Offensive expectations

[Brady_to_Moss]

I'm noticing nobody has any love for Edelman.
He was verging on a break out year last season before he got injured.
Thinking he's going to be a big addition to our offense, and he's one of the reasons I'm not so concerned about Welker going bye bye.

edelman can't stay healthy...why no one has love for him. He is a good compliment to the O..but will be hurt for a few weeks at some point this year

 

[Bruins29]

edelman can't stay healthy...why no one has love for him. He is a good compliment to the O..but will be hurt for a few weeks at some point this year

Such a great attitude.

 

[supafly]

How did Brady make receivers? Seriously? Watson, Brown and Faulk do not have great non-Brady years for comparison. But Reche Caldwell does:
Reche Caldwell stats
Can you find the one year he was with Brady without looking at the years? Hint: it is the year with over twice as many yards and more TDs.
Your defense point is valid.
Also Brady is six (seven?) years older.
Yes they were 14 ppg less, but what was the league average then? (I'm asking. I would not know where to look.)

I think you could check profootballreference.com and look at the highest scoring team in 2006 for comparison, but averaging 2 TD's less is still going to be a very big difference. The main point is that it was a totally different team both offensively and defensively.

When the offense only scored 24 pts per game in 2006 and yet won 12 games, it says a lot about the great defensive performance when they were the #2 scoring defense at less than 15 pts per game.

I don't personally put as much credibility in Caldwell's 61 catches as you seem to, although I respect the fact that Brady certainly made him better at the same time. He was still our WR1 option, so my thinking is that you could probably put just about anyone in any team's WR1 position and they'd catch around 60 balls (at the very least).

We're certainly going to need much more than our WR1 catching 61 balls, and our WR2 catching 43 balls, along with the TE1 catching 49 balls if we're going to be anything close to what we've been offensively.

Of course it could be much closer to the 2006 season if the defense comes alive and plays anything remotely close to the '06 defense; then the offense may be able to get by on scoring a lot less and still be competitive. I don't think any of us care "how" they win, as long as they win. I'm just pointing out the fact that the receiver concern/questions for this year are certainly warranted if we're expecting them to be anything near as effective offensively.

 

[supafly]

edelman can't stay healthy...why no one has love for him. He is a good compliment to the O..but will be hurt for a few weeks at some point this year

I see the concern with Edelman not only with his injury problems (never has played a full season going into his 5th yr), but also with concerns as to "where" to utilize him to the best of his abilities.

In the past, many of us figured that it'd be at the slot receiver position and that he'd potentially take over for Welker if the day came, however the front office/Belichick felt differently with going out and grabbing Amendola instead.

That leaves Edelman to the outside position, where he certainly hasn't been too effective. If they can get the ball in his hands on bubble screens and even some gadget plays, we all know that he has good potential. His special teams play is obviously his best trait, and that's likely what's keeping him around, but I don't think he's developed at the receiver position nearly as much as they'd have hoped to this point.

I hope that he makes it and shows some progression this year.

 

[mgteich]

The place for a wide receiver who is only effective running bubble screens and gadget plays is on the bench. As you indicated, Welker's replacement in the slot is Amendola.

Of course, the competition at WR is soooo weak that Edelman could end up as one of our outside receivers, even as our #2 receiver.

I see the concern with Edelman not only with his injury problems (never has played a full season going into his 5th yr), but also with concerns as to "where" to utilize him to the best of his abilities.

In the past, many of us figured that it'd be at the slot receiver position and that he'd potentially take over for Welker if the day came, however the front office/Belichick felt differently with going out and grabbing Amendola instead.

That leaves Edelman to the outside position, where he certainly hasn't been too effective. If they can get the ball in his hands on bubble screens and even some gadget plays, we all know that he has good potential. His special teams play is obviously his best trait, and that's likely what's keeping him around, but I don't think he's developed at the receiver position nearly as much as they'd have hoped to this point.

I hope that he makes it and shows some progression this year.

 

[IllegalContact]

the defense will improve by more than the offense will lose....

next year will be a net gain.....the pats had 38 starts by rookies on their defense last year and it still improved over the previous year......the unit stands to be much more athletic with the addition of armstead, Collins, and Wilson without losing continuity from the previous year (for the first time in a long time)

 

[Bruins29]

It might be time to start thinking about bringing back Lloyd. Flopper or not he will command attention from a legit CB and he knows the system. Plus he is cheap.

 

[SwedishPat]

I think our offense will still be a good one, but I can't see it being as good as last year. To much change and new guys for that. I wouldn't be opposed to bringing in Vont'a Leach now. Before the Hernandez release I was, because then either he or a receiver would have to leave. But now I think we could go a couple of 2 wr, 1 te, 2 rb snaps. We could run that formation without really loosing a game changer(by the looks of it now).

 

[mgteich]

I am more concerned with this year's team than I am with next.

the defense will improve by more than the offense will lose....

next year will be a net gain.....

 

[mgteich]

I think that we need to remember that we've lost our whole receiving corps with the exceptions of the injured Gronkowski and Edelman.

the defense will improve by more than the offense will lose....

 

[tonyto3690]

The place for a wide receiver who is only effective running bubble screens and gadget plays is on the bench. As you indicated, Welker's replacement in the slot is Amendola.

Of course, the competition at WR is soooo weak that Edelman could end up as one of our outside receivers, even as our #2 receiver.

Too bad the WR you're describing isn't Edelman. He was by far our most explosive WR last year and was the only guy who could get separation downfield without a specifically designed gadget play ala Lloyd.

Edelman was easily our best outside WR last year.