Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

Forgive me If this has been disscussed already but this is an open end question/disscussion I am just giving my views...please add on or flame me...whatever works.

I've been looking over tapes of the some of the games we've had this season..and there are plenty of reason why the pats arent playing good (offensively anyway) football.. but one of the main reasons obviously is lack of productive recivers ( I dont want to say lack of skill because honestly Caldwell, Gabriel, Brown, Gaffney--do have the physical skill and tools to be average to good recievers in the league) but I've noticed a bulk of the "dumb" brady interceptions were thrown to gabriel..I believe alot of these "dumb" picks are due to Gabriel not running the correct route and being totally not on the same page as brady...If you notice also alot of Gabriels Receptions are Ones where he had to make moves and break to the ball...something a defensive back has to do to make a play..receivers with qb's as good as Tom for the most part have passes float into their hands, and dont have to make wild adjustments to get to the ball.

With that being said, I think Gabriel just doesnt get the playbook (Bethel Johnson, Donald Hayes,). He seems to be 5-10 yds away from where the ball is thrown to..so What do we do this offseason..get rid of him or pound the playbook into his head..because honestly he does have some upside, and the physical tools to be a deep threat or redzone threat...

I still think Jackson will solve alot of the recieving problems next season and there after...but its time to start looking at what we got now and what we do with them in the season coming.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

We need some recievers... a Drew Bennet ,and Jeff smargina from ND would be nice additions.. But I dont want to think about next yr for about a month.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

Samardzija is definitely not the answer. I do NOT want Samardzija.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

Some players, while having physical skills, just seem to be unable to run routes correctly (hello Tony Simmons!) - they just never seem to be where they need to be when the QB throws the ball.

Caldwell was having problems with that earlier this season - I was concerned he was one of those who would just never learn to run routes but while he's not one's preferred #1 WR he's shown that he can learn the routes and be productive.

Maybe Gabriel has just simply not yet been able to handle the route running. That would be something evident in practice and would be a good reason not to be playing him.

He's not benched because of that one drop, that's for sure.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

JoeSix, Exactly...Exactly..

Its something i've noticed on these tapes..His routes are etheir off or Brady likes playing catch with defenders. It seems like every catch gabriel made (minus one or 2) hes had to fight for, or repoistion himself, or dash toward the ball to get it... while most of other completions to different recivers seem to ,for the most part glide into their hands.

Reche Had the problem but adjusted...now hes a good to dare i say great possesion receiver. (He gets his job done, to say the least).

That one fumble or drop didnt put Gabriel on the end of the bench... Inability to get routes down, or maybe not wanting to get the routes down is what i believe did. He has the raw talent to be good..but we know in this system we dont play that chuck it up and chase after it type of offense...or esle Bethel would have been great here.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

In the Fish game, he was running a sideline fly with the defender staying with him step for step, Tommy threw the ball behind him at his inside shoulder, but he either wasn't expecting that or wasn't expecting the throw at all since he was unable to make the adjustment to get turned around and make the catch.

Either:
A. He has never had a QB this good who would put the ball in the most advantageous and safe place.

B. He isn't a top flight WR who can make adjustments.

C. He was running out of control (Hello Bethel).

D. He sleepwalks through practice and games.

He missed a pass Branch and Givens and Brown and Patten would have had in their sleep. That is the team we would like to see re-emulated with the current corps, they ain't there by any means.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

If we want to talk about looking ahead to WRs for 07, I wouldn't mind Anthony Gonzalez from OSU. Not sure where he projects in draft or what year he is (think he is SR?) but he seems like the kind of guy who just gets open & makes plays.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

I think he is a Sophomore, but your right, he is better than the two most ballyhooed OSU WRs when it comes to route running and hands.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

The Pats need to decide on a second receiver to get most of the reps with Caldwell and the others mostly sit.

They have a choice of three, which is better than they are usually looking at this time of year, (Stokes, Ward).

It's easy to forget that Branch and Givens rarely were completely healthy at the same time until last year.

I think they need to simplify the offense and improve execution.

They looked like the Temptations on some plays against Miami, shifting backs and tight ends while Zach Thomas correctly diagnosed which play they were running from which formation.

Less formations with more options and more play action IMO.

If you want to spend our first 4 picks next year on WRs, that's fine, but there's no one out there this year better than what we have on the roster.

Re: Why We dont play Gabriel...
 

Well Gabriel was averaging 50 yards a game and 13.7 a catch before The Fumble. Was it only the fumble ? Probably not. But he was playing before the fumble and not after it. I know I don't have the coaches' tape and wouldn't know how good Gabriel's route was even if I did . . . but the guy was producing at the rate of an 800 yard per season WR for 6 games and I'm pissed that they've dumped him like this.