Pats WR situation similar to Steelers

[patsinthesnow]

The Steelers Superbowl WR core seems similar to the Patriots situation.

You got the #1 go to guy in Hines ward/Wes Welker

You got the familar WR returning as depth in Randel El/Branch. (Except Branch became the #2 where he shouldnt belong)

You got the 2nd year "deep threat" WR in Tate/Wallace. Difference being Wallace is not a question mark.

Then you have the two young WRs with potential in Edelman/Price and Sanders/Brown.

If one of Sanders or Brown becomes good the Steelers will have one of the best (and deepest) WR cores in the league. So this made me think, is there even room for a pricy FA on the team? One of the pats young WRs would probably have to be cut.

Does anyone think the Pats should just let what they have battle it out for WR spot opposite of Welker like the Steelers did? All they need is one of Tate/Price/Edelman to establish themselves and you got a good trio of WRs with Branch being a good #3.

If third year Tate and Edelman, along with 2nd year Price cant become a solid #2 WR, then the pats should stop drafting wideouts.

 

[andrewgarrr]

The Steelers Superbowl WR core seems similar to the Patriots situation.

You got the #1 go to guy in Hines ward/Wes Welker

You got the familar WR returning as depth in Randel El/Branch. (Except Branch became the #2 where he shouldnt belong)

You got the 2nd year "deep threat" WR in Tate/Wallace. Difference being Wallace is not a question mark.

Then you have the two young WRs with potential in Edelman/Price and Sanders/Brown.

If one of Sanders or Brown becomes good the Steelers will have one of the best (and deepest) WR cores in the league. So this made me think, is there even room for a pricy FA on the team? One of the pats young WRs would probably have to be cut.

Does anyone think the Pats should just let what they have battle it out for WR spot opposite of Welker like the Steelers did? All they need is one of Tate/Price/Edelman to establish themselves and you got a good trio of WRs with Branch being a good #3.

If third year Tate and Edelman, along with 2nd year Price cant become a solid #2 WR, then the pats should stop drafting wideouts.

Wayne, Gonzalez, Collie, Garcon, White

Colston, Moore, Henderson, Meachem

Austin, Williams, Bryant

 

[sbpatfan]

I think one important thing to remember is Gronkandez makes up for the lack of height / physcialness we have in the receiving core. It would just be nice to see a young guy replace Branch.

 

[USCPatriot]

The Steelers Superbowl WR core seems similar to the Patriots situation.

You got the #1 go to guy in Hines ward/Wes Welker

You got the familar WR returning as depth in Randel El/Branch. (Except Branch became the #2 where he shouldnt belong)

You got the 2nd year "deep threat" WR in Tate/Wallace. Difference being Wallace is not a question mark.

Then you have the two young WRs with potential in Edelman/Price and Sanders/Brown.

If one of Sanders or Brown becomes good the Steelers will have one of the best (and deepest) WR cores in the league. So this made me think, is there even room for a pricy FA on the team? One of the pats young WRs would probably have to be cut.

Does anyone think the Pats should just let what they have battle it out for WR spot opposite of Welker like the Steelers did? All they need is one of Tate/Price/Edelman to establish themselves and you got a good trio of WRs with Branch being a good #3.

If third year Tate and Edelman, along with 2nd year Price cant become a solid #2 WR, then the pats should stop drafting wideouts.

Very good point, but Hines Ward is much bigger than Wes Welker, which means he is a more viable #1 receiver slot material. Welker can't really out jump tall DB's, he can't really run streaks on the outside, he's not that kind of guy. Even Branch, great at route running, going deep is a whole other story. It was a different league the first time Branch was here in NE, corners and safeties get better every year.

IMO, Welker is the best SLOT receiver by far. No linebacker can dream of covering him and even as a # 2, corners have trouble sticking to him. Problem is, with NO deep thread, Welker needs to take that extra second getting open BECAUSE he is a # 2 instead of a fast release over the middle and getting open immediately.

Mike Wallace keeps safeties deep, he opens up the entire field. The took a couple of deep shots to Mike Wallace in the Superbowl, and if Big Ben hit those throws, they were both big gains if not TD's. The Patriots don't have a deep thread, Price is the fastest on the team, yet he played maybe 2 games this season. Wallace was a rookie much like Price, yet he saw favorable more playing time.

If the Patriots knew they had a deep threat, they would have gone deep more than once every 4 games. Good POV though.

 

[The_Riddler]

I don't want Brandon Tate anywhere near the starting 11 this season. He had his chance. Too small, not physical, questionable hands and can only separate on broken plays. We need a serious upgrade opposite Deion on the other side of the field. I hope they address this via the draft with that big kid from Pitt, Jonathan Baldwin, 6'5", he would be the perfect compliment for this offense of smurf WRs and give Tommy a big target to look to at outside of the hashes.

I also don't want to see Tate returning kicks, enough of the 18-yard line and blown up in a cloud of dust after pitter-pattering his way close to the 20. I would replace Tate with Edelman on KRs and as mentioned upgrade Tate's WR spot via Round 2 of the draft.

