Where does Revis anticipation rank among other big pickups?

How excited are you about Revis's first season with the Pats? It is strange the difference in his impact in comparison to Randy Moss, who was a running highlight reel. Revis's impact is typically made off-camera, literally, as the TV cameras follow where the ball is going. Not to say that Revis isn't as capable of dominating a game as Moss.

Anyway, I'm thinking about other notable acquisitions and how much excitement they have generated around Pats Nation at the time they happened and during the first preseason. This is during the Brady era.

The List

1. Randy Moss, 2007. This might be the single biggest "hype fest" in sports history, yet somehow Moss even exceeded those impossible expectations, if you consider 23 TDs to be living up to the hype. From Game 1 forward, there was no question that the Patriots had the most insane offense in NFL history by both real and Madden standards.

2. Adalius Thomas, 2007. Thomas was viewed as the top defensive player in free agency, a perfect versatile fit for Belichick's system, and he started out by living up to the hype. I recall his pick-6 against Phillip Rivers versus San Diego in Week Two. His first year was an overall success, as he displayed a lot of versatility and made some big plays. It wasn't until his second year when things really started to unravel.

3. Corey Dillon, 2004. This was a great move by the Patriots before the changed passing rules when running backs could make a difference in your win-loss record. There was a lot of "quiet buzz" in the offseason about how Dillon could make the offense more consistent. I'd say that his first season was nothing short of a tremendous success.

4. Rosevelt Colvin, 2003. Hard to remember that at the time of his signing, Colvin was viewed by many as a top-5 pass rusher and the prize of free agency. There was quite a bit of excitement, but at that time the Patriots were considered to be one-hit wonders who were worlds away from a championship rather than just a few missing pieces. The Patriots also brought in a more unheralded veteran named Rodney Harrison and released Lawyer Milloy.

5. Wes Welker, 2007. Welker was overshadowed by Moss but still generated quite a bit of buzz on this site and around the league. I, for one, had been saying since 2005 that Welker could be a star with Brady throwing to him, and I was more excited about Welker than Moss (who I thought was on the decline.) However, many saw the Welker addition as a nice safety blanket for Brady and a solid 60 reception guy. I would say, all in all, Welker far exceeded even the most lofty expectations in 2007 and beyond.

6. Chad Ochocinco, 2011. Many Pats fans were cautious about Ochocinco, believing this was a bad move, but it was impossible not to get excited thinking about the best-case scenario. All offseason was a mini-circus following his tweets, his chemistry with Brady, etc. It turned out he was an epic bust.

7. Albert Haynesworth, 2011. Not sure if this was so hyped in Patriots nation as much as on the national level. I can't recall many people on this board getting really excited about Haynesworth, who we were hoping would put his character/motivation issues behind him. It turned out that his talent no longer excited anyone or made an impact. I'll admit that I was the first one to turn on Madden, put him next to Wilfork, and dare someone to run on me.

8. Danny Amendola, 2013. Based on Amendola's contract size and the perceived value placed the front office, this was somewhat hyped, somewhat anxiety-driven. The fact that he was replacing Welker dampened the mood, and the buzz centered more around whether Amendola would be a replacement instead of whether he would improve the offense. Concerns about his injury history rang true in year one, and while the jury is still out, the emergence of Julian Edelman makes Amendola's chances of long-term success here look much dimmer.


Honorable Mentions- Guys who generated some excitement at lower levels

Ted Washington, 2003.
Junior Seau, 2006.
Donte Stallworth, 2007.
Joey Galloway, 2009.
Leigh Bodden, 2009.
Shaun Ellis, 2011.
Brian Waters, 2011.
Brandon Lloyd, 2012.
Tim Tebow, 2013.
Adrian Wilson, 2013.

Great thread idea!

I'd put Ted Washington ahead of some top tenners myself and yes, it was possible for me to not be excited about ochostinko. I've never been more right and regretted it, than in that case.

Revis and moss are tied for first, and none of the others even come close.

For me, it's slightly behind Moss in 2007 and slightly ahead of Dillon in 2004. It's been so long since this team has had a true, shut down #1 corner that the anticipation is at crazy levels. Moss wins out because that was the first time that Brady was given a legitimate GOAT canidate to throw to at pretty much every level of the field.

My like for Dennard and Ryan has somewhat lessened my excitement for Revis, since I don't perceive him as a need. Honestly, I was more excited about the idea of Haynesworth being whipped into shape. It worked for a game or two and resulted in some offensive line holding calls that helped us before it all went to hell. I did have high hopes for Adalius too. He was a 270lb who supposedly could play safety. I had known little about him at the time but was extremely excited to see this dude in action.

Revis anticipation is just below the Moss deal.

