No - I didn't talk to BB - did you?
Nope. And you are so adament is trying to defend your slippery slope of a point you missed where I said I think.
So yes, what I saw in the first 7 games or so definately looked like poor route running. I saw quite a few times with Reche turning one way to catch a ball that was thrown to the opposite side.... balls that appeared underthrown, balls that appeared overthrown.
Were all of these Brady's fault? Doubtful. Seeing what I saw, if I had to guess whether Brady was throwing the ball to the wrong place or whether Caldwell was in the wrong place - I'm thinking it was often Caldwell's route running.
Some were Caldwell, but many were Brady. Many commeneted long and hard about how Brady was having problems. Only those with their eyes closed defended Brady as if he was a saint who could do no wrong.
I love Troy Brown but he's a third down back no matter how you cut it. A #1 WR is a guy who is most often going "wide" - Troy's per catch average is usually 8 or 9 yards. I look for 14 or 15 yards from my wide receivers.
Over Troy's career, he's averaged 11.5 yard per catch. Many damn good players haven't averaged 14-15 yards per catch over their career. 14-15 yards per catch puts you in the ELITE category when you do it on a regular basis. Heck, Marvin Harrison only averages 13.5 YPC.
The last Patriots WR to average more than 14 YPC for more than a season was David Patten. And the Patriots cut him even though he averaged over 18 YPC in his last season with the team.
Oh, Bethel averaged more than 18 YPC, do you want him back as well?
Semantics I guess - RBs often catch 4 or 5 passes a game too so I guess some might look at them as #1 WRs - but I don't.
A RB catching 4-5 passes a game on a consistent basis is not the norm. Otherwise, they'd be leading the team in receptions.
Troy, in any event has 30 passes to date and is on track for about 44. I'm pretty happy with that production from my third down WR - I'm pretty disapointed in that if Troy is our #1 WR.
So if Troy's not our #1 WR and Caldwell isn't and Gabriel isn't and Jackson isn't and Gaffney isn't, exactly who is our defacto #1 WR in your opinion?
JSP, you seem to have glossed over my said that Troy started the season as the Pats #1 receiver. I did not, in any way, shape, or form say that he still was. Personally, I think this whole numbering of receivers is silly. As I mentioned earlier and you glossed over, like many of the actual points of my argument, Belichick doesn't seem to believe that the Patriots have a true #1 receiver. As he said, Brady doesn't throw to any one particular receiver. He throws to the guy who is open.
Who said Givens was a #1 WR? I just said he did a better job than Caldwell did when he was forced to assume a #1 WR role - comparable in catches to Caldwell, but much better in yards per catch that year.
Since you brought it up, and seem to know that Givens had 3 games where he topped 100 yards, care to wager a guess how many 100 yard games Caldwell has?
Yeah - that's right. None.
So, Caldwell doesn't have a 100 yard game. That doesn't mean he's been worse than Givens. One of the things you've over-looked is that this is NOT the same offense that was being run in 2004. In 2004, the TE was not a primary weapon in the Pats offense after Ashworth went down to injury. The Pats rarely used the 2 TE set except on the goal line situations and even then they usually had Vrabel out there with Graham because they needed Graham to help Gorin block.
One of the things that I look at is that in 2004, Givens only caugh 52.8% of the passes thrown to him. Granted, he only had 1 drop in 2004. But, when I look at Caldwell, I see he's catching 60.3% of the balls thrown to him.
In the current Pats offense, no one receiver is getting that many snaps or that many passes thrown to him. In fact, there is a good chance that the Patriots will have 4 receivers with more than 50 receptions. The last time the Patriots had more than 2 receivers with 50+ receptions back in 2000 when Drewpy was quarterback.
That lends itself more to the idea that they feel confident going to a variety of receivers and keeping the opposing defense guessing than going to any particular individual. Maybe they decided that based on the personnel. But it sure as heck makes it a LOT harder to defend against.
Do you know how many games Caldwell "couldn't eclipse 66 yards?" Eight out of 11 games.
So this makes him better than Givens in 2004 exactly how?
Hmm.. Lets see. Givens, for all his production, only managed 3 TDs in 2004. On 56 passes. On 3 100 yard games. Last I looked, Caldwell has 3 TDs on 38 passes. He should end up with 4 or 5 TDs by the end of the season. Which will be more than Givens has put up since his rookie season.
That of course wasn't the question.
Whether Branch was here, or not here this season - if Givens and Caldwell both had identical contracts would you choose Givens or Caldwell.
As of today I'd still take Givens over Caldwell everytime for the same money/same contract.
Good for you. Unfortunately for you, that's not reality. That is fantasy. Givens wasn't signed for cheap money the way Caldwell was. Givens is a 4.8 million a year WR who, honestly, was made by the QB throwing to him. Just like Patten was.
I think most every GM in the NFL would take Givens over Caldwell all things being equal, and I think even today - recognizing that Caldwell is playing better than most of us ever hoped - most fans would still take Givens over Caldwell (assuming Givens is healthy).
If the choice was 4.8 million for the production that Givens put up last year vs. 1 million for what Caldwell is putting up this year, I think you'd have a 50-50 split.
Caldwell is honestly playing like I figured he would. He gets open. He makes catches. Nothing spectacular, but solid. I said from the day we signed him that he was a good signing to replace Givens. I still feel that way now.
