Fencer
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
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The most controversial personnel grouping on the team is probably receiver, what with the widely differing opinions about Welker and the cries for a prototypical #1 receiver.
As I see it, the Pats' base set features 2 TEs and 2 WRs. It's easier to replace a TE with a WR than vice-versa. Gronk, AHern, and Lloyd are under contract. Welker isn't, and I think ditto Edelman.
WR depth after the guys I named is abysmal; Slater is an emergency WR only. TE depth -- well, we'll see. (Recall that Ballard is in the mix.)
TE durability is, IMO, dubious. Going back to college, I think Gronk has only finished 2 of the past 5 seasons, and Hernandez is frequently dinged up himself.
Lloyd is a good receiver. Welker -- despite being flawed -- is an awesome receiver, but may be too expensive to keep. Edelman over his entire 4-year career has racked up fewer receiving stats than Lloyd did this year; he's a keeper IMO for his versatility if nothing else, but he's not proven above #4 on the depth chart.
Proceed from there.
As I see it, the Pats' base set features 2 TEs and 2 WRs. It's easier to replace a TE with a WR than vice-versa. Gronk, AHern, and Lloyd are under contract. Welker isn't, and I think ditto Edelman.
WR depth after the guys I named is abysmal; Slater is an emergency WR only. TE depth -- well, we'll see. (Recall that Ballard is in the mix.)
TE durability is, IMO, dubious. Going back to college, I think Gronk has only finished 2 of the past 5 seasons, and Hernandez is frequently dinged up himself.
Lloyd is a good receiver. Welker -- despite being flawed -- is an awesome receiver, but may be too expensive to keep. Edelman over his entire 4-year career has racked up fewer receiving stats than Lloyd did this year; he's a keeper IMO for his versatility if nothing else, but he's not proven above #4 on the depth chart.
Proceed from there.