Wide Receiver thoughts

[reflexblue]

Actually I don't think the team has ever truly recovered from the loss of Robert Edwards. Granted he was a RB, but the team is so fragile, does it really matter?

We need Mr. Wizards wayback machine for that one.

 

[Rob0729]

Brady puts the ball in places that maximize YAC. Maybe PFF wants to pretend that isn't a real phenomenon, but it is. Grossman vs. Brady...I don't think it's fair to compare what Gaffney after the catch with Welker.

I only compared Gaffney to Welker because people think Gaffney is this deep threat.

I also don't think you are giving Welker enough credit though. I can't count how many times Welker catches the ball in traffic and he just makes defenders miss him (or not get a clean hit) to get another 5-10 yards.

 

[captain stone]

Well Jesse Holley got a lot of looks in that last preseason game. I'm not impressed with him, but at least he is a true wideout. Kinda hard to imagine Jeremy Ebert or Kerry Taylor getting in the final roster.

I was hoping for good things from Holley last night. He's big, fast & tough.
Unfortunately, he also has awful hands (except for that sideline catch that might or might not
have been in bounds), and has no idea how to set up a CB or finish a route.
Sorry Michael, but we'll be waiving Buh-Bye to Jesse on Friday.

 

[pherein]

Chargers - Let's see what Meachem can do without Brees, the dome, and three better receivers (plus Graham) drawing coverage away from him. Otherwise, their receivers a whole lot of "meh..."

I'll give you four of the teams on your list. The rest, I'll take the Pats.

Yeah I agree, Gates is showing his age and not as impossible to cover. Floyd is a decent WR but 30, and his best days are behind him. His career has been as a 600-700 yrd WR. The guy you throw to when everyone else is not open, or a redone threat.
I think they bought the farm on meachem. But they have issues on their OL, and are a single good RB team. IF he dosnt pan out as a top WR, they might have serious problems.
By our stats meachem was far on the list of Brees's progression. Even behind shockey, when he was our TE.
It could be that we have to many toys, and meachem just never got a fair shake, but when Colston went out in 2008 and Lance Moore, a 5ft 9" guy with nothing close to meachems vertical, was one of the top WR in the NFL and #1 on the saints. So its hard to say how he will do.
But, and just my opinion, I think even if meachem turns out to be the gifted WR we hoped he would be, the chargers have to many other problems at WR/TE to be a consistent danger. I so respect Gates, but not sure why they are not addressing his position yet.
I wish him well though hes a good guy.

 

[Brady_12]

Hakeem Nicks and Lloyd are a wash - Wes Welker is who Victor Cruz wants to grow up to be,. So lets cut the crap about we having no one who is as good as the Giants. Those 2 guys are good, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. BTW- want to compare TE's??????

Or QBs? 10 chars.....

 

[Finnishfan]

Hilarious or I am missing something in the translation, big time.

Lost in translation is the correct alternative.

But I'm glad if I gave you an unintentional laugh.

 

[Finnishfan]

I was hoping for good things from Holley last night. He's big, fast & tough.
Unfortunately, he also has awful hands (except for that sideline catch that might or might not
have been in bounds), and has no idea how to set up a CB or finish a route.
Sorry Michael, but we'll be waiving Buh-Bye to Jesse on Friday.

I agree with the hands issue and suspect also that he will be cut. But we will see that today, and the final cuts always bring in at least few surprises.

 

[ATippett56]

I agree with the hands issue and suspect also that he will be cut. But we will see that today, and the final cuts always bring in at least few surprises.

Jesse Holley won't be one of them.

 

[Reckedtrek]

I was hoping for good things from Holley last night. He's big, fast & tough.
Unfortunately, he also has awful hands (except for that sideline catch that might or might not
have been in bounds), and has no idea how to set up a CB or finish a route.
Sorry Michael, but we'll be waiving Buh-Bye to Jesse on Friday.

That catch was in bounds. The side angle camera showed it clearly and he maintained possession. I still don't think he's staying, but credit is due for that catch.
What killed me more than his hands was him giving up on the long bomb with about 5-10 yards to go and he just quit. The ball was in the air and he just quit! WTF?! The expressions on Hoyer's and McD's faces said it all.

 

[BradyManny]

I only compared Gaffney to Welker because people think Gaffney is this deep threat.

I also don't think you are giving Welker enough credit though. I can't count how many times Welker catches the ball in traffic and he just makes defenders miss him (or not get a clean hit) to get another 5-10 yards.

Good point - did not mean to take anything away from Wes.

 

[VJCPatriot]

With Branch and Stallworth gone what does this mean for the Pats WR core?

Is Edelman expected to pick it up a notch? Are Holley/Ebert anything more than PS fodder? I know Slater will be included in the WR group, but he's only nominally a receiver, we all know he's really there for ST play.

Right now we have - Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, Ebert, Holley, Slater.
Anyone concerned about the backend of the WR group?

 

[patfanken]

With Branch and Stallworth gone what does this mean for the Pats WR core?

Is Edelman expected to pick it up a notch? Are Holley/Ebert anything more than PS fodder? I know Slater will be included in the WR group, but he's only nominally a receiver, we all know he's really there for ST play.

Right now we have - Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, Ebert, Holley, Slater.
Anyone concerned about the backend of the WR group?

Here's how I see it.

