Article: The Patriots' Tight End Problem is Becoming Critical

[captain stone]

Izzo is an acceptable #2 TE. We just don't have a #1, or a backup.

Surely you can't be serious...He's barely an acceptable #3, never mind a #2...

 

[Toofy]

Izzo has decent size and the last catch he caught got me excited .. i think he would do well with a better passer. I don't want izzo to go to Seattle and start performing like Hollister...

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Izzo has decent size and the last catch he caught got me excited .. i think he would do well with a better passer. I don't want izzo to go to Seattle and start performing like Hollister...

Izzo is only acceptable under McDaniels where he still has zero value to the tight end position. Izzo gets 1 catch a game and below average blocking. A total waste of snaps. Not developing the rookies. But this is the same reason why McDaniels is nothing without Brady. McDaniels had the league's lowest tight end production in St Louis (also the lowest scoring offense in the entire league) plus the disaster in Denver.

Playing Izzo so much makes zero sense. It doensn't help now nor does it help at all in the future. Izzo is barely a NFL player.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Completion percentage isn't an all encompassing stat. Volume, yards per attempt, TD's, INT's and turnovers... these things matter as well when tabulating and measuring QB passing.

I'm not going to knock Cam when he's made incremental improvements, but I need to see it continue under optimal passing conditions and against better D's before I believe in a turnaround. Cam has thrown the 30th fewest passes in the NFL this season. If the team is afraid to let him throw and limits his throwing then they can protect his accuracy stats... it doesn't make him good.

He is a career 60% passer who throws almost as many INT's as he does TD's, he also fumbles a lot, he has played in 132 games and has a combined 170 turnovers between INT's and Fumbles.. Also his "accuracy" is largely created by scheme, rolling him out, using RPO, check downs, creating short manageable throws... all that goes out the window against good defenses and without practice to scheme a game plan he is useless.

Good/great defenses have the personnel to stuff the run and still cover. They don't have to commit to eight in the box, they can use four or five and a spy. They can contain Cam and force him to make throws from the pocket, when asked to be a traditional passer Cam has never been good. It's not our weapons if this is a career long problem. It was a problem when the Broncos did it to him in the Super Bowl in 2015 and when he's had his best collection of weapons.

I expected Cam to be where he is now but sooner in the season, I expected at least Matt Cassel like efficiency with better legs and size to run with... a game manager. He is taking a long time to develop, he what he is. If he continues to improve, perhaps he can be the Ryan Fitzpatrick bridge guy to the draft pick they make next offseason. But to this point he is the biggest reason the offense is ranked 25th in points per drive.

Nah the biggest reason for the offensive struggles is because the OC kept forcing crappy offense to NKeal Harry or Sony Michel. And calling plays as if Newton was Jacoby Brissett. Newton clearly can pass, see the Seattle game. And the offense as scoring points both pre-covid plus 3 weeks after the Covid-infection. I don't buy the narrative that Newton is 'improving'. He's already good, he's a 8 year vet, but limited by the crap players around him plus the OC's limited narrow view of play calls to Cam.

.

 

[Wozzy]

Nah the biggest reason for the offensive struggles is because the OC kept forcing crappy offense to NKeal Harry or Sony Michel. And calling plays as if Newton was Jacoby Brissett. Newton clearly can pass, see the Seattle game. And the offense as scoring points both pre-covid plus 3 weeks after the Covid-infection. I don't buy the narrative that Newton is 'improving'. He's already good, he's a 8 year vet, but limited by the crap players around him plus the OC's limited narrow view of play calls to Cam.

Cam's really good against bad defenses, all we have to do is play Seattle and Jets every week and we'll be good at passing. He's also good at locking onto one target and not seeing the entire field, Harry had 8 catches in week 2 before Cam went off the covid cliff, when Cam came back he locked onto Harry and threw him a hospital ball. Now he's locking onto Meyers. Like magic when Cam plays better his weapons play better, when he doesn't they don't. The QB throws to the receiver right, it's not the other way around?

In the last game he started Sony had 117 yards rushing on 9 carries and 140 yards of total offense... no talent... good call.

 

[captain stone]

Izzo is only acceptable under McDaniels where he still has zero value to the tight end position. Izzo gets 1 catch a game and below average blocking. A total waste of snaps. Not developing the rookies...

