They’re writing us off again.

[203Pat]

It's accurate. You don't want to acknowledge the league wide high failure rate nor acknowledge the complexity of the Pats' offensive system which is why they go with vets and have only drafted 6 WRs in 18 years.

You'd rather say, " they suck and they know they suck" . Brilliant!

I don’t know why homers can’t just acknowledge that the team cannot draft quality receivers. Any time anything remotely negative is brought up about the team it’s always “yea but the other teams suck too!” I don’t care about the other teams failure or success rate. I don’t root for them. I hold the Patriots to a higher standard. They need to draft better receivers plain and simple whether you like it or not.

 

[203Pat]

Brandon Tate is 10 years in the league, and still playing.

He’s a kick returner.

 

[203Pat]

I think we may see a top 3 round pick this year, though. Aside from Berrios, the position has pretty much been ignored since Dobson/Boyce. You’ve got to keep trying. They may be able to bring in a free agent worth a damn (let’s hope so), but they’ve got to continue to throw stuff at the wall and see if something can stick.

Tate, Price, Dobson, Jackson were all higher round (top 3) picks, and Boyce went in the 4th IIRC. It’s time to address the position again.

I agree they have to this year. It will likely be a mix of a couple free agents and hopefully a receiver or two in the first 2-3 rounds. Someone aside from Edelman will need to catch passes next year.

 

[tom444]

It’s definitely much more of the former vs the latter. It may not necessarily be that they can’t spot WR talent as much as it is that they can’t spot WR talent that works in this particular system.

As far as the idea of BB not wanting to put up with selfish diva BS, I’m sure that goes for anyone, at every possible position on the team. That said, I’d bet anything that he manages a certain level of “diva type” behavior from many of the players and has throughout his coaching career. The idea that Belichick wouldn’t want to have young talent at the position on the cheap, for 4-5 yrs of a rookie contract just because the specific position of WR tends to produce selfish players is faulty—at least in my opinion.

Well, while we're complaining about the inability to draft talent at WR lets not forget that the receivers we've had have been good enough to get us to SB after SB. So something's working.

 

[Tony2046]

I don’t know why homers can’t just acknowledge that the team cannot draft quality receivers. Any time anything remotely negative is brought up about the team it’s always “yea but the other teams suck too!” I don’t care about the other teams failure or success rate. I don’t root for them. I hold the Patriots to a higher standard. They need to draft better receivers plain and simple whether you like it or not.

"I don't care what my neighbors failures or success rates are.... I just want a bigger house" haha

 

[maineman209]

Is it that they can't spot wide receiver talent, or is it that BB doesn't want to put up with the selfish deva BS that comes with so many of them?

I think part of the impression that the Pats are "bad at spotting WR talent" derives from an unwillingness to think about each prospect individually, rather than just as their "drafted as" positional designation.

For example, prospects like PK Sam, Brandon Tate and Bethel Johnson were drafted primarily as returners who the Pats were hoping to be able to develop into viable pass-catchers (BB actually said as much about Johnson).

Matthew Slater never played WR in college - he was primarily a special teams player who had filled in at DB occasionally. Obviously, Edelman wasn't a WR in college. Both of these guys were "drafted as" WR, but possibly for no other reason than the team is required to include a positional designation on the card that goes up to the podium.

Then there are the injuries. Malcolm Mitchell was obviously a "risk pick" due to his injury. Chad Jackson (a projected 1st-rounder with no injury history) showed at least some developmental potential as a rookie, but then he blew out his knee in the post-season and never recovered from it, so we never got the chance to find out what he might have become.

All of these guys are lumped together with 7th-round longshots (who might as well have been UDFAs) like Lucien, Gallon and Ebert to support the pre-emptive, forgone conclusion that "the Pats suck at drafting WRs." Berrios (late 6th round) has almost certainly been in corporated into the insurmountable pile of "evidence".

None of the above context matters to the folks who are absolutely convinced of the conclusion. Same with the notion that just maybe it would make sense to compare the Pats draft record with "WRs" to those of the other 31 teams. Offering up context, the suggestion of more thorough research, and a balanced perspective are merely "excuse-making".

No, no, no, no!! Can't have any of that! "The Pats Suck At Drafting WRs" is a FACT, it's THE TRUTH!! La, la, la, la ... I cn't hear you!

IMHO, the whole thing is just irrational.

 

[PatsDeb]

I’m not saying he had a bad year. Neither does the article. It says his stats declined. They did. This fan base gets worked up over everything.

Tom Brady: "Stats are for losers. See you on Sunday."

 

[maineman209]

Brandon Tate is 10 years in the league, and still playing.

As a returner - which is what the Pats drafted him as in the first damn place.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

I agree they have to this year. It will likely be a mix of a couple free agents and hopefully a receiver or two in the first 2-3 rounds. Someone aside from Edelman will need to catch passes next year.

