All the people that think this is the end of the Patriots need to lighten up a little bit. Branch was a good player that had some very good/great playoff games but he was not worth the money he was paid. We are talking about a player that NEVER had a 1,000 yard season or scored more than 5 TDs in a single season. He was good but hardly irreplaceable. To put his contributions into perspective, here are the numbers for Branch, Givens and Patten during their 4 year tenures with the team.
Year G Rec Yards Y/R TD
Branch 02-05 53 213 2,744 12.9 14
Givens 02-05 52 158 2,214 14.0 12
Patten 01-04 54 165 2,513 15.2 16
I don’t remember anyone flipping out when Patten left and his numbers stack up nicely to Branch and Givens.
The one problem with this situation is that it leaves the Pats thin at WR this year but they have been thin there before.
Below is a list of WR, TE and RBs on the Pats. Next to them are their Stats for last year (Graham’s is from 2003). For Childress I gave him Tim Dwight’s stats, Jackson got Bethel Johnson rookie stats, Thomas got Graham’s rookie #s and Maroney was a conservative estimate. I gave Watson conservative numbers.
RE Yrd Avg TDs
Troy Brown 39 466 11.9 2 (Brown’s 2005 #s)
Reche Caldwell 28 352 12.6 1 (Caldwell’s 2005 #s)
Doug Gabriel 37 554 15.0 3 (Gabriel’s 2005 #’s)
Chad Jackson 16 209 13.1 2 (Bethel’s rookie #s)
Bam Childress 19 332 17.5 3 (Tim Dwight’s 2005 #s)
Dan Graham 38 409 10.8 4 (Graham’s 2003 #s)
Ben Watson 48 525 10.9 7 (Just an estimate)
Dave Thomas 15 150 10.0 1 (Graham’s rookie #s)
Kevin Faulk 29 260 9.0 0 (Faulk’s 2005 #s)
Corey Dillon 22 181 8.2 1 (Dillon’s 2005 #s)
L. Maroney 16 128 8.0 0 (estimate)
None of these expectations are out of line. The end result would be 307 receptions for 3,566 yards and 24 TDs. Compare these numbers to Brady’s average season in 5 years of starting:
Average- 315.2 comp 3,605.8 yards 24.6 TDs
Projections- 307 comp 3,566 yards 24 TDs
Would I have wanted Branch to stay? Yes. Would I have paid him what Seattle paid him? No way. Good for him. He got the money he wanted and went to a team that should win 10-13 games and make the play-offs but this is hardly the end of the world.
Year G Rec Yards Y/R TD
Branch 02-05 53 213 2,744 12.9 14
Givens 02-05 52 158 2,214 14.0 12
Patten 01-04 54 165 2,513 15.2 16
I don’t remember anyone flipping out when Patten left and his numbers stack up nicely to Branch and Givens.
The one problem with this situation is that it leaves the Pats thin at WR this year but they have been thin there before.
Below is a list of WR, TE and RBs on the Pats. Next to them are their Stats for last year (Graham’s is from 2003). For Childress I gave him Tim Dwight’s stats, Jackson got Bethel Johnson rookie stats, Thomas got Graham’s rookie #s and Maroney was a conservative estimate. I gave Watson conservative numbers.
RE Yrd Avg TDs
Troy Brown 39 466 11.9 2 (Brown’s 2005 #s)
Reche Caldwell 28 352 12.6 1 (Caldwell’s 2005 #s)
Doug Gabriel 37 554 15.0 3 (Gabriel’s 2005 #’s)
Chad Jackson 16 209 13.1 2 (Bethel’s rookie #s)
Bam Childress 19 332 17.5 3 (Tim Dwight’s 2005 #s)
Dan Graham 38 409 10.8 4 (Graham’s 2003 #s)
Ben Watson 48 525 10.9 7 (Just an estimate)
Dave Thomas 15 150 10.0 1 (Graham’s rookie #s)
Kevin Faulk 29 260 9.0 0 (Faulk’s 2005 #s)
Corey Dillon 22 181 8.2 1 (Dillon’s 2005 #s)
L. Maroney 16 128 8.0 0 (estimate)
None of these expectations are out of line. The end result would be 307 receptions for 3,566 yards and 24 TDs. Compare these numbers to Brady’s average season in 5 years of starting:
Average- 315.2 comp 3,605.8 yards 24.6 TDs
Projections- 307 comp 3,566 yards 24 TDs
Would I have wanted Branch to stay? Yes. Would I have paid him what Seattle paid him? No way. Good for him. He got the money he wanted and went to a team that should win 10-13 games and make the play-offs but this is hardly the end of the world.