Playing Izzo so much makes zero sense. It doesn't help now nor does it help at all in the future. Izzo is barely a NFL player.

The rookies aren't available right now, so...

But I do want to see what Jordan Thomas has to offer, if anything...especially vs the team that no longer wanted him...

 

[Ochmed Jones]

How bad must Cantrell have been to not be able to beat out Thomas or izzo?

 

[archstanton543]

How bad must Cantrell have been to not be able to beat out Thomas or izzo?

Might as well have been Jerry Cantrell.

 

[captain stone]

How bad must Cantrell have been to not be able to beat out Thomas or izzo?

Yeah I was also hoping that he would be signed, if for no other reason than to at least have somebody in the pipeline...

 

[DropKickFlutie]

The total lack of even trying to develop any of the rookie TEs into the passing game in the entire year of 2020 should be reason enough for a new offensive coordinator.

 

[archstanton543]

The total lack of even trying to develop any of the rookie TEs into the passing game in the entire year of 2020 should be reason enough for a new offensive coordinator.

Hey! Izzo had two catches on that final drive!

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Hey! Izzo had two catches on that final drive!

Hehe. A total waste not getting any of the rookie TEs involved. Izzo averaging 1 catch a game is a total waste of time. McD is totally clueless and doesn't care about tight ends, to his peril

 

[p8ryts]

Hehe. A total waste not getting any of the rookie TEs involved. Izzo averaging 1 catch a game is a total waste of time. McD is totally clueless and doesn't care about tight ends, to his peril

How many times do they throw to him? TE seems to be last option in offense.

 

[DropKickFlutie]

How many times do they throw to him? TE seems to be last option in offense.

which is an indictment on the OC for not valuing the TE at all in the passing game. When McD was in St Louis the leading TE receiver had 83 yards all season in 2011. The worst offense in the league, 12 pts/game

 

[DropKickFlutie]

It's mind boggling how Asiasi has been muted this season. We need a new offensive coordinator who values developing the TE group

.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

It's mind boggling how Asiasi has been muted this season. We need a new offensive coordinator who values developing the TE group

.

hard to contribute from the trainers table.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

Rookie TEs do not contribute a lot under BB except Gronk and he who is not mentioned (exceptional talents). I guess the LaCosse optout surprised them. Seems like another vet might have helped. Complaining about TE rookies not being used more when that is normal operating procedure .........

 

[archstanton543]

Nah the biggest reason for the offensive struggles is because the OC kept forcing crappy offense to NKeal Harry or Sony Michel. And calling plays as if Newton was Jacoby Brissett. Newton clearly can pass, see the Seattle game. And the offense as scoring points both pre-covid plus 3 weeks after the Covid-infection. I don't buy the narrative that Newton is 'improving'. He's already good, he's a 8 year vet, but limited by the crap players around him plus the OC's limited narrow view of play calls to Cam.

.

People always bring up the Seattle game which baffles me because A) Seattle has one of the worst pass defenses in the league and B) the Pats lost that game!

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Patriots Place Ryan Izzo On IR, Activate Devin Asiasi In Tight End Swap

 

[DropKickFlutie]

Patriots Place Ryan Izzo On IR, Activate Devin Asiasi In Tight End Swap - NESN.com

The New England Patriots placed starting tight end Ryan Izzo on injured reserve Thursday and activated rookie Devin Asiasi.

l.patsfans.com

Out of curiosity I thought it might be illuminating to look at the past before Gronk.

The 2011 Rams averaged 12 pts/game and were last 32/32 in total points scored. Their leading receiver in yards at the TE position, was Billy Balema with only 71 total receiving yards all year. McD was the OC.

2011 St. Louis Rams Rosters, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Check out the 2011 St. Louis Rams Roster, Stats, Schedule, Team Draftees, Injury Reports and more on Pro-Football-Reference.com.

www.pro-football-reference.com

Patriots Place Ryan Izzo On IR, Activate Devin Asiasi In Tight End Swap - NESN.com

The New England Patriots placed starting tight end Ryan Izzo on injured reserve Thursday and activated rookie Devin Asiasi.

l.patsfans.com