Acknowledging that the most success the team has had in the last 12 years at the receiver position has come from trades/free agents (Moss/Welker* (he was a trade but sort of a free agent) I see them going that route again as long as Brady is QB. Very few rookies can adapt to the system quickly and we write them off. Deion Branch, Gaffney and Malcolm Mitchell when healthy were quick adapters but the option routes are not an easy pickup for most receivers...
Edelman also "got it". I saw that in his first preseason game in Philly when he repeatedly had to instruct Joey Galloway where to line up....
That might explain why it seems that Pittsburgh can draft receivers and we can't. If the receiver only has to know one route to run. " run a 7, run a 9 etc" it's a lot easier than, " if they are in cover 2, run a 7 yard in route but if they are man, run this route". The game has, as they say "Slowed down" for Brady and I'm sure the way he sees it after nearly 300 games is way different than a rookie receiver trying to see it the same way....
I see them trying to get free agents who have been in the league a few years and fit them in more than expecting draft picks to step in and produce...although it has happened on occasion.

 

[italian pat patriot]

I want only 1 qb when play.offs time...
TOM BRADY 12 !!!!!

CAPITO ?

 

[Tony2046]

I want only 1 qb when play.offs time...
TOM BRADY 12 !!!!!

CAPITO ?

Capisco.

 

[Nunchucks]

I think we should all accept that the Patriots are horrible at drafting productive receivers for a lot of reasons and leave it at that. I have no confidence that any receiver the Patriots draft will be productive. Whatever metrics they use to evaluate receivers in the draft is terrible and should be completely revamped.

Is this the year it happens? I really hope so.

Patriots draft needs:
DT, DT
TE, WR
LB, Safety
Hey look, CB is not on that list.

 

[203Pat]

I think we should all accept that the Patriots are horrible at drafting productive receivers for a lot of reasons and leave it at that. I have no confidence that any receiver the Patriots draft will be productive. Whatever metrics they use to evaluate receivers in the draft is terrible and should be completely revamped.

Is this the year it happens? I really hope so.

Patriots draft needs:
DT, DT
TE, WR
LB, Safety
Hey look, CB is not on that list.

No no no! If the receiver sucks it’s because he was supposed to be a kick returner!

 

[Whitt25]

"I don't care what my neighbors failures or success rates are.... I just want a bigger house" haha

I'm not even sure this is a good analogy. Wanting better receivers means we want a bigger house? It's just one position we're talking about. Just one.

Off the top of my head, so forgive me, but it's more like our windows (WRs) are stained and cracked. A lot of our neighbors have cleaner, stronger windows, but overall we live in a better house.

 

[supafly]

Well, while we're complaining about the inability to draft talent at WR lets not forget that the receivers we've had have been good enough to get us to SB after SB. So something's working.

Ha.

Yeah, that “something” is the great masker of weaknesses, and his name is Tom Brady. It’s okay to question the talent that’s come in the draft over the years at certain positions like WR or CB. No one should be “complaining” about it, but simply pointing out facts.

 

[Tony2046]

I'm not even sure this is a good analogy. Wanting better receivers means we want a bigger house? It's just one position we're talking about. Just one.

Off the top of my head, so forgive me, but it's more like our windows (WRs) are stained and cracked. A lot of our neighbors have cleaner, stronger windows, but overall we live in a better house.

Exactly.

But I'd counter your stained and cracked windows with a solid foundation and an 80,000 BTU fireplace. Better suited for the winter time.

Be careful with your response. I've been watching a lot of This Old House lately.

 

[Nunchucks]

I'm not even sure this is a good analogy. Wanting better receivers means we want a bigger house? It's just one position we're talking about. Just one.

Off the top of my head, so forgive me, but it's more like our windows (WRs) are stained and cracked. A lot of our neighbors have cleaner, stronger windows, but overall we live in a better house.

More like, we have old single pane windows and we want to buy new energy efficient double-pane windows.

 

[Whitt25]

Exactly.

But I'd counter your stained and cracked windows with a solid foundation and an 80,000 BTU fireplace. Better suited for the winter time.

Be careful with your response. I've been watching a lot of This Old House lately.

Yes, our neighbors have worse problems -- squirrels living in the attic, bad plumbing, old, rusty pipes, leaking roofs, and faulty furnace heaters that barely warm the house.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I don’t know why homers can’t just acknowledge that the team cannot draft quality receivers. Any time anything remotely negative is brought up about the team it’s always “yea but the other teams suck too!” I don’t care about the other teams failure or success rate. I don’t root for them. I hold the Patriots to a higher standard. They need to draft better receivers plain and simple whether you like it or not.

Look- I like you but please repeat after me.....

They don't really try.

Yes, Jackson and Dobson were busts. No question. They just think their likelihood of success is via FA or trades.

 

[203Pat]

Look- I like you but please repeat after me.....

They don't try.

They do try. They just don’t do well. It’s okay to admit that 1 real receiver prospect and one converted QB are the only 2 Bill has drafted that have worked out. It doesn’t make you any less of a fan to admit it.