Hollins is playing chess not checkers

[Triumph]

He is providing exactly what he was brought to the team to do. I am glad we have him and he is becoming another weapon for Drake.

Some people here wanted Hollins cut to make way for Baker or Polk.

They claimed that he got McDaniel's fired and that Hollins would never be productive in NE.

I argued that he knew the McDaniel's offense from the Raiders and that Hollins would help the other NE WRs get up to speed. Secondly, Hollins is NEs tallest WR for matchups vs shorter DBs. Lastly, Hollins has big play ability like the TD he caught vs KC last AFCC.

Hollins will make a big play in crunch time down the stretch because defenses will forget about him and then its too late.

 

[Triumph]

Hollins catch rate is currently 85.7% the same as Diggs.

For every 20 passes Hollins or Diggs way they catch 17 of them.

 

[p8ryts]

Hollins catch rate is currently 85.7% the same as Diggs.

For every 20 passes Hollins or Diggs way they catch 17 of them.

I was skeptical of Hollins, but I have learned to appreciate his value to the team.

 

[Patsfan1645]

@PatsFan2

Just saying........

Bourne



Hollins

 

[upstater1]

I'll give my self credit and say I called it that Mack Hollins would have a big game

Although I've been calling that for the last 8 weeks so I'm not as prophetic as I'd like to believe!

Having a tall WR like that is like having an extra TE on the field, only he runs deeper routes

I think we're going to see more TDs from him too as they get down to goal line stands

The fact that he's only been getting a few passes to this point seems consistent with what McDaniels is calling - spread the field to such a degree that we can alleviate double teams and pressure on Maye by never being predictable

As a result, you tend to see one guy have a bigger day as teams focus on say, Diggs or Boutte

Heck - even Hooper's great catch was really a result of Maye spreading the field all day

It's now normal to have 7 plus receivers make catches in a given game

We have 8 dangerous players out there: Diggs, Boutte, Hollins, Douglas, Hooper, Henry, Rham & Henderson.

This is one of the most diverse Patriots teams I can remember in terms of weaponry.

Heck, throw Marcus Jones out there for a new wrinkle, and maybe Kyle Williams too!

 

[Patsfan1645]

We have 8 dangerous players out there: Diggs, Boutte, Hollins, Douglas, Hooper, Henry, Rham & Henderson.

This is one of the most diverse Patriots teams I can remember in terms of weaponry.

Heck, throw Marcus Jones out there for a new wrinkle, and maybe Kyle Williams too!

If we could get Williams online we would be cooking. We dont have the scary superstar but what we do have is options and can morph week to week into what we need to succeed, so many teams cant. They have one playmaker who accounts for 80% of their production and thats it. We will not have some guy with Madden stats at the end of the year but what we will have is a lot of guys who have been productive when needed. I will take that.

 

[Hugepatsfan]

Hollins is perfect in his role. They still need one more productive WR IMO. That can come from internal development of Pop Douglas or Kyle Williams. Douglas is a pure slot which is kind of clunky with Diggs since he excels when used there too, so you aren't getting the max value of a third WR with him since his playing time takes away from Diggs to some degree. So ideally it'd be Williams who emerges, but that may be a next year (if ever) thing at this point with him. Chism, if you include him, would be in the same category as Diggs where a slot is less than ideal.

Teams still don't consistently respect our WR ability to win downfield and it puts extra stress on our running game. We see very little two deep looks so far this year which means teams are able to put an extra guy near the LOS to neuter the run game. Maye is such an exceptionally talented passer and our WRs are still GOOD ENOUGH to make lots of plays against those "dare you to do it" defenses but having a 3rd more credible WR to run out there more often would take it up a notch to where they're good enough to make those plays against defenses dedicating more attention to the passing game, which in turn will open up things underneath for the run game. This is NOT crippling weakness that they can't still be very productive despite it as we've seen this year. But I do believe it's something they're going to want/need to add in the near term here if they want to get to another level, and sooner the better because Diggs might not have a ton of time left at this level so you'd like to overlap with his "prime" years left as much as possible.

Hollins should always stick as the perfect WR4/pseudo-TE3 that can rotate in with those guys depending on situation/formation.

 

[Bill Lee]

6'4 221lbs bigger than most receivers but faster than most tight ends. He can create some nice mismatches. He has good hands so I think they should give him some jump balls. He could be what Harry was supposed to be.

