Ben Watson
 

I love the guy. Good blocker and pass catcher, freakish athleticism. I think he had a very solid 2009 and answered all of the haters. Certainly the haters will disagree, but they have to admit that the Watson complaints were far fewer this year.

It's not fair to punish a guy for being a great athlete and a first round pick. If this guy was a second round pick and ran a 4.7 the complaints would be a lot less. This guy is a good Patriot and I really hope we see him back this year.

(I also like Maroney:D)

Re: Ben Watson
 

Am a big fan of Watson, he is not a glamorous TE, but gets the job done..

The only issue with him is how poorly we have underused him and his talents...

Re: Ben Watson
 

I wonder if Ben Watson wants to stay here after being underused for the past 6 years. Or go somewhere else where he can be more part of the offense.

Re: Ben Watson
 

Your "great" receiving TEs seem to magically pop up on teams with poor receiving corps... the Chargers and Chiefs, for example, for all those years when Gates/Gonzales were the gold standard. The other great situation is when the QB is young or just not very good, and needs that guaranteed TE pattern to go back to to stay in rhythm. For all our problems we don't have either of those problems, so we never evolved a TE-dependent passing game.

That said, every guy we have isn't automatically the best at a position, "except" blah blah blah. He's good, and plays his role in the offense well. I don't see why the hell we'd want to fix the TE position, it's not broken. (Now and then the drops drive me nuts though, of course.)

Re: Ben Watson
 

See previous comment. Bet he's jealous of Gonzo right?

Re: Ben Watson
 

I would love to see Watson back and used correctly, I think hes a great player.

Re: Ben Watson
 

Watson will likely leave for a team that will use him better as a receiver. He will be tough to replace, and I think the position will likely be weaker next year.

Re: Ben Watson
 

I don't think he'll be back next year.

Re: Ben Watson
 

I'll never forget that play he made in the Playoff game at Denver. Champ Bailey had no idea what hit him. Should have been a fumble through the endzone (and a touchback).

I hope he comes back, still don't know why we didn't use the TE in the passing game more this year especially as we had no reliable 3rd WR option.

Re: Ben Watson
 

Good thread, PJ...I agree with you 100%
The only reason complaints are down is because the only year it seems he played less or 'showed up on tv' less was the IR year.
He has some of the greatest plays (screen for TD vs. JAX in playoffs, the Denver Mile-High Run, and Buffalo catches, etc) in recent memory.
I think if he goes to another team (SD, KC, Denver, or even the NYJ), he may break out and we will repent.