White, Chandler, Dobson, et. al.

[supafly]

I still don't understand why they gave up on Tim Wright. Obviously there could have been behind the scenes issues but he looked like a long, smooth natural receiver who caught the ball away from his body, and chandler isn't much better of a blocker than him anyway.

As I mentioned in another post, keep in mind that Wright has been "given up on" before by multiple teams, and is now on his 4th team in 3 years. They've tried him at WR and tried him at TE. The problem is that his blocking is so god awful that he can't even stick as a 6'4" WR anywhere on the depth chart.

For what it's worth, Wright has caught 8 balls this season for 68 yards while playing in DET.

 

[supafly]

I don't think that we didn't consider him as a WR because of blocking. I think we didn't do it because while he's slightly more athletic than your average TE, he's much less athletic than your average WR. Because he can't block well as a TE the defense can basically treat him as a WR when he's in, even when lined up as a TE. And a CB probably doesn't have any big problems defending him.

I dunno. Any TE who has struggled blocking but has produced 11 touchdowns in his first 2 years and is 6'4" tall should at least be able to hold down the WR4 or WR5 position, especially if they've proven to pick up a complicated system and act as an effective red zone threat, lack of "athleticism" or not. Just my opinion. You'd have to be pretty "non-athletic" to not have a significant size advantage over any CB in the NFL when you stand at 6'4".

I think there's a reason why Wright in failing miserably on his 4th team in 3 seasons (Tampa Bay twice). Perhaps you're right and he just can't get into a set position, but one would have to start to wonder if it's a bit more than that at this point. Personally, I truly believe that his blocking was so unacceptable (at least to the NEP) that they wouldn't even consider him for the 4th or 5th WR job that they ended up giving to an outsider without prior knowledge of the system.

 

[Joker]

Familiarity breeds contempt. The more we've gotten to see, the more jaundiced our perspectives have become. Relax...let it play out.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

For 8 games the Patriots had Jules, Gronk, Lewis, and DA as receiving targets. In that span the Patriots were largely scoring big amounts.
So at what point should Brady have said 'forget about passing to them, where's Chandler??'. What is the reason Chandler would be or should be targeted frequently enough that he would have noticeable totals??

Chandler falls outside that group of prime targets and into the 'be ready for an occasional opportunity' group. His production was very unlikely to amount to a noticeable amount unless he had come in and played way above history and expectations. IMHO Chandler's number are not a good barometer (except did he catch the passes he was thrown).
However, now that there are injuries he is going to get more tangible opportunities, he, right now and within reason, is going to show his value. My own sense is he will show some fair value if he doesn't let the dropsies ruin it.

 

[thecore762]

The thing about Wright though, is that he's been bounced around and even attempted to switch positions for a reason. He absolutely sucks at blocking. I mean downright sucks. Look at Tampa Bay last season before they traded him to us. They were trying to switch him to WR (something I thought we may do, but he sucks so badly at blocking they wouldn't even consider him for a WR position here) and he still couldn't cut it.

This year he's on his 3rd team in 3 years with DET, and he has a grand total of 8 receptions for 68 yards. He may be on his way out of the NFL altogether. Chandler should snag another TD or two before the end of the season, especially in Gronk's absence, and prove to be just as efficient a red zone threat as Wright ever was here.

I understand he stinks at blocking, but we need another playmaker, Hernandez sucked at blocking but he was versatile TE on our O and we opposed many issues for the opposing teams. Wright could have done the same. We can still use Fleming if we need an additional blocker other than Gronk.

Chandler has been horrible with his hands, the guy has more dropped passes than catches, which is really bad.
I really don't want Chandler past this season.

 

[supafly]

I understand he stinks at blocking, but we need another playmaker, Hernandez sucked at blocking but he was versatile TE on our O and we opposed many issues for the opposing teams. Wright could have done the same. We can still use Fleming if we need an additional blocker other than Gronk.

Chandler has been horrible with his hands, the guy has more dropped passes than catches, which is really bad.
I really don't want Chandler past this season.

I understand what you're saying, although I wonder if Hernandez wasn't a couple of levels above Tim Wright as it pertains to blocking?

I think there may be a bit of a misconception that Hernandez stunk at blocking since he was the "move" TE, but I think he chipped in enough to make the coaches happy and did his job when the ball went to Welker or a RB.

I'm fine with whatever happens to Chandler, but they still need to address the position in the offseason, and he'll need to step up now in Gronk's absence if he wants a chance to stay.

 

[supafly]

For 8 games the Patriots had Jules, Gronk, Lewis, and DA as receiving targets. In that span the Patriots were largely scoring big amounts.
So at what point should Brady have said 'forget about passing to them, where's Chandler??'. What is the reason Chandler would be or should be targeted frequently enough that he would have noticeable totals??

Chandler falls outside that group of prime targets and into the 'be ready for an occasional opportunity' group. His production was very unlikely to amount to a noticeable amount unless he had come in and played way above history and expectations. IMHO Chandler's number are not a good barometer (except did he catch the passes he was thrown).
However, now that there are injuries he is going to get more tangible opportunities, he, right now and within reason, is going to show his value. My own sense is he will show some fair value if he doesn't let the dropsies ruin it.

Yes, as I showed with his usual target numbers of the past 3 yrs (70-80) vs. the targets he had going into week 12 with us (23), they just haven't looked for him. As you point out, why would they when we had other production leading to success?

Now that Gronk is out for awhile, we'll likely see an attempt to get Chandler the ball more. Personally, I am expecting more of him, and I think the feeling in the fanbase will settle down a bit. We will find out soon enough.

 

[luuked]

I understand what you're saying, although I wonder if Hernandez wasn't a couple of levels above Tim Wright as it pertains to blocking?

I think there may be a bit of a misconception that Hernandez stunk at blocking since he was the "move" TE, but I think he chipped in enough to make the coaches happy and did his job when the ball went to Welker or a RB.

I'm fine with whatever happens to Chandler, but they still need to address the position in the offseason, and he'll need to step up now in Gronk's absence if he wants a chance to stay.

You are absolutely right that Hernandez was an adequate blocker. It is not even a contest between him and Wright.

 

[PatsBoy12]

As I mentioned in another post, keep in mind that Wright has been "given up on" before by multiple teams, and is now on his 4th team in 3 years. They've tried him at WR and tried him at TE. The problem is that his blocking is so god awful that he can't even stick as a 6'4" WR anywhere on the depth chart.

For what it's worth, Wright has caught 8 balls this season for 68 yards while playing in DET.

Hey, Fly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with your post. I just quoted it to mention that the word on him coming out of Tampa and why he fell out of favor is because of his work ethic. I heard it wasn't that good. I never heard anything about that here, obviously, but we all know guys tend to fall in line here quicker than on other teams. That's just the culture around here.

 

[supafly]

Hey, Fly. I'm not agreeing or disagreeing with your post. I just quoted it to mention that the word on him coming out of Tampa and why he fell out of favor is because of his work ethic. I heard it wasn't that good. I never heard anything about that here, obviously, but we all know guys tend to fall in line here quicker than on other teams. That's just the culture around here.

Certainly quite possible that his work ethic is holding him back as well, and could even be the main drawback. Either way, I don't think anyone should be longing for the days of Tim Wright, particularly during Gronk's injury.

Unfortunately, it's going to take multiple players to try and make up some of his production. That said, I can't imagine a scenario where Chandler ends up less productive than Wright by the end of the year, but we will see. He's certainly underachieving at the moment.