TE Jermichael Finley medically cleared; visiting "mystery" team

[supafly]

Would be another good red zone target.

 

[ripatsfan91]

Didn't Hernandez struggle with drops just as much as Finley?

 

[JMC00]

Either Keller or Finley, have to get one if they are cleared to play. If Gronk isn't ready to go can't go into the season with 3 TE (assuming the 3rd TE is either Jones or Watson) that have a combined 46 rec and 4 TD (with 3 of those coming in 2010)

 

[Gymrat]

All we can do is trust that Belichick and the staff will make the correct decision.

If they feel that he has healed and can offer something, he'll be looked at. I would be excited if either he or Keller were paired with Gronk--no doubt.

What if they don't and Denver beats us twice,goes on to win another ring and for weeks we have to hear bout Manning the best ever. Talib/seller rubbing it in and saying manning is better. Something can be done bout it. Trade for a Wr and players make little physical tweaks. Like Jones,Collins bulk up slightly and High tower get little quicker. Stork continue adding power. Then were talking 19-0 instead of how great manning is.

How can they get away with 2004 draft episode. If our offense sputters I doubt I'll watch the games this year. I'll take a vacation to Miami during Superbowl week.

 

[Joker]

What if they don't and Denver beats us twice,goes on to win another ring and for weeks we have to hear bout Manning the best ever. Talib/seller rubbing it in and saying manning is better. Something can be done bout it. Trade for a Wr and players make little physical tweaks. Like Jones,Collins bulk up slightly and High tower get little quicker. Stork continue adding power. Then were talking 19-0 instead of how great manning is.

How can they get away with 2004 draft episode. If our offense sputters I doubt I'll watch the games this year. I'll take a vacation to Miami during Superbowl week.

goes on to win another ring???????????...where's their first ring with Manning?

19-0 ?????...tell us the meds you are on...wait ...don't. It HAS to be LSD.NO ONE is talking about how great Manning is except YOU it seems. Manning just got totally humiliated, embarrassed and shat upon in the Bowl. That is NOT an attribute of greatness, it's proof of S-U-C-K.

 

[RayClay]

What if they don't and Denver beats us twice,goes on to win another ring and for weeks we have to hear bout Manning the best ever.
How can they get away with 2004 draft episode. If our offense sputters I doubt I'll watch the games this year. I'll take a vacation to Miami during Superbowl week.

You can get a better rate on a hotel now, why wait?

 

[supafly]

What if they don't and Denver beats us twice,goes on to win another ring and for weeks we have to hear bout Manning the best ever. Talib/seller rubbing it in and saying manning is better. Something can be done bout it. Trade for a Wr and players make little physical tweaks. Like Jones,Collins bulk up slightly and High tower get little quicker. Stork continue adding power. Then were talking 19-0 instead of how great manning is.

How can they get away with 2004 draft episode. If our offense sputters I doubt I'll watch the games this year. I'll take a vacation to Miami during Superbowl week.

I respect your frustration with the WR corps, gymrat (as much as I totally disagree with it).

That said, I've already explained how unlikely it is at the position of WR to see anyone brought in from the outside during the summer who is going to contribute worth a damn. They prefer to have those kinds of skill players there from the very beginning of OTA's, rookie camps, etc. Even then, the learning curve is tremendous.

TE is not as bad, as there is a good amount of blocking assignments/routes more tailored to the position, where they can be slowly blended in more and can pick it up more quickly due to lessened route responsibilities. By the 2nd half of the year, we could be seeing reasonable production (a few catches per game, maybe several) from the "new" TE.

There's little doubt that the position of WR is extremely difficult to pick up when you have an entire offseason with the playbook in hand from April/May on---let alone in the month of July, August, etc, where it's practically close to impossible.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I don't care what the stats say because he has the worst hands I have ever seen. I watched one packer game where he just kept dropping perfect passes and then he looked at his hands as if they had betrayed him.

 

[TatupuMoose]

He's a less talented Jimmy Graham I'd say?

Much less talented, but I'd like to see him and Keller battle it out and see who comes out on top.

 

[dales804]

The Patriots need someone else at TE. Having an injury prone #1 followed by guys who are no receiving threat at all isn't going to do much for the team. Of course, Keller and Finley are both coming off significant injuries, too, so...

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I don't care what the stats say because he has the worst hands I have ever seen. I watched one packer game where he just kept dropping perfect passes and then he looked at his hands as if they had betrayed him.

I am pretty sure i remember that exact game...it may have been in the playoffs? He kept looking at his hands..

 

[Brady6]

Didn't Hernandez struggle with drops just as much as Finley?

In 2012 the gunpowder residue on Hernandez hands really affected his ability to catch the football. He had 9 drops on 83 targets.

 

[JMC00]

Finley- 223 catches and 22 drops in 324 targets
Keller- 241 catches and 22 drops in 412 targets

Now remember Finley had Rodgers and Keller had Sanchez. So you have to think out of those 412 targets there were a lot of bad passes to Keller.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I don't care what the stats say because he has the worst hands I have ever seen. I watched one packer game where he just kept dropping perfect passes and then he looked at his hands as if they had betrayed him.

Hey, I used to do that. I coulda been in the NFL!!!!

 

[Brady6]

Didn't Hernandez struggle with drops just as much as Finley?

In fairness to Hernandez, I do not think he would have struggled as much with the drops had the judge allowed them to remove his handcuffs.

 

[patsinthesnow]

No he's not. He's a starting caliber tight end, but was only ever anything more than mediocre because he had a great QB and a bunch of solid WRs that defenses had to worry about. He's one of those guys like Jared Cook (or our very own Ben Watson) who will have "tremendous upside" until he's 30 and everyone goes whoops, I guess not.

That doesn't mean he wouldn't be an upgrade for the Patriots at the position. It just means he's an average starter and his ceiling has been reached.

Frankly, Keller was a better player for most of his career who was underappreciated because he played on worse offenses and didn't get the "tremendous upside" hype of a guy like Finley or Cook. Both Keller and Finley would be upgrades if they were fully healthy, though.

Fair points. I think we could all agree that a young Ben Watson or Jared Cook would have been nice TE2s and Gronk Insurance last year.

Signing one of Finley/Keller (doubt that Keller will ever return to form with that injury) would decrease the immense gap that is Gronk to the Hooman.

 

[varjao]

In 2012 the gunpowder residue on Hernandez hands really affected his ability to catch the football. He had 9 drops on 83 targets.

but the blood after a while works kind of like a glue so no excuses.

 

[Rob0729]

A few things:

• I expect Gronk to be back for week 1. This was an ACL tear and his surgery was done by Dr. Andrews who is close to the Gronkowski family and Drew Rosenhaus. I think Gronk could have come back far sooner last year, but was being over pre cautious to protect his arm due to rebreaking it and the infection. I think an ACL is a more routine injury and he will return on a regular pace which would put him on pace for week 1.
• I think Finley is more of a Hernandez replacement and not a Gronk replacement. Same with Keller (although Keller is closer to a traditional TE).
• I don't think Finely drops more balls than Hernandez did (as someone pointed out). In that area, it will basically be a wash. Hernandez dropped a lot of balls too.
• I am ok with either Finley or Keller as long as they are close to 100%. I have a feeling Finley is the safer bet in that area although he is closer to having a devastating injury.

 

[SalemPats]

I kind of want to stay away from the injury-prone TEs, but he's talented and could serve as a backup to Gronk.

 

[Ivan]

I kind of want to stay away from the injury-prone TEs, but he's talented and could serve as a backup to Gronk.

I am not sure they can get anyone who doesn't have an injury concern at this point.