The Moss thing was huge because Brady never had an elite WR to throw to before.

doesntmatter1 said:

My like for Dennard and Ryan has somewhat lessened my excitement for Revis, since I don't perceive him as a need.

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I am surprised you don't perceive a need for a defense that was passed on at will and continuously spit the bit on 3rd and long. In any case I predict you will become more excited. Revis, like Moss, breathes the rarified air of the greatest to have ever played.

It's right up there for Moss for me. Moss was always my favorite non-Patriots and I was incredibly excited when they did get him. Now I keep remembering that they have Revis and can't help but smile ear to ear.

For me:

1. Moss
2. Revis
3. Colvin
4. Dillon
5. Haynesworth

Revis is a big one for me and easily on par with Moss. As awesome as Moss was, I never thought he would be a Patriot before he was. With Revis, I always had a feeling he would end up here, and wanted him here really bad when he was a Jet. He's the best shut down corner in the league and is coming into the Patriots at a time when all of us were praying to the football Gods for a defensive back half as competent as he is.

We can compare the Moss signing to the Revis signing as talent vrs talent, but I also think of situation vrs situation.

Our secondary has been a thing of nightmares for a long time now. It wasn't just blown coverages or questionable quarterbacks simply being able to lob up a prayer in order to match masterful Brady drives tit-for-tat over and over and over again.

Those PI calls were getting really frustrating too. The Ravens made us pay here a lot.
Third down and long? No problem. Just throw the ball up in the air and one of the Patriot DB's is bound to do something stupid that gives them a free 60 yard play.

That stuff was just getting brutal, man. Just brutal.

2011 and 2012 were two seasons highlighted by this especially, with us having to watch Brady take the long, hard road through stiff defenses, and score, only to see Johnny Nobody match him TD for TD with 3 or 4 long balls against a secondary that truly looked incompetent.

As awesome as Moss was, and as incredibly as it was to have him here, I think a really strong case could be made that we needed Revis now a lot more than we needed Moss then.

BradyFTW! said:

For me:

1. Moss
2. Revis
3. Colvin
4. Dillon
5. Haynesworth

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Good call on Colvin but my anticipation of Dillon was higher than him simply because the Pats were winning Super Bowls with Kevin Faulk and a goon squad at RB. I knew Dillon was going to be an absolute beast here.

RayClay said:

Great thread idea!

I'd put Ted Washington ahead of some top tenners myself and yes, it was possible for me to not be excited about ochostinko. I've never been more right and regretted it, than in that case.

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I agree with that, the Pats more than likely do not win a superbowl that year, without him.

1) Revis - best guy at his position
2) Moss - i don't think anyone expected the monster 2007 season he had. we knew it was an upgrade but he was coming off of some down years playing for crappy teams
3) Dillon - loved seeing him grind out the clock at end of games
4) Welker - hated him when he was on Dolphins, was excited to get him on the Pats and make those plays for them and not against them.

BradyFTW! said:

For me:

1. Moss
2. Revis
3. Colvin
4. Dillon
5. Haynesworth

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My list includes four of five:

1. Moss
2. Dillon (huge addition to a team that had already won one Super Bowl.)
3. Revis
4. Adalius Thomas
5. Rosie Colvin

I absolutely hated the Haynesworth signing. A bad guy with all sorts of legal problems stemming from violence and recklessness. He was a bad teammate everywhere he'd been, and just didn't fit in New England. Oh, and he was washed up.

Interesting to see Welker's name on the list. My recollection was that he was a promising player who was mainly a kick returner. Amendola shouldn't be on the list at all. He had the misfortune of being Welker's replacement, and one with a history of missing games to injury.

I was more excited for Welker than Moss who I had heard and believed to be done. I knew what we were getting in Wes. So I'd have to say this is the most excited I've been about a pickup. Question - no one was excited for Rodney?

Remember when people here were saying Lloyd would be more useful than Moss was because he "runs the whole route tree"?

Elijah said:

Remember when people here were saying Lloyd would be more useful than Moss was because he "runs the whole route tree"?

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I almost forgot about Lloyd and will add him to the list. I absolutely hated everything about the Lloyd signing and am convinced that we would have won or at least made the SB in 2012-13 had we signed Reggie Wayne or even a decent dependable outside receiver. Lloyd's career was built on acrobatic highlight reel catches, rather than just solid, dependable route running. He was also incredibly inconsistent from game to game and season to season, and the amount of teams that let him walk was telling. I knew it would be a nightmare matching with Brady and still cannot understand how, as an outsider, I could see this so obviously but the FO/McDaniels could not. Even though he had 900 yards, that was due to immensely high number of passes thrown his way.

As someone who loves great running backs, Dillon was like a Christmas toy.

Up there...wayyy up there

Just below Adam Seward.