Available Recievers?

[aluminum seats]

Okay, I am generally not a "sky is falling" kinda guy...but it's obvious the Pats aren't going anywhere with the current group of rookies on the outside.

Yeah, you're right. So obvious. If rookie receivers aren't getting it done in their first 5 days in the league, it's clear it's never going to click for them.

 

[andrewgarrr]

Re: Can we trade for a top receiver?

Yeah. Arizona is always taking calls for Fitzgerald. Detroit never really liked Calvin Johnson. AJ Green has locker room issues in Cincinnati. Dez Bryant doesn't like Bill Callahan. Demaryius Thomas hates that Welker is getting so many targets. Jimmy Graham wants to play with Gronk.

You're a ****ing moron.

 

[Brady6]

Re: Can we trade for a top receiver?

He doesn't know that because he isn't a fan. He is an obvious troll.

I don’t know him but I don’t think he is a troll, he asked a question, could we trade for a top wide receiver and if so who, I don’t really see the trolling in that it is a legitimate question.

For the record, I do agree with your assessment that we likely lack the draft assets and for that matter a trade partner to complete a trade for a top wide receiver.:thumb:

 

[mgteich]

IMHO, we should have a better backup option on the active roster than Boyce. Someone could be injured. We need the backup.

Would it be difficult to learn the system? Belichick has at least the following to pick from:
Underwood, Jenkins, Hawkins, Stallworth and Branch.

Personally, unless Underwood is injured, he would be a welcome #4 WR for Game Day.

Just what Brady needs...to spend extra hours taking away from all his existing receivers in a crash course attempting to break in a new wideout mid season. Yeah, that will really go well. What guarantees do we or BB have that these putative vets will be able to learn the system that many vets before have failed to learn even with a full training camp? The 2013 season die is cast.

 

[Boston Boxer]

Stallworth, Branch and Gafney are the only ones that make sense if we get deparate. They already know the system...bringing in someone else that does not know the system is useless.

Once we get out TE back, that will give the WR some breathing room. Right now, they are being smothered because the D know we have no TE.

for someone that is known for catching everything, i was dumbfounded at Dobson vs. the Jets.

 

[Ian]

IMHO, we should have a better backup option on the active roster than Boyce. Someone could be injured. We need the backup.

Would it be difficult to learn the system? Belichick has at least the following to pick from:
Underwood, Jenkins, Hawkins, Stallworth and Branch.

Personally, unless Underwood is injured, he would be a welcome #4 WR for Game Day.

They have a back-up if need be in Slater, who I don't like but I don't like Stallworth or Branch at this stage of their careers either. Slater can go out and not get open just as well as those two. While I understand your concern, had Edelman gone down they would have been in serious trouble either way and having Stallworth or Branch wouldn't have fixed that.

 

[mgteich]

I agree with regard to preferring Slater over Stallworth or Branch.

My preference would be Underwood (if healthy) or Hawkins or Jenkins.

They have a back-up if need be in Slater, who I don't like but I don't like Stallworth or Branch at this stage of their careers either. Slater can go out and not get open just as well as those two. While I understand your concern, had Edelman gone down they would have been in serious trouble either way and having Stallworth or Branch wouldn't have fixed that.

 

[Ian]

I agree with regard to preferring Slater over Stallworth or Branch.

My preference would be Underwood (if healthy) or Hawkins or Jenkins.

Boyce is definitely the X Factor. I think if he can't breakthrough by week 4-5 they may make a change. He went from 14 snaps in week 1 to 2 this week. Tough to know why, but this exchange yesterday was interesting:

Q: Josh Boyce didn’t get any opportunities last night. Was that part of the game plan or just the way it unfolded?

BB: I’d say that’s definitely the way it unfolded.

Q: You had a lot of opportunities where you got guys behind the defense and a big part of his game is his speed. Was there any thought to giving him a shot and send him deep?

BB: Look, we did all the things in the game, whatever they were, that we thought were best at that time or in that situation. We did what we thought was best.

Apparently that didn't include Boyce.

 

[mgteich]

Belichick was pretty clear, for Belichick.

