Rank New England's wide receivers, are you satisfied...

[PATSNUTme]

You Know, I think I'll wait to rank them going into training camp. Just a little quirk of mine.

 

[furley]

Emmanuel Sanders is a slot wide receiver. In Pittsburgh, he'd played on the outside at times when Mike Wallace held out for a new deal. Nonetheless, he has the speed to play on the outside, but his natural position at wide receiver is the slot.



Y! SPORTS

Emmanuel Sanders will return to the slot receiver position once Mike Wallace reports.

Sanders had been practicing at both Wallace's "X" spot and the slot. He'll now resume his role as a backup outside receiver and slot man in three-wide sets. Sanders certainly has the talent for some big games, but lack of playing time will lead to week-to-week inconsistency.

Emmanuel Sanders will return to the slot receiver position once Mike Wallace... - Fleaflicker

I can recall scouting Sanders leading up to the 2010 draft while working for the Chiefs, and my impressions of him as a player were that he was an excellent change-of-direction athlete who was a productive slot player for a high-octane offense at SMU.

Pioli opined that landing Sanders in a fair-market-value deal would be a coup for the Patriots, as he views him as an underrated talent on the free agent market and superior to any receiver the Patriots could acquire in the third round of this year's draft.

Asked whether Sanders is exclusively a slot receiver, Pioli said he has the skills to play both inside and outside, something the Patriots could use as they rebuild their receiving core.

Emmanuel Sanders - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston



In related news...

Sanders had a breakout season, if you can call it that, in 2012. He caught a career-high 44 passes and led the Steelers with 14.2 yards per reception. After missing five games with injuries in 2011, Sanders played in all 16 games for the first time in his three-year career.

As celebrated as the Young Money Crew was, the Steelers never won a Super Bowl with any of them. One of the reasons for that has been Sanders' problems staying healthy.

Another ailment that afflicted Sanders in 2012 was fumble-itis. He was one of the culprits in the Steelers' infamous eight-turnover game at Cleveland, fumbling twice and losing one of them in a maddening 20-14 loss.

The Steelers, who finished 8-8 last season, could use more draft picks. For a franchise that has a realistic chance of winning the Super Bowl every year, a .500 record is rock-bottom and calls for a rebuild. The way to do that is to stockpile draft picks. Sanders, who has just eight career starts, would be a fair price to pay for a third-round pick.

NFL Draft Scout ranks 13 wide receivers among the top-100 draft prospects. Getting the Patriots' third-round pick, the 91st overall, would give the Steelers an extra chance to tap into that pool.

The third round is a key round for the Steelers when it comes to drafting receivers. All three members of the Young Money Crew were taken in the third round or later. Wallace and Sanders both were third-rounders and Brown went in the sixth round.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Why Losing Emmanuel Sanders Wouldn't Be as Bad as It Seems | Bleacher Report

 

[Brady6]

Ramses Barden would be a nice addition. 6'6, and has played well in spot duty.

The giants had really high hopes for him a while back but they could keep him on the field. I'd love if they gave him a look.

 

[bagwell368]

In my opinion, I'll say New England receives an incomplete at the wide receiver position. Without Sanders, I feel unsure about all of these names due to unfamiliarity or you simply don't know what to expect. They're just names so far. I mean, a lot of these names could be practice squad fodder.

One free agent wide receiver who's intriguing is Ramses Barden. Regardless, I've to believe that New England's selecting a wide receiver in the draft. If not, and this is the gist of the depth, there will be a lot of pressure on the tight ends, Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez and Jake Ballard, to be productive and remain healthy. However, nowhere among these names do you see a true deep threat outside wide receiver. Hence, you try to draft him. Markus Wheaton? Terrance Williams? Aaron Dobson?


Emmanuel Sanders (pending)
Danny Amendola
Brandon Lloyd (restructuring contract)

Matthew Slater (Special Teams)

Donald Jones
Jeremy Ebert

Kamar Aiken
Andre Holmes

Check out the calendar...? Plenty of time to go, they should have an "I" at this point.

I have:

TE: Gronk, Ballard, Hooman
SL: AH/DA
WR: DA/AH, Lloyd or Sanders or someone else nearly as good, Jones, body, Slater
RB: Vereen, Washington

Assuming a normal rate of injuries, that's a 500 point+ offense.

