Winning with this current receiver corp is not sustainable

[cmasspatsfan]

I full expected to see a thread like this after the game today, truth is we're spoiled. Even after a great preseason by Gronk and Ahern they both only caught one pass in their first game, in Gronks case for 1 yard. Lot of rookies on this team, patience is required.

 

[RIpats88]

you cant over-react over one game...as bad as he was, Thompkins we have to remember is a rookie in his first NFL game who is going to endure some growing pains....Even Gronk/hernandez didnt bust out of the gates in 2010 running...

most of those mistakes he made are correctable..and once Gronk comes back, I think it will open up the offense more...bradys pecking order probably goes

1.amendola
2.Gronk
3. Edelman
4.Vereen
5. Thompkins

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

If they don't get improved TE and X receiver play then things could get dicey when the better secondary teams play the Pats. The Pats got nothing out of these spots today and it almost cost them against a secondary that was highly suspect.

 

[patsfan-1982]

as bad as Thompkins was 4 catches for 42 yards he's on pace for 64 rec for 672 yards that's pretty good for any rookie WR and its great for a UDFA

 

[mgteich]

It doesn't work for your downfield threat to be your #5 target.

you cant over-react over one game...as bad as he was, Thompkins we have to remember is a rookie in his first NFL game who is going to endure some growing pains....Even Gronk/hernandez didnt bust out of the gates in 2010 running...

most of those mistakes he made are correctable..and once Gronk comes back, I think it will open up the offense more...bradys pecking order probably goes

1.amendola
2.Gronk
3. Edelman
4.Vereen
5. Thompkins

 

[AzPatsFan]

Re: Winning with this current receiver core is not sustainable

Thompkins was absolute garbage. I normally don't notice these many things but MAN did his mistakes ever stick out to me.

- throw comes his way. stumbles. lucky it didn't become INT
- catches ball. but only gets 1 foot in bounds. 2 was very possible.
- runs route out of bounds and makes the catch
- drops late TD catch


Edelman and Amendola played outstanding. Can't win with 2 slot WRs though. Hopefully Amendola is fine. His injuries bother me though.

Tell that to Welker and Branch...

 

[BobDigital]

Do you guys see us picking up a WR this week?

It's amazing Brady was able to win a game with two short slot receivers as his only legit targets.

Not gonna happen. You can't just plug a WR into an NFL team this late.

We are gonna have to win with the guys we have and Gronk.

I am not worried about it as this point. I thought it would be very possible for the rookies to have a bad game and they did. It is not ideal but it does not mean the season is over. We just need them to get to a certain level before the playoffs. That is the goal and it is obtainable.

If Amendola, Edelman, Gronk and Vereen are healthy come playoff time they can carry 80% of the load for you passing wise. So you won't need your rookies to carry the day hopefully. All you need is to get 1 or 2 of these rookies up to speed by then so they can make those 5 or 6 key catches when the time comes.

 

[Pessimistic Pete]

If Amendola, Edelman, Gronk and Vereen are healthy come playoff time

If our season rests on these three guys all being healthy at the same time, consistently, then I'm quite scared.

This is the first time since 2006 I haven't thought "Ah, they'll get it together". Gronk is still such a huge question mark.

Basically, it appears our season is going to come down to 3 injury prone players not getting injured.

 

[Bruins29]

as bad as Thompkins was 4 catches for 42 yards he's on pace for 64 rec for 672 yards that's pretty good for any rookie WR and its great for a UDFA

I am on Thompkins side and want him to become a legit weapon and, I think he can with time. However you have to look at the whole body of work. 4/42 is fine for him on 7 or 8 targets. 14? He has to come up with more catches with that many touches. I think he will end up being fine but I was worried about the PS stars getting covered in real games by real players.

 

[Ozymandias]

It doesn't work for your downfield threat to be your #5 target.

Maybe, but don't you think Rob coming back will have a trickle down effect on the routes run by the pass catches as well? Thompkins, in that case, would probably run more routes similar to what Lloyd ran last season, perhaps. Which might be best catered toward his skill-set.

Getting Gronkowski could be big in that regard - he'll allow everyone to get back into their proper roles. Today we saw a lot of underneath routes ran by Amendola and Edelman. Rob's return could free them up to do more damage down the field along the boundary.

