The Development of Ryan Mallett.

Danger Zone said:

Danger Zone coaching decision: Mallet plays last three quarters.

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I would rather see Mallett play the first 3 quarters, because if last year is any indication,
then the thug Loins will be heat-seeking Brady's head on a platter next week.
I am still pissed that we are playing them again, in Detroit again, in the 3rd pre-season game again.

Oinko said:

I think they took him out because he got some good film out there for trade bait, and they don't want to mess it up with garbage time.

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You must be joking. Tebow looked like trash and, to date, hasnt shown anything on this team that would convince me he's worthy of a roster spot. Mallett isn't going anywhere.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Well said though I don't know if I was use the word "impressed". I thought his handling of the two minute offense was very encouraging. His body language/mannerisms sure seemed to indicate he had that all important comfort level (something I don't remember seeing from him before). And I agree that opportunity/reps would be a key thing in his development. I hope we get to see him run the no huddle several more times in the last 2 preseason games.

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That is another reason I begrudge all the Preseason game snaps that Tebow is wasting. Tebow has played more than 4 quarters to nothing but further embarassment, while Tom and Ryan have played less than 2 quarters apiece, to get familiar with their new receivers.

Mallet, like Matt Castle, will be ready to win games if he ever had to play. Yes the offense would change somewhat to reflect HIS strengths and weaknesses, and no, it won't be as good as if Brady was in there. But I think Pats nation should feel some comfort knowing that they have a "capable" back up to go in if Brady ever went down.

Remember back in 2008 Castle wasn't nearly as productive as Mallett has been. IIRC, he never led the team to a single TD, even when he worked with the first unit, and very few first downs even. In fact there was a call to cut him, and it would have been justified based on what we saw in preseason games.

Remember back up QB's get very limited reps in very limited practice sessions from this point on. At this point he's looking at a quarter next week and a half the week after and then another full year (God willing) of not playing a significant snap. Its hard for anyone to look good when you aren't seeing real speed NFL football for literally months at a time.

What impressed me the most from Mallets work last night was he did most of with with an inferior OL and back up skill players (for the most part). Let him get behind that top 5 OL and his comfort level would be elevated even still

As for him being traded, it won't happen until the end of the season. I definitely see him getting moved for a 2nd or 3rd to the right team. That would be the right time to move him. If not that's OK too. I'd be happy resigning him and paying him up to $1.5MM/yr to be the principal back up for the rest of Brady's tenure.

Reminded me of Bledsoe a bit back there ... the tall classic pocket passer. If memory serves me right it took Bledsoe a few years to be more consistent back there ... then again it took the team a few years also. But anyways ... did remind me of him a bit with a few less MPH on the fastball of course. Mallet is huge ... Brady looks a tad small standing next to him. Seems to have a better arm than Cassel - hard to tell on the football IQ without seeing him more to compare him to Cassel.

patfanken said:

Mallet, like Matt Castle, will be ready to win games if he ever had to play. Yes the offense would change somewhat to reflect HIS strengths and weaknesses, and no, it won't be as good as if Brady was in there. But I think Pats nation should feel some comfort knowing that they have a "capable" back up to go in if Brady ever went down.

Remember back in 2008 Castle wasn't nearly as productive as Mallett has been. IIRC, he never led the team to a single TD, even when he worked with the first unit, and very few first downs even. In fact there was a call to cut him, and it would have been justified based on what we saw in preseason games.

Remember back up QB's get very limited reps in very limited practice sessions from this point on. At this point he's looking at a quarter next week and a half the week after and then another full year (God willing) of not playing a significant snap. Its hard for anyone to look good when you aren't seeing real speed NFL football for literally months at a time.

What impressed me the most from Mallets work last night was he did most of with with an inferior OL and back up skill players (for the most part). Let him get behind that top 5 OL and his comfort level would be elevated even still

As for him being traded, it won't happen until the end of the season. I definitely see him getting moved for a 2nd or 3rd to the right team. That would be the right time to move him. If not that's OK too. I'd be happy resigning him and paying him up to $1.5MM/yr to be the principal back up for the rest of Brady's tenure.

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Mallett won't be a FA until AFTER next season. That is before franchise or transition considerations come in. With Brady's reduced salary, I maintain they could pay both $8-10 million a year if Mallett shows enough to be a Aaron Rodgers candidate. Other contenders pay that much for their franchise QBs.