 

[Brady6]

Check out the calendar...? Plenty of time to go, they should have an "I" at this point.

I have:

TE: Gronk, Ballard, Hooman
SL: AH/DA
WR: DA/AH, Lloyd or Sanders or someone else nearly as good, Jones, body, Slater
RB: Vereen, Washington

Assuming a normal rate of injuries, that's a 500 point+ offense.

Fells at TE.

 

[bagwell368]

Fells at TE.

Fells will be cut.

 

[VrabelJr]

This just in: The Pats take risks on injury prone players. Why? Because our medical staff and strength and conditioning coaches are badass.

Sanders reminds me of Deion Branch in his prime a lot. Whether he will have that telepathy with Brady is another question. There's only one way to find out though...

 

[Brady6]

Fells will be cut.

I don't know about that. I think they really like his skill set fell out of favor because of some nagging injuries but I think he has a chance to stick as the 5 TE.

 

[Brady6]

This just in: The Pats take risks on injury prone players. Why? Because our medical staff and strength and conditioning coaches are badass.

Sanders reminds me of Deion Branch in his prime a lot. Whether he will have that telepathy with Brady is another question. There's only one way to find out though...

He reminds me a lot of Austin the guy everyone wants us to use a first on.. Rather have the guy that proved he can do it especially for a 3rd instead.

Keep in mind also the Steelers run a very vanilla offense so JM and BB will utilize this kids talents much more.

 

[furley]

Ramses Barden would be a nice addition. 6'6, and has played well in spot duty.

Yeah, I've an interest in Domenik Hixon too.

 

[bagwell368]

I don't know about that. I think they really like his skill set fell out of favor because of some nagging injuries but I think he has a chance to stick as the 5 TE.

I heard they thought his rehab was slow.

5 TE's? Maybe 4, with AH getting more snaps at WR/SL than TE.

They put an original tender on Hooman so they seem to like him too.

 

[Ring 6]

Check out the calendar...? Plenty of time to go, they should have an "I" at this point.

I have:

TE: Gronk, Ballard, Hooman
SL: AH/DA
WR: DA/AH, Lloyd or Sanders or someone else nearly as good, Jones, body, Slater
RB: Vereen, Washington

Assuming a normal rate of injuries, that's a 500 point+ offense.

Hernandz is a TE. Any lineup that has him covered by a corner diminshes all of his strength, unless you place a ton of value on WRs blocking corners on running plays.

Yes Hernandez will lineup in a position that looks like a WR. He will do that, especially in the hurryup, because it exploits his advantage vs a S or LB in coverage. Putting Hernandez on the field with 2 other TEs and 1 WR, makes no sense.

 

[FoxboroFlyer]

I know it's still very early, but if need be i wouldn't be opposed to an incentive laden deal with Titus "the headcase" Young.
Wouldn't hurt to try...maybe playing for a winning team, with a HOF coach and QB would straighten him out.

 

[iapatsfan]

If you base this on who is on our present roster, we have the worst WR core in the NFL. Second isn't even close.

 

[furley]

I know it's still very early, but if need be i wouldn't be opposed to an incentive laden deal with Titus "the headcase" Young.
Wouldn't hurt to try...maybe playing for a winning team, with a HOF coach and QB would straighten him out.

I was thinking of Young as well. However, I think he's poison right now. Too risky. I'll say, it's doubtful.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If Lloyd were kept around I'd feel alot better to have a proven commodity here. 900 yards is alot of production to replace.

Right now it's a big question mark but lots of potential.

 

[Sangreal95]

Randy Moss will be in camp.

 

[iapatsfan]

If Lloyd were kept around I'd feel alot better to have a proven commodity here. 900 yards is alot of production to replace.

Right now it's a big question mark but lots of potential.

Where is the potential?

 

[Bruins29]

If you base this on who is on our present roster, we have the worst WR core in the NFL. Second isn't even close.

Who cares. I am sure BB will fix it. Take a Midol.

 

[Ring 6]

If you base this on who is on our present roster, we have the worst WR core in the NFL. Second isn't even close.

Actually the Jets are probably worse

But we don't play a game for 6 months. We won't play that game with only 2 WRs on the roster.