 

[JackBauer]

I don't want Brandon Tate anywhere near the starting 11 this season. He had his chance. Too small, not physical, questionable hands and can only separate on broken plays. We need a serious upgrade opposite Deion on the other side of the field. I hope they address this via the draft with that big kid from Pitt, Jonathan Baldwin, 6'5", he would be the perfect compliment for this offense of smurf WRs and give Tommy a big target to look to at outside of the hashes.

I also don't want to see Tate returning kicks, enough of the 18-yard line and blown up in a cloud of dust after pitter-pattering his way close to the 20. I would replace Tate with Edelman on KRs and as mentioned upgrade Tate's WR spot via Round 2 of the draft.

Oh brother. So you're already throwing in the towel on Tate, and to replace him you want.....Jonathan Baldwin.

Maybe we could trade for Maualuga and move him to WR.

 

[The_Riddler]

Oh brother. So you're already throwing in the towel on Tate, and to replace him you want.....Jonathan Baldwin.

Maybe we could trade for Maualuga and move him to WR.

Wow coming from the guy who would still make the Clay Matthews trade even as of today, I'm not surprised.

Pom-poms for all, give it up homer, I'm tired of your act......

 

[JackBauer]

Wow coming from the guy who would still make the Clay Matthews trade even as of today, I'm not surprised.

Pom-poms for all, give it up homer, I'm tired of your act......

WTF are you blathering on about?

If you could provide a quote of myself making the comment you just described, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[patsinthesnow]

Oh brother. So you're already throwing in the towel on Tate, and to replace him you want.....Jonathan Baldwin.

Maybe we could trade for Maualuga and move him to WR.

Agreed. I just dont see the point of a round 1 or 2 pick on rookie wideout whom have been known to do nothing their rookie years here when you have THREE kids. Its time for one of them to step up. If Tate in his third year progresses well, woohoo, if not, its Price and Edelmans turn.

Add the fact rookie WRs are a gamble.

 

[The_Riddler]

WTF are you blathering on about?

If you could provide a quote of myself making the comment you just described, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

What ??? Now you're back-tracking, oh what a scream......

You, Mr. Homer and Upstater have been defending BB's trade down and decision to pass on Clay Matthews for a long, long time now. Wow, what's changed? What a riot...........Be a man and fess up you freakin homer, what a complete farce you are, now backtracking on the Matthews deal. Give it up.

 

[JackBauer]

What ??? Now you're back-tracking, oh what a scream......

You, Mr. Homer and Upstater have been defending BB's trade down and decision to pass on Clay Matthews for a long, long time now. Wow, what's changed? What a riot...........Be a man and fess up you freakin homer, what a complete farce you are, now backtracking on the Matthews deal. Give it up.

You're right. I absolutely would.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The difference is that Brown, Sanders and Wallace have done way more for the Steelers than any of our young guys have done. Their WRs are miles better than ours. Our TEs are better, though.

Also, Clay Matthews is still overrated. Good player, and I like him, but I'm just fine with the trade considering what we netted.

 

[JackBauer]

....................

 

[Deus Irae]

Ward's also more of a downfield receiver than is Welker, which makes a difference when the rest of the group can't get deep separation.

 

[patsinthesnow]

The difference is that Brown, Sanders and Wallace have done way more for the Steelers than any of our young guys have done. Their WRs are miles better than ours. Our TEs are better, though.

Also, Clay Matthews is still overrated. Good player, and I like him, but I'm just fine with the trade considering what we netted.

This angers and puzzles me as well. Our 3rd round WR sat on inactive whole season including the playoffs while their 6th round WR makes a 50 yard catch on the helmet to beat the Ravens in the playoffs....

The Ward points are true as well. He can run more of the route tree.

 

[The_Riddler]

Jack, how much more time do you want to give Brandon Tate, how about another year to see if he can cut it, how does that sound ?

 

[MustaphaM0nd]

Tate doesn't have the tools to be a star, but we don't need him to be a star. We need him to be a #2 and beat coverage. The Jets were daring him to beat Cromartie without help and he couldn't do it. The couple of catches he actually made this year were spectacular, and that only highlighted the fact that he couldn't simply run a route and get separation.

Having said that I'm optimistic that between Tate, Price, and Edelman, somebody steps up.
-Tate could very well improve and be starting next season again.
-Price is an excellent prospect who looked better in limited snaps against MIA than Tate did all season.
-Edelman had a bit of an off year, but he's still a weapon. There was one play against MIA where Brian Hoyer overthrew him slightly, streaking between defenders. He looked more like Greg Jennings than Wes Welker.

 

[MustaphaM0nd]

Jack, how much more time do you want to give Brandon Tate, how about another year to see if he can cut it, how does that sound ?

Tate gets one year max. Three years in the system is enough.

 

[billdog3484]

You got the 2nd year "deep threat" WR in Tate/Wallace. Difference being Wallace is not a question mark.

you cannot seriously compare mike wallace to brandon tate. its not even a comparison. wallace is close to a #1 receiver, tates not a legitimate #3.

wallace is the difference. he gives the steelers the ability to stretch the field. the same cannot be said for tate. maybe he can be that, be wallace is that

 

[RobertWeathers]

Tate gets one year max. Three years in the system is enough.

I tend to agree. I like the kid but if he is still at < 40 catches, has a bunch of drops and doesn't have TBs confidence, it may be time to move in a different direction or bury him as the 5th WR or on STs exclusively if he has it in him.