Man what a waste of time plowing through 5 pages of BS from a few guys in love with their own "voices". Now back to the original premise of the thread. SHOULD the Pats draft a WR? The answer is decisively NO!
I don't doubt that the Pats need to eventually add some young WRs down the road, but they DO not need to THIS season. As it is they are going to have to cut at least 2 experienced and proven WRs. If you draft a WR you'd have to make that number 3, and he'd likely be the #5 WR and have little impact on this season. Add that to the fact there isn't anyone in the 2nd or 3rd rounds that would be any better THIS season than what we already have. The only WR I can see that makes any sense would be Broyles, who you could take with our "red 6th pick and "red shirt" for a season.
THIS is the season to either trade up or trade out to 2013. THIS is the season to add defensive bodies. Add 2 guys to the front 7 and 2 guys to the back end, then trade the last 2 picks into 2013 and then call it a day.
So WRs in THIS draft - They are the most numerous commodity the NFL has to offer. Every year there are a dozen rated in the first 2 rounds of the draft and a dozen more proven FAs
A couple of miscellaneous points
1. During the BB era the 2 most successful rookie WRs were Branch and Edelman - Branch had around 440 yds his rookie year, while Edelman had around 370, though he saw a lot fewer snaps on the field BTW - if you add Edelman's playoff game, they are about the same.
2. In an offense where the 2 TEs get over 2000 yds in receptions and 24 TDs, the importance of your #3 and #4 WRs is greatly lessened compared to other offenses
3. How important to the offense is the #3WR? Can anyone name the #3 WR for the Pats in 2001 and how many catches he had? Yeah I know its a totally different offense, but also onw where the TE's had an minimal impact. The point is that unless the WRs are a key element in your offense the #3 guy isn't a critical factor. In 2007 he was. Not so much in 2001 and 2011
BTW- the guys name was Charles Johnson hand he had 11 catches for 111 yds.
I have to respectfully disagree with you here. I do agree that a rookie WR will likely get a good view of the bench and minimal playing time early. But is that really a bad thing? We know how difficult it is to not only learn the system, but also get on the same page with Brady. We know that because Brady is so competitive that he doesn't have a lot of patience developing WRs. So it is extremely difficult for a rookie WR to come in and learn the system well enough to get 1st team snaps and develop that relationship with Brady. So I think its important to bring in a WR a year early and let them sit and learn the system year 1 without a huge amount of pressure to perform. Year 2 when they know the system is where they get the snaps to develop that relationship with Brady.
Looking at Taylor Price as an example, I think the thing that hurt his development the most was Chad Ochocinco. Price already had a year in the system and I think he probably had a decent grasp of the system, but what he didn't have was time with Brady. With Chad coming in he never got that opportunity and didn't work out. I think we saw when Price was on the field with Hoyer, that he certainly had talent. And if Hoyer was the QB instead of Brady, I think Price would have worked out here because they had the snaps together to create that understanding.
We saw last year with Solder and Mallett that the Pats have no problem drafting guys high with the intention of having them sit early. So I don't see why WR would be any different.
Looking at the current roster, its important not to be too short sighted with the draft. WR might not be a big need in 2012, but it will be a HUGE need in 2013. Looking at who we currently have on the roster:
Wes Welker- Will be 31 years old for the 2012 season. Is currently on the franchise tag and if he doesn't sign a long term deal he will likely be franchised again in 2013 at almost $12mil.
Brandon Lloyd- Will be 31 year old problem child under contract for 3 years. He knows the system but needs time with Brady. He is certainly talented, but there is a high probability that he will eventually clash with Brady.
Deion Branch- 32 years old and on a 1 year deal. He is clearly declining and I can't see him playing beyond 2012, if he makes it through the season.
Chad Ochocinco- 34 years old, under contract through 2013. He couldn't learn the system last year and his skill set is declining. Even if he can make the roster and learn the system in 2012, its highly unlikely he is still on the roster in 2013 due to a combination of age, skill set and contract.
Donte' Stallworth- 31 years old on a 1 year contract. His skill set has clearly declined, and he has only caught 41 balls since he left in 2007. I think it will be tough for him to make the roster in 2012 and can't see him here in 2013.
Anthony Gonzalez- 27 years old, injury prone and on a 1 year deal. Only has 5 catches and more IR trips that TD's over the last 3 years. Even when healthy and active last year (8 games) he had 0 catches. Will struggle to make the roster in 2012 even if healthy. I don't see him back in 2013 because either a) he gets injured/doesn't perform or b) performs to a level where another team pays him more.
I don't consider Edelman or Slater WR's, and if Underwood or Brit Davis make the roster we have issues. So looking beyond 2012 we likely only have Welker on the franchise tag and Lloyd if he doesn't clash with Brady. That's it. We have seen this season that it isn't economically viable to fill a need at WR through free agency, with guys like Pierre Garcon getting big deals. And as has already been pointed out, its very difficult for rookie WR's to contribute right away, so that's not a great way to fill a hole. So I think now is the perfect time to draft a WR. Let them sit and learn the system this year. And next year when all of the Jag veterans are gone there should be enough snaps with Brady for them to develop. We would then have Welker, Lloyd and a rookie, with Branch, Ocho, Stallworth and Gonazlez fighting it out for 2 spots.
The success the Pats have had drafting WR's I think is a completely different argument. I think the approach they have taken and the types of WR's they have drafted obviously hasn't worked. But instead of not drafting WRs I think they need to look at why the guys they have drafted haven't worked and what they need to change. I don't think you can be scared to draft a position just because you have had some busts in the past. BB didn't stop drafting TE's after some difficulties before Gronk and Hernandez. San Diego didn't stop drafting QB's after Ryan Leaf.
I would also argue we saw the need for a quality #3 WR where the lack of a decent option may have cost us the Super Bowl. Injuries are an inevitable part of the game, so when someone goes down you need to have others pick up the slack. With Gronk less effective we needed that other option to step up and it simply didn't happen. I would also argue we were far too reliant on our TE's and we need greater production from our #3 and #4 WRs. Especially going forward when everyone is going to be trying to use TE's, teams will have a lot more experience stopping them. I don't think you can expect the same kind of production out of Gronk and Hernandez that we got in 2011.
Keep up the fight Deus, makes for an interesting read, even when you're mistaken.
