Patriots Sign RB/WR Sam McGuffie To Practice Squad

Along with WR, I also have little concern for the position of RB, which is what the thread was specifying in the first place--so I don't want to take it too far off track. Apologies for that.

I think our improvements are really pointing at the "bigs" in the trenches, not only now for but the future. Along with that I think that the secondary has improved for sure, but depending on the situations with Talib/Gregory can certainly be addressed again. If anything, our "bonus" picks could come in the area of TE or LB, and it's certainly possible that Belichick could see that as more of a need than I am, especially should the right player fall into our laps.

supafly said:

I thought I recognized the name from Michigan. Did he play out his entire career there?

I know it's not going to go over well with you, but I'm a huge OSU fan. One RB possibility that I absolutely love is the thought of Carlos Hyde coming here. Tell me that kid doesn't impress you...

Talk about running completely over people, but not sacrificing too much speed in the process. He could very well replace Blount at a cheaper level/cost. Originally he was projected around the 3rd round, but I think that he may have gone up to even a 2nd round status down the stretch of the year. Just about every single carry was just physically plowing someone over.

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yeah he played entire freshman year. he actually played pretty well. we were just a bad team. RR's first year.

and yeah, it's not fun being a michigan fan lately. i have zero faith in brady hoax. i'm done with mattison. al borges? i don't even know why he isn't fired yet this sunday morning. we were too arrogant and missed on harbaugh and miles. we tried to change with RR but that didn't work. and now we have a coach who doesn't have a clue. only thing he is good at is recruiting, but we lost Hand and Campbell. i won't even blame if Peppers decommit. and we recruit 4-5 stars who plays like 2-3 stars. we don't know how to develop talent. derrick green is a 5 star, but he isn't the half the runner carlos hyde is. he is only freshman, but i know for sure he ain't gonna be a big time.

i envy you guys. it's all about the coaching in college you guys had top 3 coaches for 15 years now. you guys had a great coach in tressel. now with urban meyer, you guys will be a force for years to come. i wish we get our own urban meyer someday. and brady hoax ain't that guy.

love mcguffie hopefully these red shirt guys pan out armstead could be very exciting as well as mcguffie, moe and harrison add that with the upcoming draft class and we will be looking great

Deus Irae said:

Davis and Green have been promoted to the big squad. This guy here's just the MacGuffin.

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Alfred H likes this post.

condon84 said:

Pats sure do love their short white dudes at receiver

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New England is really cold......

supafly said:

I have a decently optimistic view regarding the position of WR myself. I think that Edelman has a decent chance of returning, despite the high numbers some are throwing around. On top of that, at much as Amendola has "underwhelmed" at times, there have been some Patriot-like things that have impressed me such as his excellent blocking skills, his toughness, his flashes of talent, and his understanding of the offense.

The rookies all received some important reps this season, along with some starting roles and higher pressure situations. For the normal standard of Patriot rookie WRs, I think they did enough to warrant good vibes for the future.

As we saw when Gronk was playing in games 7-13, the offense quickly shot up to a number 1 attack, so I think that we're actually fine with that specific position myself. Of course any additional talent or acquisitions would be a nice bonus, and I certainly wouldn't mind seeing someone like Emmanual Sanders as an upgrade to the Thompkins spot. My concern would be that Belichick may not agree with that allocation of spending though.

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I am wildly optimistic about our WR corps for the future. BOTH Dobson and Thompkins have outperformed ANY rookie WR the Pats have brought in during the BB era. And that's despite each missing 5 or more games this season. If both continue to progress in the positive manner its reasonable to expect, the Pats WR's could be a huge asset, and that doesn't take into consideration Amendola, Boyce and Edelman (or his replacement)

As for your Emmanuel "upgrade". I can't see it. I see him as being equal to Julian Edelman in size, speed, and quickness. The only reason to bring Emmanuel's skills to the Pats is if he can be obtained for less than the cost of Edelman. So if Edelman with over 100 catches and a 1000 yds and being a top 5 PR, prices himself out of the Pats market, Emmanuel with his more pedestrian WR stats, becomes an affordable option, that's the ONLY reason to bringing Emmanuel on board. At leas that's my opinion.

As to McGuffie, even though the that was a HS highlight video, his speed and vision were clearly evident. The concussions are a real issue and is likely the only reason he was available to pick up for a PS player. He's a nice story but not someone that is likely to be anything more than a nice story....and that's a shame. If you are concussion prone, its not like something that will improve going down the road. It is what it is. The kid has talent.

manxman2601 said:

This kid is seriously athletic:



Sam McGuffie Draft Profile ? NFL.com

Add in a 6.57 3-cone on top of that, all at 5-11 and 200lbs. After his regional combine performance, I thought he was a shoe-in for the Pats. Surprised it took this long to be honest.

MCGUFFIE MIXTAPE! - YouTube


It's quite possible that none will make it, but McGuffie, Harrison and Moe are real upside guys for next year's offense.

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Woodhead 2.0


McGuffie
Height: 5102
Weight: 200
40 Yard Dash: 4.36
20 Yard Dash: 2.43
10 Yard Dash: 1.45
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 26
Vertical Jump: 42
Broad Jump: 11'02"
20 Yard Shuttle: 3.93
3-Cone Drill: 6.57

Woodhead
Height: 5075
Weight: 197
40 Yard Dash: 4.38
20 Yard Dash: 2.50
10 Yard Dash: 1.44
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 20
Vertical Jump: 38
Broad Jump: 10'01"
20 Yard Shuttle: 4.20
3-Cone Drill: 7.03

EwanSellars said:

love mcguffie hopefully these red shirt guys pan out armstead could be very exciting as well as mcguffie, moe and harrison add that with the upcoming draft class and we will be looking great

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I'm hoping McGuffie is in the discussion as RB instead or WR, because I can really only expect 1 of the 3 of McGuffie, Moe and Harrison making the team. IF we lose Edelman, than yeah, maybe 2 make it. But realistically, I can only see Edelman, Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce as definites. I really think they will only keep 6 receivers. So it comes down to McGuffie, Moe and Harrison fighting for ONE spot. And then there's WR Reggie Dunn, who was the greatest kick off returner in college football history. So 4 WR's fighting for 1 spot, maybe 2 spots if Edelman leaves. If McGuffie stays at RB, that leaves 3 receivers fighting for 1 or 2 spots.

