How About A Wide Receiver at 22

[bbell31]

WR was a hole last year, it hasn't been filled, so it's still a hole this year.

If this is Randy Moss's last year with the Patriots, we need to have someone ready to step into the breach in 2011. Last year he had 83 receptions for 1264 yards with 13 TDs. If we don't have him in the team, it's a huge void which we would find very very hard to fill.

Veteran free agents? It's a crapshoot, you've got to be very lucky. We don't run a simple route tree, I get the impression it's all option routes based entirely on how the defense is reacting as the play unfolds. Which is why Joey Galloway busted here - all he understood was running pre-set deep routes and not adjusting on his way down the field. That was a 1 year "prove it" deal, and it lasted 3 games into a 16 game season.

Randy Moss in a contract year? What if his back goes on him again, like it did last year?

You then said that if we draft a #1 WR, we are giving up on Tate. That's not true at all. We run a 3 receiver offense - think of the Cardinals (Fitzgerald/Boldin/Breaston) as an good comparator. The Colts almost run a 4 receiver offense because Dallas Clark releases down the field more often than he stays into block - Wayne/Collie/Clark/Garcon.

Who did we have last season? Randy Moss at flanker running deep routes, Wes Welker in the slot running short routes and at split end....who? No-one.

Yes, it could be Tate. I would love it to be Tate. He fits the bill for a No. 2 receiver. I love the pick and I love his potential. But he's never taken a NFL snap and we need to have a contingency plan. The Saints proved that if you find a way to double Moss AND Welker, you can make our offense look totally impotent.



This doesn't even make sense.

thats brady fault, sum1's open and all of our wr's have at least decent hands. if welker and moss are covered then hit your third option but u have to have time for that and thats where ic more value in pass pro...aka find a replacement for light and kaczur

 

[Nonentity]

thats brady fault, sum1's open and all of our wr's have at least decent hands. if welker and moss are covered then hit your third option but u have to have time for that and thats where ic more value in pass pro...aka find a replacement for light and kaczur

Are you on crack or something?


Joey Galloway had stone hands and couldn't run his routes. What more do you expect Brady to do, walk up to him and hand him the ball?

Brady can go through his reads as quickly as any QB in the league, but if they're not open, they're not open. He's not an idiot like Favre and Cutler who simply throw it into double coverage anyway.

 

[mgteich]

Of course Gresham could be our pick at 22. However, I expect him to be gone a coupld of picks earlier; and I expect us to trade for a veteran tight end, removing the need for a 1st or second rounder.

BB likes TE's @ 1.




JERMAINE GRESHAM...... could he be our 1?

 

[Marqui]

Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with an average D and superstar wideouts - zero.
Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with a top class D and average wideouts - three.

Spend the #22 pick on D please.

I think there's much better value further down for wide receivers.

This is pretty much the bottom line.

 

[ayjackson]

This is pretty much the bottom line.

There is a lot a value later on at WR. I think I'd take Bryant though, if he slid to 22. Apparently, the Cowboys are the only team that have scheduled a visit with him.

 

[upstater1]

Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with an average D and superstar wideouts - zero.
Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with a top class D and average wideouts - three.

Spend the #22 pick on D please.

I think there's much better value further down for wide receivers.

I agree that D is the priority but for me, the points you're making about the Super Bowl are not that easy. I think the Philly and Rams Super Bowl were a credit to the D, but the Panthers Super Bowl was certainly more of a credit to the passing game.

Our D gave up 29 points in 32 minutes. Our running game couldn't break 80 yards. Our passing game, meanwhile, broke Super Bowl records and was by far the largest factor in that Super Bowl victory.

The question is, how are we at WR depth. With Welker hurt badly and Moss getting on in years (and in the last year of his contract) we are hurting. So, I'd argue that even a Deion Branch type player could make a big difference for this offense.

I agree that the draft is deep at WR and that a WR at 22 would be reaching (unless Dez Bryant is there). And in fact, I could wait until the 3rd round to take WRs IF we had a 3rd round pick.

 

[upstater1]

There is a lot a value later on at WR. I think I'd take Bryant though, if he slid to 22. Apparently, the Cowboys are the only team that have scheduled a visit with him.

Although I don't expect the kid to be the next Randy Moss, we certainly do have a Randy Moss situation brewing with this kid. Teams are staying away from him.

Luidcrous.

 

[crowell33]

Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with an average D and superstar wideouts - zero.
Number of Superbowls won by the Pats with a top class D and average wideouts - three.

Spend the #22 pick on D please.

I think there's much better value further down for wide receivers.

Yeah. My biggest concern is that of all the positions in the draft, WR has by far, the highest bust rate. Its just an extremely risky position to take with a first round pick.

 

[Nonentity]

It's risky, but you still get the best success rate in Round 1.


The WR I'm now leaning towards is Arrelious Benn. Everyone compares him to Anquan Boldin, and they do share both the same initials and the ability to make YAC.

But Boldin ran a 4.71 40 time. Benn ran a 4.41 40. It's a big difference. I accept that perhaps he's one of those players who runs better in shorts than pads, so that 4.41 figure doesn't fully translate to the field. But at least it tells us that if we send him deep, the corners won't be simply jogging and keeping up with him.

I looked at his measurables from his pro day. He had the same 40 time as Golden Tate (4.41 vs 4.42), the same 3 cone drill time as Damian Williams (both recorded 6.79, which is very good) and the same short shuttle as Tate (4.32 vs 4.34, compared to Williams' 4.24). His vertical jump was 37.5", which is very respectable (Gilyard 39", Williams 38", Tate 35").


So - what's not to like? There's some possible concentration issues. He didn't score a huge number of touchdowns in college, but he played on a bad team that didn't score many touchdowns anyway. He's a good route runner, which he demonstrated at his pro day after a weak combine. He's already met the Patriots receiver coach, so we're definitely interested.

Having ignored him for quite a while, I think he's right up in contention to be taken at 22.