exact same).

Sorry, but Brady's been carrying this team on his back for years.

Has he actually said that? I think it's more accurate to say that it's a lot harder to tell the difference between the two of them pre-draft.

 

[FCB02062]

That is the thing most of the media misses with the Pats/Denver comparisons along with the fact that most of the best players on the Broncos were there before BOTH Manning and Elway. Elway inherited both Thomases, Ryan Clady, and others. He inherited the fourth overall pick to get Von Miller. And all of them except for Clady are on rookie deals.

Ok well maybe If the pats had drafted better they too would have impact players on rookie deals...don't try to sell me on chandler jones as an impact player - more disappearing acts than houdini...

 

[upstater1]

This is what I'd like to know from Chatham.

If the Patriots knew last year that Dobson and Thompkins and Boyce weren't going to cut it (one got cut and the others are healthy scratches) wasn't it their responsibility to realize the mistakes and to bring in someone of higher caliber than LaFell?

I don't think people here are saying the Patriots haven't tried (with Taylor Price, Chad Jackson, Aaron Dobson, etc.) but when you have Tom Brady back there, you have to make CERTAIN you have one stud receiver with him.

 

[Rob0729]

Ok well maybe If the pats had drafted better they too would have impact players on rookie deals...don't try to sell me on chandler jones as an impact player - more disappearing acts than houdini...

Maybe if the Pats sucked more they could get guys like Von Miller (4th overall pick) or Ryan Clady (12th overall pick).

 

[DaBruinz]

I look forward to your point by point dissection of the article.

You'll be waiting until Hell ( and I don't mean the one in Michigan) freezes over. Deus refuses to do anything like that because it would mean he'd have to actually put some thought into it. Deus can't admit that he doesn't know more than a guy who has played within the organization that we all love. I guarantee you Chatham knows more about the ins and outs about said organization than Deus, yet Deus will never admit to that either. All because his ego won't let him. Deus has never admitted he was wrong on this site. Not once. He's the King of Spin.

 

[FredFromDartmouth]

Also have we all forgetten how we tried to sign Reggie Wayne a few years ago?

We also tried to sign Steve Smith (chose Baltimore), Joe Jurevicious (sp?) (Chose Cleveland) and Derrick Mason (chose Baltimore). Its not for lack of effort, sometimes people jut choose different locations.

Trying is not good enough. Anyone can make an offer, but don't expect success when when you low-ball the WR and tell him he can play for glory instead of cash. They may have "tried" but not very hard.

Reading Chatham would make you think that the Patriots have done a great job acquiring talent for Brady. They might have tried, but not very hard or very effectively. The WRs suck; they are a joke.