Ben Watson

[RobertWeathers]

Well, that was one heckuva dump.

From Fast Times At Ridgemont High- "Thats a helluva piss, Arnold"

 

[pheenix11]

I don't know what games you are watching talking about Watson having bad hands. I remember early on in his career he dropped some passes but I think he's been fine and made some nice catches the past couple years.

Someone said he doesn't have the hands of Moss? His hands are way overrated, I remember a lot more drops by Moss including the bomb at the end of SB 42 that bounced off his friggin hands.

 

[jbb9s]

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...

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.

so why the assumption that he was underused for 6 yrs? I was kind of thinking that he underperformed for 6 years and thats why they didn't throw to him more. At least in the playoff game, when he made his last drop, he deflected it out of bounds and did not bobble it for a d-back to poach it floating in the air. I can't pin the INT on him of course in anyway.

Daniel Graham wasn't a great receiver either but he was the best blocking tight end (or one of them) for the time he spent here. Considering how much Brady got hit this year, I think using a TE as a primary blocker is a good direction to build the offense around.

Its funny how we sit here now in 010 and after Graham, Watson, Mills, and Thomas, 1,1,3,4 round picks, no Ben Coates is walking thru the door. I think the lesson here is that TEs are tough to develop - better just use lower picks and FAs until you hit it right!.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

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)

Does anyone know where you can find stats for dropped passes? I'm not tryin to be a douche I'm just a numbers guy and I'm curious to see what Watson's stats are in that regard to see if they fit the perception that seems to be prevalent.

I looked on NFL.com but they don't list drops as a stat, at least that I can see. And Google results either seem to list league leaders or old stats.

 

[bucky]

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.

I have to disagree here. Watson had a chance in 2006 when the WR corps consisted of Reche Caldwell, Doug Gabriel, and the aging Troy Brown. That was supposed to be Watson's breakout year and I watched him very closely because he was on my fantasy team. Unfortunately, it just didn't happen for him. He's got all the tools and I really like him as a player, but I don't think he has the instincts or the feel for the passing game to be a great receiving TE like a Jason Witten or Dallas Calrk (forget about the Gates and Gonzo comparisons).

 

[upstater1]

With Welker and Edelman needing space cleared out in the middle, it takes a special kind of TE to come off a block at the line and release upfield past that open space, and all the while the clock is ticking on passrushers getting to Brady. In the old days, Ben Coates would settle down 8 yards downfield and Kevin Turner would release in the flat. We had no Welker back then.

Watson is actually perfect for this offense if only Brady could buy one second more.

 

[bucky]

Interesting theory. Of course, people have been citing to PFF here ever since the end of the season, so I thought I'd take a look there for the stats on Watson:

Thrown at: 44
Catches: 30
% Caught: 68.2
Drops: 4
Y/C: 13.6
Fum: 0
INT: 1

ProFootballFocus.com - By Player

That puts him at 30th in times thrown at, 23rd in % caught, 3rd in Y/C for tight ends, and 17th in dropped passes (the site had an error which actually listed him at 23rd).

He may not be the best tight end in the game, but those numbers and percentages, in the aggregate, are certainly not showing a terrible receiving tight end. I won't use their formula data, because it's pretty clear that at least some of their formulas are an absolute joke. For that, I'll refer to Football Outsiders (They have his catch rate at 71%, FYI):

DYAR Rank: 9
DVOA Rank: 1

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | TIGHT ENDS 2009

That's pretty solid ranking for a player as maligned as Watson is around here. His receiving game is actually pretty solid.

Nice. And Reiss also points out that Watson had the second highest offensive participation % behind Moss. I think Watson comes back on a long-term deal averaging about $3.5 mil/yr

 

[RobertWeathers]

With Welker and Edelman needing space cleared out in the middle, it takes a special kind of TE to come off a block at the line and release upfield past that open space, and all the while the clock is ticking on passrushers getting to Brady. In the old days, Ben Coates would settle down 8 yards downfield and Kevin Turner would release in the flat. We had no Welker back then.

Watson is actually perfect for this offense if only Brady could buy one second more.

Turner was a FB in the Tom Rathman role. His yards came from bail outs and passes in the flat.

 

[racicotm]

I would have rather kept David Thomas instead of Ben Watson he seemed like a harder worker and he would be cheaper. Ben has a ton of talent but the one thing i can't stand is that the guy could get tackled by a pebble im not sure he's ever broken a tackle sorry a guy with that size should be doing that almost every play too soft. Not to say Thomas was going to be the answer because he did screw us in the colts game during the cassel year but I would have rather kept him. Chris Baker just another example of the Pats going after guys that are past prime. I wonder what washed up TE we are going to sign this year Alge Crumpler?

 

[JSn]

Nice. And Reiss also points out that Watson had the second highest offensive participation % behind Moss. I think Watson comes back on a long-term deal averaging about $3.5 mil/yr

Wasn't his locker name-plate gone and his house up for sale already?

 

[PatsChamp88]

Patriots TE quick hit - Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Future: Watson is scheduled for free agency and the feeling here is that he will likely sign elsewhere. Baker is signed through 2013, although the structure of the deal makes it likely that the contract will end after the 2010 season.

Final thought: Watson played 66 percent of the offensive snaps, more than any non-quarterback skill-position player other than Randy Moss. Baker was also a constant, playing in 61 percent of the snaps. For the playing time they had, it was puzzling why they weren’t targeted more in the passing game. Look for changes in this area and a recommitment to integrating the tight end into the offense.

Reiss doesn't see him being resigned, tough call but I think there is a good chance he will land elsewhere best of luck Ben. Uh oh this means we might draft a TE

 

[Jimke]

Reiss doesn't see him being resigned, tough call but I think there is a good chance he will land elsewhere best of luck Ben. Uh oh this means we might draft a TE

If the Patriots do not offer their free agents contracts in line with

other teams, none of them will re-sign with the Patriots.

 

[JackBauer]

If the Patriots do not offer their free agents contracts in line with

other teams, none of them will re-sign with the Patriots.

In other news, the sun rose in the east today.

 

[mmasterkillah]

PLS KEEP BIG BEN! He is better than anything we could acquire!