Me personally, I'd love to see McGuffie play the Woodhead role as a RB. Then I'd love to see Dunn make the team as a return specialist/part time receiver. This team is severely LACKING in explosiveness in all facets of offense (receiving/running/returning).

BUT, I see Moe being THAT guy, the next Edelman type in the slot. Harrison, maybe he gets switched to TE ?

Love to keep ALL of them, ain't gonna happen, but it sure will be an exciting camp (hopefully an injury free camp).

I find it unlikely that we carry 6 receivers plus all-pro STer Slater. I only see this as possible if the additional WR has a roster spot as a returner.

scott99 said:

I'm hoping McGuffie is in the discussion as RB instead or WR, because I can really only expect 1 of the 3 of McGuffie, Moe and Harrison making the team. IF we lose Edelman, than yeah, maybe 2 make it. But realistically, I can only see Edelman, Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce as definites. I really think they will only keep 6 receivers. So it comes down to McGuffie, Moe and Harrison fighting for ONE spot. And then there's WR Reggie Dunn, who was the greatest kick off returner in college football history. So 4 WR's fighting for 1 spot, maybe 2 spots if Edelman leaves. If McGuffie stays at RB, that leaves 3 receivers fighting for 1 or 2 spots.

Me personally, I'd love to see McGuffie play the Woodhead role as a RB. Then I'd love to see Dunn make the team as a return specialist/part time receiver. This team is severely LACKING in explosiveness in all facets of offense (receiving/running/returning).

BUT, I see Moe being THAT guy, the next Edelman type in the slot. Harrison, maybe he gets switched to TE ?

Love to keep ALL of them, ain't gonna happen, but it sure will be an exciting camp (hopefully an injury free camp).

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scott99 said:

...But realistically, I can only see Edelman, Amendola, Dobson, Thompkins & Boyce as definites...

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Why in the world would Thompkins be considered a definite? I really hope that Bill finds
somebody better than him before Opening Day.

captain stone said:

Why in the world would Thompkins be considered a definite? I really hope that Bill finds
somebody better than him before Opening Day.

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I think it'd be fine if they decided to keep Thompkins around to try and continue and develop him, but he'd have to go down in the depth chart for sure. There's no reason he should be starting.

And I agree with you that he's nothing close to definite either. That's a position/player that needs to be upgraded. I imagine he'll be brought into camp, and things will shake out from there.

Kid's got more moves than Ex-lax...

We have lots of players competing for the #4 and #5 receiver positions. I think that the two are most likely to come from Boyce, Thompkins, and Collie. But we have lots of others competing in camp.

captain stone said:

Why in the world would Thompkins be considered a definite? I really hope that Bill finds
somebody better than him before Opening Day.

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The only 3 definites are Onthemendola, Dropson & Boyce. I consider Slater a 10th DB.
Plenty of room for competition, including Kenny the Faller Thompkins, and for improvement.

captain stone said:

The only 3 definites are Onthemendola, Dropson & Boyce. I consider Slater a 10th DB.
Plenty of room for competition, including Kenny the Faller Thompkins, and for improvement.

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There's definitely plenty of room for competition and improvement in my opinion.

I'd let Thompkins compete with some of the new guys that will be brought in, and see how everything sorts itself out from there.

I'm not gonna hold my breath on a bunch of collegiate UDFAs signed to contracts last season. A prime example of this board going completely overboard was Quack DUDfeld.

captain stone said:

Why in the world would Thompkins be considered a definite? I really hope that Bill finds
somebody better than him before Opening Day.

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yes, because putting up numbers (32 receptions for 466 yards) almost as good as Deion Branch did and better than David Givens did during their rookie years is such a bad thing.

DaBruinz said:

yes, because putting up numbers (32 receptions for 466 yards) almost as good as Deion Branch did and better than David Givens did during their rookie years is such a bad thing.

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Exactly. Seems everyone is giving Dobson and Boyce a pass this year considering they were both rookies. Thompkins made much harder catches than both of them. He seems to make the hard catches look easy and the easy catches look hard. This is something that can be corrected in the off- season but I guess this board doesnt' feel an UDFA rookie is entitled to the same treatment as the drafted players. Glad BB is running the show.

LasVegasPatsFan said:

Exactly. Seems everyone is giving Dobson and Boyce a pass this year considering they were both rookies. Thompkins made much harder catches than both of them. He seems to make the hard catches look easy and the easy catches look hard. This is something that can be corrected in the off- season but I guess this board doesnt' feel an UDFA rookie is entitled to the same treatment as the drafted players. Glad BB is running the show.

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Just as a point of comparison, the cap hits for cutting them:
Dobson: ~$385K less cap room
Boyce: ~$160K less cap room
Thompkins: ~$75K more cap room

I hope there's plenty of competition at WR in camp. Certainly room for another FA or more or a draft pick, if that makes sense (few picks in a deep draft this year).

We never have enough WRs that look as good as they are projected, so let them fight it out, I say.