I would note that you and I are discussing when/whether Boyce might be replaced by a veteran on the active roster. We both agree (and Reiss too) that Thompkins and Dobson should be given at least a couple of more weeks before any assessment. Obviously, the game plan will change a lot when Gronk and Amendola are both back.

For me, I would rather have a veteran on the 53 (hopefully inactive in most games).

Boyce is definitely the X Factor. I think if he can't breakthrough by week 4-5 they may make a change. He went from 14 snaps in week 1 to 2 this week. Tough to know why, but this exchange yesterday was interesting:


Apparently that didn't include Boyce.

 

[jb1095]

Your position makes no sense, given that the Patriots went to the AFCCG and the SB in the past two seasons using "a vet or two".

what Vet or two WR signings has helped our offense in the past few years? Chad Johnson?(capt stupid) Brandon Lloyd? (capt catch from the ground)?

Hernandez screwing up cost us a lot. Letting Welker skate to Denver and relying on Amendola(Captain Injury) cost us a lot.

The only way the two noob WRs get better is to get real playing time. When Gronk is back, everyone on offense looks better. IF Amendola comes back (without getting injured again), he opens up a lot more possibilty.

Dobson and Thompkins have to step it up and they will do it. Have some faith. BB works with these guys day in and day out and made the call to stick with them.

That being said, if they done, we aren't looking at a very good season...we will be lucky to even make the damn playoffs.

 

[Deus Irae]

what Vet or two WR signings has helped our offense in the past few years? Chad Johnson?(capt stupid) Brandon Lloyd? (capt catch from the ground)?

Seriously, why don't people read threads before posting responses to individual posts in them? Taking things out of context doesn't move the dialogue forward.

In this case, this is what I was responding to:

You want to put the fair weather fans at ease then you sign a vet or two.

You want to make it deep into the playoffs you stay with the plan IMO.

Those available vets will do crap against playoff opponents ... they feast on weak teams only.

Now, note the bold. Whether you like the level of play you got from those veterans or not, the fact is that adding veterans is the route that was taken, and those teams went to the AFCCG and SB. Icy's comment made no sense because it ran counter to the already known and established facts.

 

[DarrylS]

what Vet or two WR signings has helped our offense in the past few years? Chad Johnson?(capt stupid) Brandon Lloyd? (capt catch from the ground)?

Hernandez screwing up cost us a lot. Letting Welker skate to Denver and relying on Amendola(Captain Injury) cost us a lot.

The only way the two noob WRs get better is to get real playing time. When Gronk is back, everyone on offense looks better. IF Amendola comes back (without getting injured again), he opens up a lot more possibilty.

Dobson and Thompkins have to step it up and they will do it. Have some faith. BB works with these guys day in and day out and made the call to stick with them.

That being said, if they done, we aren't looking at a very good season...we will be lucky to even make the damn playoffs.

We did not let Welker "skate" to Denver, we actually offered him more.. however his agent pulled the trigger on the Denver offer.

He previously turned down a 3 year 24 million Pats offer in 2011... however they chose not to take that deal, and he was subsequently franchised.

No matter how many times a lie is repeated it is still a lie..

 

[Danger Zone]

Im curious about the possibility of the Steelers letting Sanders go.

They might feel they gave a high chance of losing him next year.

And who knows how they feel about how this season is going to go for them?

Disclaimer: My apologies if he us IR'd or signed a new contract etc.

 

[supafly]

Interesting to see people constantly bring up Welker (certainly not meaning to single anyone out). While I definitely think his presence would have helped, I also think that we'd be having the same discussion regarding the other receivers, or lack thereof to put it bluntly.

I'm not sure that Welker would have been able to do much more than Amendola (10 catches) and Edelman (13 catches) in the first 2 games. That doesn't mean that I don't miss him, or that I don't think he'd have helped more, just that Welker seems to be the go-to guy in many of these discussions and that is somewhat suprising to me.

The problem may have been letting Llyod walk, not offering Sanders more to guarantee PIT not being able to match, and/or just bringing in too many rookies in the same year. This of course was coupled with the TE situation which only made things worse, but I'm personally not as worried about the loss of Welker and the slot position at the current moment.