Why would he stay? He could be in the position of inheriting a Super Bowl contender rather than just some perennial loser of a dreg team like the Jets or Jaguars. BB is preparing this team for a series of genuine Super Bowl runs over the next half decade, and that is obvious to any real analyst.

IMHO, He would laugh at your $1.5 million a year offer. IMHO, he might sign a low dollar, one year contract, if and only if, TB retired; and he had a free attempt at a "prove it" year. Staying with a SB contender might strategically over rule the dollars with a dreg team, but I doubt it. He has sat too long, and would want to play.

PS: I could see what Belichick was doing with Cassell in 2008. BB was purposely stacking the deck against him with a scrub Offensive line and future truck driver WRs. He wanted to test Cassell's POISE in adversity, since he hadn't played in college,and couldn't measure it. Cassell never blamed anybody else, and bore the unfairness stoically, while maintaining his cool. He passed in BB eyes, just like proverbial JOB did. Many fans were calling for Cassell's head, and deriding him as hopeless, I wasn't, and applauded BB keeping him and we were both vindicated by his play in 2008.

Could BB doing the similar thing with Mallett, purposely limiting his reps, and not allowing him to show how good he could be, while wasting time with Tim "The Great Embarassment" Tebow? BB might do that to determine Ryan's Patience, and to keep him working hard. That might keep his value lower reducing other offers, too.

patfanken said:

Mallet, like Matt Castle, will be ready to win games if he ever had to play. Yes the offense would change somewhat to reflect HIS strengths and weaknesses, and no, it won't be as good as if Brady was in there. But I think Pats nation should feel some comfort knowing that they have a "capable" back up to go in if Brady ever went down.

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*cough* Cassel *cough*

Remember back up QB's get very limited reps in very limited practice sessions from this point on. At this point he's looking at a quarter next week and a half the week after and then another full year (God willing) of not playing a significant snap. Its hard for anyone to look good when you aren't seeing real speed NFL football for literally months at a time.

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Meaningful, perhaps. But I wouldn't mind the Pats being so far ahead that Mallett gets to play, say, every fourth quarter.

I think it's overlooked because suds got stripped and juggle caught the touchdown but that throw from Mallet was an A+ laser through a tiny window. Seriously couldn't be done better by Brady, Manning or anyone.

Check it out if you have it taped.

I still want Alex Tanney as the developmental QB.

Once he got into the game groove, I thought Mallett did pretty well last night. I've always liked the kid anyway and I think he would do a good job if Brady missed time. He always strikes me as the kind of player that would get better from game to game.

We have Mallett for 2013, 2014 and we can use a 2015 option if we choose. This will cost nowhere near a frachise tag.

AzPatsFan said:

Mallett won't be a FA until AFTER next season. That is before franchise or transition considerations come in. With Brady's reduced salary, I maintain they could pay both $8-10 million a year if Mallett shows enough to be a Aaron Rodgers candidate. Other contenders pay that much for their franchise QBs.

Why would he stay? He could be in the position of inheriting a Super Bowl contender rather than just some perennial loser of a dreg team like the Jets or Jaguars. BB is preparing this team for a series of genuine Super Bowl runs over the next half decade, and that is obvious to any real analyst.

IMHO, He would laugh at your $1.5 million a year offer. IMHO, he might sign a low dollar, one year contract, if and only if, TB retired; and he had a free attempt at a "prove it" year. Staying with a SB contender might strategically over rule the dollars with a dreg team, but I doubt it. He has sat too long, and would want to play.

PS: I could see what Belichick was doing with Cassell in 2008. BB was purposely stacking the deck against him with a scrub Offensive line and future truck driver WRs. He wanted to test Cassell's POISE in adversity, since he hadn't played in college,and couldn't measure it. Cassell never blamed anybody else, and bore the unfairness stoically, while maintaining his cool. He passed in BB eyes, just like proverbial JOB did. Many fans were calling for Cassell's head, and deriding him as hopeless, I wasn't, and applauded BB keeping him and we were both vindicated by his play in 2008.

Could BB doing the similar thing with Mallett, purposely limiting his reps, and not allowing him to show how good he could be, while wasting time with Tim "The Great Embarassment" Tebow? BB might do that to determine Ryan's Patience, and to keep him working hard. That might keep his value lower reducing other offers, too.

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mgteich said:

We have Mallett for 2013, 2014 and we can use a 2015 option if we choose. This will cost nowhere near a frachise tag.

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We don't have an option for 2015 for a 3rd round pick.

Mallett is a UFA after next season.

mgteich said:

We have Mallett for 2013, 2014 and we can use a 2015 option if we choose. This will cost nowhere near a frachise tag.