I've thought the same thing once or twice.
I wasn't brave enough to post it, thou...
You are a braver man than I.

 

[n1997y]

You are a braver man than I.

there is another trait that is often mistaken for bravery….
(jk)

 

[n1997y]

We dont have the scary superstar (except at QB)

FIFY, lol

It’s a good point though, having three to five guys who can get open and catch the ball may be better than having one star receiver. Everybody loves the idea of a cheat code WR1, and that’s great until they get shut down or hurt. It’s harder for opponents to design and execute coverages to shut down everybody.

 

[BUSTAMOVE]

Liked the kid when they got him
He is a role player WR
As some others have said he plays a WR/TE role
He’ll get some catches and TD’s but also above average blocking skills
Also a locker room leader

 

[signbabybrady]

@SammyBlueCat

 

[PP2]

Taking Barefoot to a new level.

Let's just hope he doesn't run into Rex Ryan.

 

[PatsFan2]

Let's just hope he doesn't run into Rex Ryan.

lol Rex Ryan would much on those toes.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Hollins is perfect in his role. They still need one more productive WR IMO. That can come from internal development of Pop Douglas or Kyle Williams. Douglas is a pure slot which is kind of clunky with Diggs since he excels when used there too, so you aren't getting the max value of a third WR with him since his playing time takes away from Diggs to some degree. So ideally it'd be Williams who emerges, but that may be a next year (if ever) thing at this point with him. Chism, if you include him, would be in the same category as Diggs where a slot is less than ideal.

Teams still don't consistently respect our WR ability to win downfield and it puts extra stress on our running game. We see very little two deep looks so far this year which means teams are able to put an extra guy near the LOS to neuter the run game. Maye is such an exceptionally talented passer and our WRs are still GOOD ENOUGH to make lots of plays against those "dare you to do it" defenses but having a 3rd more credible WR to run out there more often would take it up a notch to where they're good enough to make those plays against defenses dedicating more attention to the passing game, which in turn will open up things underneath for the run game. This is NOT crippling weakness that they can't still be very productive despite it as we've seen this year. But I do believe it's something they're going to want/need to add in the near term here if they want to get to another level, and sooner the better because Diggs might not have a ton of time left at this level so you'd like to overlap with his "prime" years left as much as possible.

Hollins should always stick as the perfect WR4/pseudo-TE3 that can rotate in with those guys depending on situation/formation.

Disagree completely that teams dont respect their downfield ability, Maye is averaging over 9 yards a reception while leading the league in accuracy, every team in football knows that. And they have 4 receivers who are producing significantly, so this idea that William has to produce for them to be successful is also wrong, most teams don't have 5 productive WR's, they are 8-2, have aurpassed everyones expectations by a mile, and are poised to win their division, how much more success were they supposed to have?

 

[n1997y]

Disagree completely that teams dont respect their downfield ability, Maye is averaging over 9 yards a reception while leading the league in accuracy, every team in football knows that. And they have 4 receivers who are producing significantly, so this idea that William has to produce for them to be successful is also wrong, most teams don't have 5 productive WR's, they are 8-2, have aurpassed everyones expectations by a mile, and are poised to win their division, how much more success were they supposed to have?

8-2?

DISRESPECT!

Pay attention!

lol.

 

[PatsFan2]

....

 

[Thelonious]

The culture of this team is now such that every player - star, starter, scrub, or spare part - can realize his potential. This is a far cry from the dismal toxicity we had for a few years there. This is a real accomplishment on the part of Vrabel and his excellent staff.

 

[Dec54]

Just a really solid player to have. Versatile and smart situational football player. Hopefully he's around for the rest of his career to be honest.

Right with you on this one. Not only does he play bloody well, but he makes me smile too.

 

[Dec54]

Some people here wanted Hollins cut to make way for Baker or Polk.

They claimed that he got McDaniel's fired and that Hollins would never be productive in NE.

I argued that he knew the McDaniel's offense from the Raiders and that Hollins would help the other NE WRs get up to speed. Secondly, Hollins is NEs tallest WR for matchups vs shorter DBs. Lastly, Hollins has big play ability like the TD he caught vs KC last AFCC.

Hollins will make a big play in crunch time down the stretch because defenses will forget about him and then its too late.

Can someone please explain to me where the claim came from that he got McDaniels fired from the Raiders. Sounds really outlandish to me and a load of bollocks.