Slater at the end of the road?

[RayClay]

Re: Slater end of the road?

Teams are drafting Special Teams players in late rounds.

If we'd taken Slater with the 6th round pick, would it have made a difference to you?

There was obviously no-one we wanted left in the draft so does it matter where he was drafted anymore?

He's an intelligent guy, runs hard and plays Special Teams very well.

There's no point having 50 guys who are great in their position if they all suck at the 3rd phase of the game. You need 5 guys who can play Special Teams excellently to solve that phase of the game.

Me? I said i had no problem using the pic. Having said that, what does this guy have to offer? Our special teams sucked. I'd rather see them have 25 guys compete for those slots and have guys that really want it bad survive than bestow slots on guys like Alexander and Slater and get what we got this year.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Re: Slater end of the road?

Nothing. It's another Patsfan poster who gets defensive when you dare say anything negative about one of the players. Slater is terrible. The pats have had some hits in recent drafts, but have had just as many (if not more) misses.

No, it's another Patsfans poster who gets annoyed when people make misleading arguments based on one or two data points that don't tell the full story.

As an example: besides K/P/LS, they kept FOUR players on the 45-man roster last year who basically did nothing but STs: Ventrone, Izzo, Slater, and Washington. Of those, only Slater is still here this year.

 

[pats_premi]

Re: Slater end of the road?

As I see it, we currently have 4 safeties on the roster in Meriweather, Chung, Sanders and McGowan. If Bodden comes back we have 5 CBs in Bodden, Butler, Wheatley, Wilhite and Springs. So unless one of those guys gets cut/traded or we carry 10 DBs, there's no place on the roster for Arrington or Lockett unless they earn a spot as a pure STer, as Slater essentially did this season. I can't see us carrying more than one such guy given 3 other ST positoins used for K, P and LS.

I think we are in agreement that Arrington should be kept over Slater. I'm just curious if Arrington can be more than a special teamer ?

 

[TriplecHamp]

If Slater is retuning kicks for us next season...

 

[cstjohn17]

Is this the end of the road for Slater? Slater finished #8 in special teams tackles for New England in 2009 with 7 stops ( 6 tackles, 1 assist ). He narrowly beat out Gostkowski who had 6 stops ( 5 tackles, 1 assist ), although Gostkowski had one recovered fumble, and Slater zero.

Offensively, Slater had zero catches at WR. Defensively, Slater is at best, the #5 safety behind, Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan, and Chung. As a kick returner, Slater was tied for #34th in the NFL in yards per kickoff return. Slater does not return punts.

If this is the end of the road when exactly did it start? The guys is barely the 53rd player on the roster, dime a dozen. Who gives a crap?

Sincerely,

Mr. Scrooge

 

[BostonPatriot]

Re: Slater end of the road?

No, it's another Patsfans poster who gets annoyed when people make misleading arguments based on one or two data points that don't tell the full story.

As an example: besides K/P/LS, they kept FOUR players on the 45-man roster last year who basically did nothing but STs: Ventrone, Izzo, Slater, and Washington. Of those, only Slater is still here this year.

Understood, but Slater is a terrible football player who does nothing for this team and will never make an impact worth noting. I know the truth to everything always lies somewhere in between, but with Slater, I really do think he's garbage. .

 

[DW Toys]

Is this the end of the road for Slater? Slater finished #8 in special teams tackles for New England in 2009 with 7 stops ( 6 tackles, 1 assist ). He narrowly beat out Gostkowski who had 6 stops ( 5 tackles, 1 assist ), although Gostkowski had one recovered fumble, and Slater zero.

Offensively, Slater had zero catches at WR. Defensively, Slater is at best, the #5 safety behind, Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan, and Chung. As a kick returner, Slater was tied for #34th in the NFL in yards per kickoff return. Slater does not return punts.

He was an ego pick.
We stupidly traded up for him.....why?
Now he gets a roster spot to justify it. Was supposed to be a return artist...Nyet!
DW Toys

 

[ctpatsfan77]

He was an ego pick.
We stupidly traded up for him.....why?
Now he gets a roster spot to justify it. Was supposed to be a return artist...Nyet!
DW Toys

Find me one credible quote attributed to Belichick saying that the Patriots specifically planned to use him as a KR or PR.

 

[Synovia]

Re: Slater end of the road?

Understood, but Slater is a terrible football player who does nothing for this team and will never make an impact worth noting. I know the truth to everything always lies somewhere in between, but with Slater, I really do think he's garbage. .

SLater is a gunner, and is a lead blocker on returns. If you think thats nothing, you don't understand special teams.

 

[mayoclinic]

Re: Slater end of the road?

SLater is a gunner, and is a lead blocker on returns. If you think thats nothing, you don't understand special teams.

I fully understand that. But that's really all his value is right now, and there are other folks who can play gunner on ST. Is he really a good enough gunner to justify a roster spot for that alone?

 

[BostonPatriot]

Re: Slater end of the road?

SLater is a gunner, and is a lead blocker on returns. If you think thats nothing, you don't understand special teams.

As if that's tough to find? Gunners for special teams. Players like Slater are a dime a dozen, plain and simple.

 

[mgteich]

So we have started our threads on how useless special teams specialists are compared with their greatr imporance as 4th string position players.

