- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
- Messages
- 76,883
- Reaction score
- 66,866
Registered Members experience this forum ad and noise-free.
CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.He has functioned in this system at a high level. Britt and Dorsett have not had a season or an off season so reasonably have more to learn. Both have considerable up side, and will likely get an off season to develop. If MM is activated, which has to be a strong possibility or else why designate him, I doubt they release a WR. Either a player goes to IR (e.g., Gillislee) or an end of roster release (Grissom) is more likely in my view.I'm still trying to figure out what MM brings to the table, after all this missed time, that makes him worth kicking another WR off the roster at this point in the season.
how long do the patriots have to activate mitchell? I would imagine they will this week if hes good to go?
He has functioned in this system at a high level. Britt and Dorsett have not had a season or an off season so reasonably have more to learn. Both have considerable up side, and will likely get an off season to develop. If MM is activated, which has to be a strong possibility or else why designate him, I doubt they release a WR. Either a player goes to IR (e.g., Gillislee) or an end of roster release (Grissom) is more likely in my view.
Thats my question. After missing the entire year what can he bring to the table?I'm still trying to figure out what MM brings to the table, after all this missed time, that makes him worth kicking another WR off the roster at this point in the season.
In the second half of the season, Burkhead has been the most productive receiver in the short-range (<10yds), followed by Lewis, while White was that guy in the first half of the season. All are real run-pass threats and a critical component of this season's offense.
Cooks and Gronk have been extremely productive in deep-range receiving (>15 yds), with an occasional supplement from Dorsett.
But Amendola has been virtually the only viable mid-range (10-15 yds) tgt for the last half of the season since Hogan was injured (Hogan had been running more mid-range routes in the first half). Last season, as with most seasons, the mid-range dimension of the passing attack was dominant with Edelman, Mitchell and Bennett supplemented by Amendola. This season, there's been a hole in the middle of the passing attack with the vast majority of throws going short or deep.
I seems to me that getting Hogan and Mitchell back, if possible, would help restore quite a bit of that mid-range dimension, allow the passing attack to be much more balanced and help sustain drives.
Thats my question. After missing the entire year what can he bring to the table?
We know what he can do when he is healthy. If he is healthy he passes Britt.
If he is close to that and he and Tom can get on the same page, I think its huge lift for the intermediate game.
I don't think this is correct. He began practicing on Wednesday, 12/27, after not doing so since 9/21, soon after he was placed on IR.
So Britt and MM would both be luxuries, not essentials. And that's without counting the backup TEs, at all. I'm missing something, and it's probably obvious, but nothing's making me say "Ah ha! That's it.".
But what gets me is that, if all WRs, TEs and RBs are healthy
Cooks/Hogan/Dorsett/Gronk - Deep threats
Hogan/Amendola/Cooks/Gronk - Middle threats
Amendola/Hogan/Burkhead/White/Lewis - Short threats
So Britt and MM would both be luxuries, not essentials. And that's without counting the backup TEs, at all. I'm missing something, and it's probably obvious, but nothing's making me say "Ah ha! That's it.".
I think that designating him to return was more about VV not even being close to a return and the coaching staff just keeping MM around just in case someone else gets dinged up. We essentially have him for free in those 3 weeks as he has a roster exemption. And realistically he needed to have a couple of weeks of practice if he were to be activated to be anywhere close to match shape.
If it were me and MM is 100% heathy and in 2016 SB form with TB12 i'd ditch Dorsett.
Thats the ah ha for me
Even stranger, was Vince Valentine abducted by aliens? About 2 months ago, a report was about each going to meetings, each being closer to returning, and poof, nothing has happened.
Mitchell has at least been practicing but for whatever reason, they have not moved Valentine to season ending IR. Hmm. is it possible to have not played all year and then be effective out of nowhere? I highly doubt it.
It's been a super strange year with a lot of these injuries and it happened right out of the gate in preseason, obviously starting with Edelman.
Since 2009, for whatever the reason, starting with the Welker ACL injury in Week 17 that year, in the odd seasons ('09, '11, '13, '15, '17), the Pats were completely derailed by injuries to very key players.
It happened this year, too, including a somewhat predictable Nink retirement, but the depth BB has built in here, in various ways, has been incredible. This team is more like a 10-6 or 9-7 kind of team somewhere else in the NFL. But, not here.
I find it very funny how great a GM BB is, but no one ever says it. They just say he's a great coach, the greatest ever. Well, he's the best GM ever because he has the strongest resume of any Cap Era GM.
The "reports" about both Valentine's and Mitchell's readiness to begin practicing were always mixed. Players with eligibility to return (NFI, PUP, IR-DtR) all typically attend meetings, so that's not much of an indicator of anything.
One Mitchell was designated for the one remaining DtR spot, Valentine automatically reverted to season-ending IR. In any case, it's usually easier to replace a reserve DT with a guy off the street than it is to replace a WR in the Pats offense - and the Pats did that with RJF.
Whether or not Mitchell is healthy enough to contribute in any capacity remains to be seen.
A good portion of BB's "genius" as GM is in having Caserio and in maintaining a fully-staffed, in-house scouting department - which many other teams do not. About 75% of the teams outsource the bulk of their scouting to one of the large scouting co-ops that run the Combine.
That would be the logical assessment and the main reason why we'd be back in a Super Bowl.
If the Pats beat Tenn and get stuck with Jax, they'll need everything possible to beat that D.
Ok, I accept that such a move would work for you, but it doesn't really make sense to me, with Dorsett being under contract for next year and seeming to show signs of being able to function in the offense. Maybe the staff doesn't think it's seen enough, but Dorsett's been blocking well enough, and getting open enough, that people have noticed. With Edelman being an aging bounce-back player, and Amendola being another year older, I personally think the team would be well served to be heading into next year with
Amendola
Edelman
Hogan
Cooks
Mitchell
Britt
Dorsett
Legit slot WR prospect
as its core WR competition group.
I wasn't particularly impressed with the JAX defense versus the Bills. It didn't appear to be significantly better than the Pat defense was - twice - facing Taylor, McCoy & Co.
And the JAX offense looked awful against the Bills defense.