 

[ATippett56]

as bad as Thompkins was 4 catches for 42 yards he's on pace for 64 rec for 672 yards that's pretty good for any rookie WR and its great for a UDFA

5 takeaways from the Patriots-Bills game - Extra Points - Boston.com

Thompkins finished the game with four catches for 42 yards. He was targeted 14 times, just as much as Amendola. But his impact, along with that of rookie Josh Boyce (two targets, zero catches), was minimal.

Unacceptable

 

[Ive_Killed_People]

Re: Winning with this current receiver core is not sustainable

I don't know if an OP's user name ever fit a thread title so well.

Well there was that AHern thread I started once....

 

[patsfan-1982]

I am on Thompkins side and want him to become a legit weapon and, I think he can with time. However you have to look at the whole body of work. 4/42 is fine for him on 7 or 8 targets. 14? He has to come up with more catches with that many touches. I think he will end up being fine but I was worried about the PS stars getting covered in real games by real players.

that is true but im not sure its going to get a whole lot better with the rookies, Aaron Dobson may not do much if anything at all this season and Boyce they wont even let him return a kick

 

[patsfan-1982]

5 takeaways from the Patriots-Bills game - Extra Points - Boston.com



Unacceptable

your right it is unacceptable but he is a rookie and one that went Undrafted. I think they may have to sign vet WR im not sure who is out there but I do know they can cut LeGarrette Blount to sign who ever they sign

 

[SVN]

neither ridley or veeren did anything for us in our rookie yrs and it took veeren 2 yrs to finally emerge and we are asking and expecting our WR to suddenly play like vets at a position much harder than RB to learn. highly optimistic.

 

[moejr]

Man 1st week and some of you already want to lynch the rookies. This their first regular season NFL game. It's gonna take some time to get going. Some of you need to get a grip.

I am more concerned that we didn"t keep Fells or Ballard as an extra TE/WR

 

[Gumby]

Re: Winning with this current receiver core is not sustainable

Edelman isn't a slot receiver and isn't particularly short. He's about the same size as Brandon Lloyd. He's proven perfectly capable of playing both outside and inside. It's funny how people are blinded by a receiver's skin color in evaluating his skillset.

I (and NFL.com) beg to differ:

Brandon Lloyd
Height: 6-0 Weight: 200


Julian Edelman #11 WR
New England Patriots
Height: 5-10 Weight: 198

And I would mention that I do believe that is 5-9.75 ROUNDED UP (Lloyd rounded down)

As to whether he is a slot receiver; he didnt play that way yesterday; but he certainly was focused by the team in that direction in previous (developmental) years. So I dont think you can fault anyone for throwing that label at him.

He seems to have erased some doubts about ability to play outside yesterday; but his height IS A LIMITING FACTOR in how well he can be used on sideline routes. So I am not sure he will be first choice to play there but he works great in those TRIPS-packages with DA. Really gives them flex as to who runs the seam versus the undercut versus the bubble screen.

 

[DarrylS]

I expected this performance from our rookies, the jump from UDFA to the NFL is a huge one... check back around week 5 or 6 when an larger body of work can be examined.

What people often forget here is that there is more pressure on them because of the absence of Gronk and "he who shall not be named".. when they developed this roster they expected the other two to be present.

They were not anticipating both premier tight ends not to be there for game #1....

Lloyd is not the answer, he just no YAC to speak of and a poor locker room presence, why does anyone think that 31 other teams have passed on him??

 

[patsfanincleveland]

Re: Winning with this current receiver core is not sustainable

I posted these in a different thread but they’re more applicable to this conversation.

Brady to rookies: 4/17 for a 23.52% completion rate, 42 yards, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Brady to veterans: 25/35 for a 71.42% completion rate, 246 yards, 2 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.

Why exactly do you keep posting this anyway?

 

[RayClay]

Thomkins just had that dream where you wake up, you're in an NFL game, Tom Brady's throwing it to you and you can't remember how you got there.

He's going to be fine. The confidence he showed in preseason isn't going to go away. He got his jitters out of the way and they escaped with a win.