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Mallett's not eligible for the fifth-year option.

It's only for first-rounders (i.e., Solder). More importantly, the decision to use it has to be made during the offseason between years 3 and 4.

AzPatsFan said:

Mallett won't be a FA until AFTER next season. That is before franchise or transition considerations come in. With Brady's reduced salary, I maintain they could pay both $8-10 million a year if Mallett shows enough to be a Aaron Rodgers candidate. Other contenders pay that much for their franchise QBs.

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1. We aren't going to pay our backup QB 8-10 million a year while he continues to sit on the bench during his SECOND contract, since Brady is signed for 5 more years. That isn't going to happen. Mallett's new deal would still have 3 more yrs of Brady at a minimum, so Mallett wouldn't even see the field as a starter until his last year of the second pact.

2. I'm not sure where you're getting your Tom Brady numbers from, but it's a lot closer to 13 and 14 million a year than it is to "8 to 10." At least for the next couple/few yrs anyway.

3. Belichick has often said that there is a realistic amount of cap space, percentage-wise to spend at the position of QB. I believe that percentage is about 14 percent. Aside from your flaws in reasoning in the first 2 points, this is yet another reason why it just wouldn't work.

I wouldn't mind seeing Mallett stay on either, but it just doesn't appear that it's much of a reasonable option. As many have pointed out, our likely new franchise QB is still in high school.

AzPatsFan said:

That is another reason I begrudge all the Preseason game snaps that Tebow is wasting. Tebow has played more than 4 quarters to nothing but further embarassment, while Tom and Ryan have played less than 2 quarters apiece, to get familiar with their new receivers.

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I see the reasoning behind your "begrudging". A good case can be made that Mallett needs all the reps he can get. However, there is another side to the coin. TT is a newby to the Patriots. The coaches needed to see what he could do, needed to see how he was progressing. Mallett, on the other hand, is much more of a known quantity. Further, is the best training/proving ground for Mallett to play with mostly third stringers and plenty of guys who are unlikely to make the team?

I realize TT is a pariah at this point. Given his preseason play it's a reasoned POV. Yet even those who do not like him probably agree that he has some serious raw talent, a very solid drive/instincts to win, and comes with experience in some big games. Given that, if BB and staff could have wielded some coaching magic and got his passing ability improving/on the right track, this (theoretically) could have ended up as one hell of a signing for the Patriots. And given that possible reward, maybe it was worth giving TT a solid amount of preseason playing time.
Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be paying off.......

TheBostonStraggler said:

Mallett, on the other hand, is much more of a known quantity. Further, is the best training/proving ground for Mallett to play with mostly third stringers and plenty of guys who are unlikely to make the team?

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That's a great thought. On top of that, there's also a point where you have to take Mallett out and protect him just the same as you would with any potentially valuable player, after all he is our true backup to Brady and would be needed to replace him should the unthinkable happen.

I see no reason to expose Mallett to getting banged up or seriously injured in a meaningless preseason game which basically amounts to nothing more than a glorified practice.

I think we saw him throw 20 balls last night, which is likely plenty to give him the opportunity to "prove" himself. What we're also forgetting at times though is that he basically already has proven himself, otherwise he wouldn't be here as our QB2. Let Tebow take the meaningless second half reps in my opinion. Besides, as you pointed out--he needs the work much more than Mallett.

supafly said:

1. We aren't going to pay our backup QB 8-10 million a year while he continues to sit on the bench during his SECOND contract, since Brady is signed for 5 more years. That isn't going to happen. Mallett's new deal would still have 3 more yrs of Brady at a minimum, so Mallett wouldn't even see the field as a starter until his last year of the second pact.

2. I'm not sure where you're getting your Tom Brady numbers from, but it's a lot closer to 13 and 14 million a year than it is to "8 to 10." At least for the next couple/few yrs anyway.

3. Belichick has often said that there is a realistic amount of cap space, percentage-wise to spend at the position of QB. I believe that percentage is about 14 percent. Aside from your flaws in reasoning in the first 2 points, this is yet another reason why it just wouldn't work.

I wouldn't mind seeing Mallett stay on either, but it just doesn't appear that it's much of a reasonable option. As many have pointed out, our likely new franchise QB is still in high school.

