He's run some, of necessity after '07 but with less success of late. He's never been real willing to go across the middle and when he gets hit he likes it even less. He's a long strider, not a quick twitch guy. He doesn't make coverge miss on double moves, he either beats them or he tries to snooker them. But increasingly he's fooling less of them and his own QB more. I remember when he first got here and he and Brady took a couple of games to get their timing in sink even when he was open. He was coming off the field after a jump ball TD in the EZ and Bill was wacking him off the helmut saying that's what I mean, go get the ball at it's highest point. His jumping ability has diminished substantially over the last couple of seasons. He still has straight line speed. Although he struggles to get off the jam. The hands are still there but inconsistent I think due to lack of consistent focus. He was never a great route runner, but he was so gifted no one ever demanded that of him, either. I know he tried to do more here than he ever had. They asked him to do that in part to keep him involved. But he didn't always enjoy it and he wasn't always very effective (including as a blocker).
I distinctly recall the look Bill gave him coming off the field in that Panthers game last fall after having one ball picked and letting the next go through his hands. In fact I saw a still of that in my internet travels this week. It was classic wtf is up with him glare... I know everyone publicly defended him against his critics then, too... There was never really any other option because of his sensitive psyche. He didn't take individual performance criticism constructively.
He was traded because he was yielding diminishing returns. Bill's drafting this year reflected his intention to move on. He had to wait and see if the additions would pan out and Welker would make it back and if the reconfigured OL could withstand the potential loss of Mankins and then Kaczur. Had that not all come together or had he been willing to accept the fact that he wasn't in the future plans and just play out the last season of his deal, he'd still be here as a decoy seeing more limited duty. But he made it pretty obvious from week 1 on (and probably earlier) that he wasn't going to just go along quietly for the greater good. His goals and the teams were at cross purposes. That - as well as some of the oddball behavior - made the trade a no brainer, because the alternative was likely going to be rougher...along the lines of what Bruschi predicted.