 

[supafly]

Im curious about the possibility of the Steelers letting Sanders go.

They might feel they gave a high chance of losing him next year.

And who knows how they feel about how this season is going to go for them?

Disclaimer: My apologies if he us IR'd or signed a new contract etc.

I have a difficult time imagining any outsider who isn't familiar with our system stepping in at this point in time and being very effective. It's possible that my opinion is wrong, but that's how I personally see it, and also why we tend to go back to guys who are familiar with our system--veteran wise.

I think it's also why Belichick attempted to bring in Sanders with enough time to get the playbook down, go through all of the OTA's and the entire summer of TC. If a move like this were to be made, it'd have likely been made. Again, this is my opinion, but based off of what we've seen I tend to think it's more correct than not.

If we'd be bringing in an outsider now he'd probably just be for a depth signing, and possible even inactive some of the time or most of the time. Of course an argument could be made that he'd be able to slowly pick things up and make some plays down the stretch in the vein of a Jabar Gaffney postseason run 2006.

 

[mgteich]

I agree with the marginal value of outsiders. I have a different view of the possible value of adding Underwood, Jenkins or Hawkins.

I have a difficult time imagining any outsider who isn't familiar with our system stepping in at this point in time and being very effective. It's possible that my opinion is wrong, but that's how I personally see it, and also why we tend to go back to guys who are familiar with our system--veteran wise.

I think it's also why Belichick attempted to bring in Sanders with enough time to get the playbook down, go through all of the OTA's and the entire summer of TC. If a move like this were to be made, it'd have likely been made. Again, this is my opinion, but based off of what we've seen I tend to think it's more correct than not.

If we'd be bringing in an outsider now he'd probably just be for a depth signing, and possible even inactive some of the time or most of the time. Of course an argument could be made that he'd be able to slowly pick things up and make some plays down the stretch in the vein of a Jabar Gaffney postseason run 2006.

 

[supafly]

I agree with the marginal value of outsiders. I have a different view of the possible value of adding Underwood, Jenkins or Hawkins.

I definitely understand what you're saying, but personally none of Underwood, Jenkins, or Hawkins lead me to believe that we'd be seeing much improvement, so we may have a different view of things in that regard.

Out of the 3, I'd probably feel most comfortable with Jenkins--I guess.

Aside from maybe Underwood, I'm not as sure about their knowledge of the system as you may be. Sure they were here for a short period of time, but the big question would be as to how much they absorbed in such a little bit of time. That is likely my reasoning for choosing Jenkins out of this bunch, but then we'd get into the "is he talented enough to still play?" etc...questions.

I may actually feel better with Branch over Jenkins.

 

[mgteich]

I definitely understand what you're saying, but personally none of Underwood, Jenkins, or Hawkins lead me to believe that we'd be seeing much improvement, so we may have a different view of things in that regard.

I think of these players as alternatives to Boyce as the emergency backup WR. I suspect that Boyce got two reps this past week for a reason. I see Boyce as a developmental player that we hope can produce in 2014.

We all want to give Dobson every chance, throughout the year. BTW, his number of drops last year was ZERO. Dobson gets open! Thompkins is on a bit shorter leash, with less upside. Even with Amendola back, that gives us four receivers. We need an emergency backup. My choice is a veteran, inactive most weeks. Almost everyone else is fine with Boyce.

 

[Sciz]

BTW, his number of drops last year was ZERO.

False. That was a media fabrication.

 

[Brewskies]

The offense will get better. The rookies aren't going to improve if you bury them on the depth chart. They have to play with Brady in games to get on the same page. They clearly have talent and need to continue working to iron things out. And the offense will get a shot in the arm when Gronk and Amendola return. Hopefully they'll be able to remain on the field when they do come back.

And the DEN game is more than two months away. They have time to gel until then. If you're going to dread something, maybe start with traveling to ATL in week four.

Simple put that's not going to happen. These are kids with little experience will improve but not enough. When they start to catching a few balls (TB game) Atlanta will come in and destroy them, followed by Cinn. and then the closing kill will be NO. Pats took a risk and failed to date. They will win the division. Playoffs are another story.