1. If we don't keep the FB, we keep all 4 TE's. I don't see us keeping 4 TE's AND a FB.

2. If the big 4 (Gronk/Hernandez/Lloyd/Welker aren't injured then who plays behind them is sort of moot.

3. I think we keep 4 WRs on the active 46 man game day roster Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, and Slater. Slater can be useful as a 3rd WR who can run a fast 9 or deep post cut. He'll be fine if that's all he has to do 3 or 4 times a game. Edelman can back up Welker. Hernandez can back up Lloyd because he also has that kind of absurd body control size and quick feet and might even be faster. Fells backs up Gronk, and Shiancoe backs up Hernandez

4. If Lloyd is out for a longer period of time, I'd be much happier to see us pick up a vet like Gaffney to "replace him". Though I think Hernandez could do the job there, I think the offense as a whole be better off using him as a wildcard all over the formation than strictly outside.

5. And of course I'd love to see Edelman get a true shot at some serious reps on the outside or in the slot to see if he has "it" or not. Actually I hope no one gets hurt and I don't find out this season. But, clearly BB has a lot more confidence in Julian as a WR than the general board.

6. I think we'll keep either Taylor or Ebert on the 53 with the other being on the PS

Now if you don't take the myopic view of it, that's a receiver group that is both deeper and better than the great majority of passing threats in the league. Lots of available receivers, most of them above average targets.

 

[Ring 6]

Here's how I see it.

1. If we don't keep the FB, we keep all 4 TE's. I don't see us keeping 4 TE's AND a FB.

2. If the big 4 (Gronk/Hernandez/Lloyd/Welker aren't injured then who plays behind them is sort of moot.

3. I think we keep 4 WRs on the active 46 man game day roster Welker, Lloyd, Edelman, and Slater. Slater can be useful as a 3rd WR who can run a fast 9 or deep post cut. He'll be fine if that's all he has to do 3 or 4 times a game. Edelman can back up Welker. Hernandez can back up Lloyd because he also has that kind of absurd body control size and quick feet and might even be faster. Fells backs up Gronk, and Shiancoe backs up Hernandez

4. If Lloyd is out for a longer period of time, I'd be much happier to see us pick up a vet like Gaffney to "replace him". Though I think Hernandez could do the job there, I think the offense as a whole be better off using him as a wildcard all over the formation than strictly outside.

5. And of course I'd love to see Edelman get a true shot at some serious reps on the outside or in the slot to see if he has "it" or not. Actually I hope no one gets hurt and I don't find out this season. But, clearly BB has a lot more confidence in Julian as a WR than the general board.

6. I think we'll keep either Taylor or Ebert on the 53 with the other being on the PS

Now if you don't take the myopic view of it, that's a receiver group that is both deeper and better than the great majority of passing threats in the league. Lots of available receivers, most of them above average targets.

If, in fact, Gaffney was cut because he is injured and will be back by week 2, then the WR position ends up just where a lot of people expected with Welker, Lloyd and Gaffney playing, Edelman as a s/ter who gets a few reps, Ebert as a developmental guy, and Slater as the emergency fill in.

 

[patfanken]

If, in fact, Gaffney was cut because he is injured and will be back by week 2, then the WR position ends up just where a lot of people expected with Welker, Lloyd and Gaffney playing, Edelman as a s/ter who gets a few reps, Ebert as a developmental guy, and Slater as the emergency fill in.

Yup that will pretty much be it. So either way there is no reason for the kind of panic some people have shown. There are probably 30 other teams who would like to be in as "thin " a WR situation as we are.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I think people are vastly underestimating just how good of shape the Pats are in with their #1 and #2 wideouts.

Over the past 2 seasons only 4 wideouts (Megatron, R White, Fitz and M Wallace) have more receiving yards than do each of Welker and Lloyd.

We all know just how dominating Welker has been of late but Lloyd is just 1 season removed from being:

#1 in the NFL in receiving yards
#1 in the NFL in 1st down % (of WR with over 45 receptions)
#2 in the NFL in YPG (behind A Johnson)
#2 in the NFL in first downs made (behind R White)
#2 in the NFL in catches over 40 yards (behind M Wallace)
#3 in the NFL receiving average (behind D Jackson and M Wallace)
#4 in the NFL in TD's by a WR (behind Megatron, Jennings and Bowe)

Unless Lloyd has lost it, and/or, he and Brady somehow don't connect, I see no reason why he won't excel and combine with Welker/Gronk/Hernandez, to be an unstoppable force.

 

[captain stone]

Slater has the worst set of hands of any skill position player on the New England Patriots roster.

I'm surprised that the New England Patriots organization has not developed Slater into a backup safety. In a nutshell, Slater can tackle, can't catch.

And he's not that good a tackler, either.

 

[captain stone]

That catch was in bounds. The side angle camera showed it clearly and he maintained possession. I still don't think he's staying, but credit is due for that catch.
What killed me more than his hands was him giving up on the long bomb with about 5-10 yards to go and he just quit. The ball was in the air and he just quit! WTF?! The expressions on Hoyer's and McD's faces said it all.

Did Jesse Holley cost Brian Hoyer his job?

 

[Creative Username]

Did Jesse Holley cost Brian Hoyer his job?

I wouldn't go that far. Most likely the Pats coaches know what really happens but the lemons (I mean, replacement refs) can't see that. And also, Hoyer had a better night overall than Mallet. Mallet has had the better preseason on the whole, which may be why Hoyer was cut.

 

[Mack Herron]

Ebert cut.

 

[BradyManny]

Unless Lloyd has lost it, and/or, he and Brady somehow don't connect, I see no reason why he won't excel and combine with Welker/Gronk/Hernandez, to be an unstoppable force.

Both Welker & Lloyd have missed practices due to injury this camp. If that happens in the season, you have Brady throwing to Slater & Edelman, both players being backed up by no one.

If Patriot fans aren't at least curious as to what he overall plan at the position is, I think we're being a little overly optimistic.