Hello guys, as you might have guessed from my name I go to Texas Tech and I follow football as closely as I can. I was lucky enough to catch Welker's last three seasons in Lubbock and I have most likely watched him play live more than anyone else on this board. Most people seem to be very optimistic about Welker on this board and I could not agree more.
I don't really want to get into comparisons because I really only get to watch 3 or 4 patriot games a year and can't say whether Welker is the next Branch or Brown. But what he may have in common with Brown is the fact that he is able to increase his level of play in the big game. Most of the Pat's games I watched were playoff games and it seemed like Brown always performed well when it mattered the most. Wes didn't get a chance to play any playoff games in Miami, and I would say the biggest games he has played were against the division rival, almost perrenial SB champion, Patriots. Not to my surprise he played well against your team.
I know it is cliche but, you can't measure a man's heart. Welker was named the Oklahoma player of the year in high school, by several publications. His dream school was not surprisingly OU. OU passed on him because he was small and not that fast. If I remember correctly, the only reason he got a scholarship to Texas Tech was because another WR never showed up for camp. I read a poster using Welker's tangibles as an argument to his mediocrity earlier in this thread and all I could do was shake my head. He wasn't big or fast enough for college ball, then he wasn't big or fast enough to get drafted, now he is not big or fast enough to be more than above average. No offense to the person who posted that, I could see myself doing the same thing. The fact remains that he has yet to be proven wrong and the undoubted best front office in the league seems to agree.
As much as I hate to admit it our instate rival, UT, beats Tech on a rather consistent basis. In my 6 years as a TT fan we have beaten UT once. The sole proponent of the win was a man named Wes Welker. What is more impressive is the fact that that group of DB's from UT that year were amazing, including #5 overall Quentin Jammer and Nathan Vasher who somehow fell to the fourth round. Griffen and Huff were also on that team but I don't think they started at the time. All we did was throw the ball to Welker, and I will never forget after Wes broke like 5 tackles I looked up and it said on the scoreboard, "Welker is unstoppable". For that night it was true. You hear people saying that some players have, "it". IMHO that is true of Wes Welker. Although I am sure that ya'll (yes we say ya'll here) have already looked up any highlight you could find on Welker, here is a link to a college highlight film.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=or9nXE-T1KM
Now from a more football view and less of a homer basis, look at Welker's situation. He came into the league undrafted and has WORKED his way up to being a slot/KR/PR/ and eventually was traded for a second round pick. Picking up 67 receptions and 687 yards in the slot last year was great, my Texans have never gotten that kind of production from their #2 and Miami's QB situation was practically the same as Houston's last year.
Moss is going to get doubled A LOT. He definitely did in Oakland. Stallworth is so fast you have to keep track of him. As we saw last year, he is deadly on playaction. Some would say that Wes is "only" a slot receiver. IMHO he is "exactly" what a slot should be. He could be a #2 on a lot of teams. For the most part he is too short to be a number one. People like their tall receivers but with his abilities you want to get him the ball. That is why when you have a guy like Wes you run more 3 wide sets than you normally might. If you are in a situation where you have Randy Moss and Dante Stallworth on the outside. Then the best #3 you could have is Wes Welker IMO. Oh yeah, he also returns kicks pretty good.
Someone mentioned that Wes can't take it to the house. Do you realize that Wes set the record for kick returns for a TD in college (which was broken the next year I believe.) I realize people are faster in the NFL and yadayadayada, but if he could do it against OU, UT, and NEB, then I am pretty sure he can do it in the pros. Perhaps the Dolphins do have terrible blocking on Sp. teams. I'm not sure, but I would bet money he has at least 1 TD on returns this year.
Let me say that as a TT fan I am partial to bias, as everyone is. However, I am really not the type to sign up for a message board just to make one post. Actually, the only other time I have done it was when I got on the San Diego message board to tell them how lucky they were to pick Welker up as a free agent in 04, they cut him a couple of weeks later. I felt that it was important to let ya'll know that you just caught lightening in a bottle and I think it was well worth a second.
Basically, my point is that when the Pat's inevitably make the playoffs, watch out for a guy named Wes.
Sorry the post is so long, hopefully I could give you guys a little insight into what I have seen from the man.