 

[mayoclinic]

So we have started our threads on how useless special teams specialists are compared with their greatr imporance as 4th string position players.

No, I think everyone acknowledges that STers are important. The question is, who do you cut? Suppose Bodden re-signs. Depending on what happens with Bret Lockett we would have Meriweather, Chung, Sanders, McGowan, Lockett and Slater at safety (the latter 2 primarily ST) and Bodden, Butler, Wheatley, Wilhite, and Arrington at CB. That's 12 DBs. We can't carry neary that many. Do you prefer to cut McGowan, Wheatley or Wilhite? Despite the negative comments on Wheatley and Wilhite, they can actually play nickel and dime CB, which the other guys can't. Perhaps Arrington can step up to a dime CB role and take over Wilhite or Wheatley's spot, but it's a stretch right now.

At some point there will be some hard cuts. Slater's value as a STer will be have to weighed against other guy's value like Arrington and Lockett, and what each can bring as a backup. Given that Slater's KR ability has not been impressive, and he has essentially no positional value, it's a fair question as to whether his abilities as a gunner are enough to earn him a roster spot. Personally, I doubt it, but I also think it's pretty useful speculation 6 months away from when the issue will come to a head.

 

[condon84]

Re: Slater end of the road?

Slater is a symbol of what went wrong with this team's draft picks recently.

 

[bigfandan]

I think he was a 3rd (or 4th) rounder drafted for special team. It's fair to say Indy had made better use fo their mid round picks (Garcon and Collie).

Is this the end of the road for Slater? Slater finished #8 in special teams tackles for New England in 2009 with 7 stops ( 6 tackles, 1 assist ). He narrowly beat out Gostkowski who had 6 stops ( 5 tackles, 1 assist ), although Gostkowski had one recovered fumble, and Slater zero.

Offensively, Slater had zero catches at WR. Defensively, Slater is at best, the #5 safety behind, Meriweather, Sanders, McGowan, and Chung. As a kick returner, Slater was tied for #34th in the NFL in yards per kickoff return. Slater does not return punts.

 

[BostonPatriot]

So we have started our threads on how useless special teams specialists are compared with their greatr imporance as 4th string position players.

Yes sir, and it's a valid concern considering what Collie and Garcean just did for Indie. As said, Slater is everything that is wrong with our recent drafting. I understand that later rounds can be hit or miss, but we might have well just lit the pick we used for Slater on fire.

With all due respect, I don't think you'd be questioning a thread like this if it was talking about how great a pick Volmer was.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I think he was a 3rd (or 4th) rounder drafted for special team. It's fair to say Indy had made better use fo their mid round picks (Garcon and Collie).

He was taken at the tail of the fifth round (#153).

It's really not that hard.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Yes sir, and it's a valid concern considering what Collie and Garcean just did for Indie. As said, Slater is everything that is wrong with our recent drafting. I understand that later rounds can be hit or miss, but we might have well just lit the pick we used for Slater on fire.

Well, if Willie Andrews hadn't suddenly taken the express train to Crazyville, maybe the Pats wouldn't have had to spend a fifth-rounder on a gunner.

 

[RayClay]

No, I think everyone acknowledges that STers are important. The question is, who do you cut? Suppose Bodden re-signs. Depending on what happens with Bret Lockett we would have Meriweather, Chung, Sanders, McGowan, Lockett and Slater at safety (the latter 2 primarily ST) and Bodden, Butler, Wheatley, Wilhite, and Arrington at CB. That's 12 DBs. We can't carry neary that many. Do you prefer to cut McGowan, Wheatley or Wilhite? Despite the negative comments on Wheatley and Wilhite, they can actually play nickel and dime CB, which the other guys can't. Perhaps Arrington can step up to a dime CB role and take over Wilhite or Wheatley's spot, but it's a stretch right now.

At some point there will be some hard cuts. Slater's value as a STer will be have to weighed against other guy's value like Arrington and Lockett, and what each can bring as a backup. Given that Slater's KR ability has not been impressive, and he has essentially no positional value, it's a fair question as to whether his abilities as a gunner are enough to earn him a roster spot. Personally, I doubt it, but I also think it's pretty useful speculation 6 months away from when the issue will come to a head.

Just call slater a WR and you solve that problem. Seriously, he's neither. they need to bring a lot of other teams cuts into camp and have some real competition for STs. I'm with you on wWilhite and Wheatley, they're cheap and can develop (what happened to Wheatley i don't know but he looked good in his college highlights).

Anyway, let's have a huge camp, competition for every position, at least the backups. Players are way too comfortable about accepting a paycheck IMO. Let's see some gawdawful hits from some guy whose number we need to look up in camp.

The difference between the effort of an Edelman and that of a lot of the fatasses handed spots is embarrassing and they need to win jobs or get cut IMO.

We need some LBs, a DE and some decent available receivers or picks and that's about it IMO. We can easily put enough talent on the field. We need some desire and a return to great coaching and to light a fire under everybody's ass.

 

[RayClay]

I'm not worried about a bottom of the fifth pick, that's just silly. He needs to beat people out, though. Let's sign some players that are hungry and see if they can force their way onto the squad next year.