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Has Mallett even earned consideration for a contract extension beyond something around nominal? .......much less at 8 million a year or even 4 million a year. Maybe BB likes what he has seen from Mallett in practice, leadership, film room, off season routine etc etc. Maybe he feels Mallett is a priority to keep past next year. But even then I doubt the offer would be lofty. For Mallett to be given that kind of $$$ consideration by the market, he needs to start lighting it up in the preseason. He needs to get some mentions/some splashes on sports media highlights. I don't think he has done anything like that (at least not yet).

Short of TFB being out a couple of games (no!) and Mallett replacing him with effectiveness (gets on some highlights), IMHO I would expect to see BB take a QB in the 2014 draft. The cold hard reality is a 2014 drafted QB could eventually find himself in open competition for earning the Patriots' starting QB spot.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Has Mallett even earned consideration for a contract extension beyond something around nominal? .......much less at 8 million a year or even 4 million a year. Maybe BB likes what he has seen from Mallett in practice, leadership, film room, off season routine etc etc. Maybe he feels Mallett is a priority to keep past next year. But even then I doubt the offer would be lofty. For Mallett to be given that kind of $$$ consideration by the market, he needs to start lighting it up in the preseason. He needs to get some mentions/some splashes on sports media highlights. I don't think he has done anything like that (at least not yet).

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The main problem is that Mallett isn't going to want to remain on as a backup. He's going to want a shot at a starting role which is only natural.

Also as you mention, Belichick surely isn't going to be paying any backup a salary of more than a million or so dollars, maybe 2 if he really felt that he was worth it. I'm not sure where some are getting these numbers from, but the fact that Mallett's 2nd pact still wouldn't put him in line for the starting job due to Brady being around just doesn't make any financial sense from either viewpoint.

We're also making the enormous assumption that Belichick would even want Mallett to remain on as a backup, which we really have no idea about, but that's part of the exercise here I suppose. It just won't be a realistic option, and any comparison to Rodgers is really a stretch because they knew that he'd at least be starting when his 2nd pact came around, not that he'd still be a bench warmer holding a clipboard.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Short of TFB being out a couple of games (no!) and Mallett replacing him with effectiveness (gets on some highlights), IMHO I would expect to see BB take a QB in the 2014 draft. The cold hard reality is a 2014 drafted QB could eventually find himself in open competition for earning the Patriots' starting QB spot.

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I think that the possibility exists, at least for a shot at a developmental later round pick at the position in the springtime. We saw a QB taken in the 3rd round both in 2008 (O'Connell) and 2011 (Mallett), but if they're really going to dedicate a higher round pick again they may want to wait another year until 2015. Of course we've seen Belichick have no problem with wasting a 3rd rounder at it before so maybe it is that high next year.

I think I may try to take a shot at a 5th rounder or later next year and then even come back again the next year in 2015 with something higher. Then again you never know what kind of player is going to come about, so it's difficult to project. Maybe we see someone who Belichick really likes in the next 2 yrs and he decides to use a 2nd or 3rd rounder again? Should be fun to watch though.

mgteich said:

We're used to Brady.

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No question Mallett has, and will continue to make mistakes out there but when you've been watching the GoAT for the last 13 or so seasons, it's tough to lower the standard and change the viewing perspective.

It seems very similar to when Cassel was here. He had some brutal preseason games and we were all wondering why he was even on the team. One TB went down, slowly, but surely as he had success running the offense he became more confident in leading the team (see the NYJ home game that they lost).

I believe that once Mallett gets to better level of competency in throwing the short passes and little more seasoning, he has a legitimate shot at being a starting NFL QB. How good can he be? Not sure yet. Obviously he needs to play more to truly know the answer to that question.

bostonia3333 said:

I'm a fan of Mallet's game. I wish he got to use that cannon a bit more tonight, but I guess coach probably wanted him to touch up the midrange game a bit.

Something you can see from Mallet's limited playing time is he has confidence in dictating the play at the line of scrimmage and getting a sense of what the defense is going to do. He can adjust plays on the fly at the line, something that Tebow is lousy at. With his skillset the sky is the limit as far as potential, but like others have mentioned, he needs to play a full game to get into a rhythm. As fans, all we want to see is 80% completion percentage and 5TDs a game. That stuff doesn't happen overnight, but I think Mallett not only has the physical attributes but the natural instincts to win at the highest level.

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I'm sorry that he didn't meet our 80% and 5 TDs preference. Off of his 1 quarter of Tampa action, projected to a full game, I guess we'll just have to settle for a 60% completion rate, 4 TD passes, with 0 INTs per game.

Those are just absolutely Terrible stats for our #2 QB. :snob::snob: