Tight end Shuffle: Hartsock, Maneri, Terrence Miller in; Jones, Watson, RB Houston out

patriot1136 said:

Who are these new guys?

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Nobody you'll need to remember.

Deus Irae said:

Hell, Yeatman's next NFL reception will be his first.

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Well, he WAS converted to tackle.

AndyJohnson said:

I never understood the logic of keeping your 54th guy so someone doesn't sweep him up, and thereby cutting your 53rd guy.

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This. If a guy does a job now, you don't often replace him with someone you hope can do a job in the future. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between at the margins of the roster. Nevertheless, every year, the song is the same, and it's not the 53rd guy the buzzards want cut to preserve the 54th, it's the 45th and 46th they want to cut - guys who regularly see the field on ST.

AndyJohnson said:

We have the best TE in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised that they are content with Hooman as a backup, and they appear to be searching for this years version of the blocking TE to complete the position in an offense that will rarely use 2 TEs.

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Yep, as fans, not privy to the team's planning process, we're always fighting the last war -- looking to replace guys from a previous offense/defense. We were still scouring draft lists for 5-techs like Seymour even as all signs pointed to a 4-3 base, and looking for o-linemen with 30" verticals and Irish step-dancing skills even after Cannon thoroughly broke that mold.

And now we're frustrated that the team hasn't replaced Hernandez, even though they never had "a Hernandez" until Hernandez. (In fact, when Hernandez was drafted the board complained that it was pointless duplication, because they already drafted Gronk!) This is pretty clearly a 1-TE offense.

On the upside, they have a chance to do some exciting things with Vereen and White in the backfield at the same time. They've never had a pair of backs with that kind of versatility, plus decent size. So this time next year, I'm looking forward to agonizing over why they haven't replaced Vereen!

ctpatsfan77 said:

(Even if a healthy GRONK is, by himself, a top 5 "TE unit" in the league.)

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Keep it clean, this is a family friendly forum.

unoriginal said:

Steve Maneri is interesting. He was a developmental favorite of this board back in 2010 when the Pats claimed him from Houston ala Chris Jones last year. There's at least one thread from OffTheGrid from that time claiming his best position would be tight end, not offensive tackle.

He ended up getting claimed by the Chiefs in 2011 off waivers; consensus here was that he was a shoo-in for a second year on the practice squad. They were the ones who moved him to tight end in 2012.

All that aside, the mere fact he's been brought back speaks well for him.

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High Praise, indeed, getting Linked by Brother Unoriginal. Thanks, Bro!!

Yeah, I feel very much the same way about Steve Maneri as I did, then: His Receiving Chops are probably still pretty raw, but dominant Blocking is what wins Championships.

And while Maneri surely doesn't provide Kong's Receiving Prowess, he could step in today and we wouldn't lose an atom of Kong's Brutal Beastial Blocking!!

Mike the Brit said:

Well, he WAS converted to tackle.

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People here are talking about him as a TE, not a tackle.

AndyJohnson said:

We have the best TE in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised that they are content with Hooman as a backup, and they appear to be searching for this years version of the blocking TE to complete the position in an offense that will rarely use 2 TEs.
I'm not sure why people expect starters in backup roles, and act as if having a backup as a backup is a negligent job by the organization.
And yes I know the response will be that Gronk could be injured, but it is equally unrealistic to expect starters as backups because of injury history.
What starting caliber TE would come her to sit behind Gronk in what is clearly going to be an offense that rarely uses a second TE expect in short yardage situations?
The player people think is supposed to be a TE is one of the 5-6 deep WR spots, along with Develin, since the Hernandez position has been eliminated and replaced by a combination of 3rd WR and a FB.

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There's a difference in starter quality backup, capable backup, replacement level backup and fringe NFL talent level talent backup. In terms of how reliant they are on Gronk, they don't even have a capable backup. Once again it's all or nothing with the TE position.

I'm going to hold onto some outside hope that Justin Jones ends up on the PS (although given how early he was released, that's probably not in the Pats' plans). His measurables are just too intriguing... although I guess this is why he went undrafted in the first place.

BradyFTW! said:

I'm going to hold onto some outside hope that Justin Jones ends up on the PS (although given how early he was released, that's probably not in the Pats' plans). His measurables are just too intriguing... although I guess this is why he went undrafted in the first place.

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In terms of his measurables, I felt the same way. However, reading into Belichick's comments (I know, always a slippery slope), it sounds as if the lack of progression had reached a tipping point.


Sometime in the past I recall Belichick commenting about player analysis and personnel decisions. Essentially he said that when you first sign a rookie you know very little, but with every practice, OTA, training camp, and full season you get to know more and more about them, and with each day you have a more accurate picture of what his ceiling is. That to me is why there are times when the team will release or not re-sign a veteran and retain a rookie, even though in the short term immediate future the vet is a better position player than the new guy.

To go ahead and give up on him this early is not a good sign, though the lack of quality depth at the position certainly played a role in the brevity of the decision to move on and part ways. I wonder if the Patriots were better off at the position and Gronk and Hoomanawanui were both 100% healthy, if Jones (and Watson) would have been given a longer leash to prove himself.

shmessy said:

Keep it clean, this is a family friendly forum.

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Families: check
Forum: check
Friendly: ??

When Jermichael Finley first broke out coaches/teammates talked up his blocking skills for a move TE and compared him to blocking specialists. He has been cleared by his own and NFL docs. If he couldn't play they would advise him not to take football hits like Wilson. He is just 27 and from all his hard work from rehab/training he said he is faster and more athletic than ever. He offered to perform workouts like rookies at pro days to show teams he is faster and more athletic than ever.

He would reboot our 2 TE set and it should be more dynamic than before. Finley can block far better than Hernandez and better with contested passes. Not quite as shifty in the open field but he can dance around tacklers, but he is far better at breaking tackles due to being a more physical runner. He is great in the red zone at 6'5 250 and 35" arms and both physical and athletic. He is also a pretty good route runner and even better now. He says he is faster and more explosive/ more athletic than ever and feels like running/cutting/jumping is effortless due to long hours running/stretching/training. He could very likely have a career year especially if gronk gets injured and could even if gronk stays injury free. Could be first 1000 yard TE duo in the NFL!

Jermichael may be more necessary than luxury that fans/maybe even coaches realize. Ourr young tall fast athletic WRs are rather still unproven. Neither Dobson/Kenbrell have proven they will be a 1000 yard breakout WR, which leaves Gronk as the only intermediate/big play threat.Other than Gronk the passing game is only short dink/dunk passes closer to RB dropoff passes that only average 9-10 YPC. Would help having another taller guy who can snag tough 20 yard passes over the middle and at sidelines and average 15 YPC or close to it. And if Gronk got injured it leaves the team with NO proven tall/athletic bigger play WRs. Which will result an offense like last season. That will not win a championship or beat the broncos. Also if they want to run the ball more it would be tough to defend having 2 TEs that are very good blockers as well as great pass catchers. Having another great TE is more needed than luxury by The offense to have another bigger play passcatcher and help the OLine out with pass protection run blocking.

Drugs?

Deus Irae said:

Drugs?

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Whadda ya need?

Mack Herron said:

Whadda ya need?

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Perfect avatar for that line.

If Dobson or Kenbrell does breakout as a consistent 1000 yard pass catcher then having Gronk/Finley with Dobson or Kenbrell could be as good as 2007 offense. Either way Finley is a very good TE and makes the team far better to compete with Broncos and other elite teams, which is necessary if everybody wants to think championship instead of just playoffs.

BTW he said he would perform a rookie pro day workout to show all teams he is faster/more explosive and athletic than ever.

I'm sorry, I think it's in the best interests of this young man to stay away from football

Armchair Quarterback said:

There's a difference in starter quality backup, capable backup, replacement level backup and fringe NFL talent level talent backup. In terms of how reliant they are on Gronk, they don't even have a capable backup. Once again it's all or nothing with the TE position.

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I think the coaching staff considers Hooman a capable backup. I think they just brought in TEs with extensive NFL experience.

Other than teams that utilize 2 TEs as their base offense, how many teams do you see with better depth than that?

Of course if the best player in the league at his position gets hurt you are in trouble. Where do you expect to find a starting caliber player willing to sit on the bench behind him?

It's like asking for 4 starting quality corners, 6 starting quality LBs, or in our case 6 starting quality WRs because our base offense is now 3 wides.

AndyJohnson said:

I think the coaching staff considers Hooman a capable backup. I think they just brought in TEs with extensive NFL experience.

Other than teams that utilize 2 TEs as their base offense, how many teams do you see with better depth than that?

Of course if the best player in the league at his position gets hurt you are in trouble. Where do you expect to find a starting caliber player willing to sit on the bench behind him?

It's like asking for 4 starting quality corners, 6 starting quality LBs, or in our case 6 starting quality WRs because our base offense is now 3 wides.

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Hooman would be a capable backup for a capable backup, a good third TE. They brought in guys who were unemployed halfway through training camp, fringe NFL players, not capable backups.

I'd say Baltimore, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Dallas, Philly, Detroit, Carolina, Seattle, GB, TB, Houston and probably New Orleans, Chicago, NYJ and St Louis have better depth at the position.

In free agency this year, Owen Daniels (5 starts in 5 games in 2014, 96 of 100 career) signed to back up Dennis Pitta, Brandon Pettigrew (14 starts in 14 games, 68 of 71 career) signed to back up Eric Ebron and Ed ****son (14 starts in 16 games in 2014, 44 of 60 career) signed to back up Greg Olsen. Garret Graham (11 starts, 545 yards in 2014), John Carlson (52 career starts), Brandon Myers (30 starts the last two years) signed without necessarily being named a starter

It's not, it's like asking for someone to produce more than Hooman does if Gronk goes down again.

Brady6 said:

Tight End should have been addressed in the draft. I don't know why it wasn't especially considering there were far better UDFA options than Watson and Jones.

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because they drafted other guys