Breakout Player of 2017

rookBoston said:

Gino Grissom

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PatsBoy12 said:

I'm hoping it's Mitchell! There's something about that young receiver that makes me believe we found a gem.

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Whose he going to beat out for targets?

NG Pats Fan said:

Whose he going to beat out for targets?

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If he can make a year 2 jump, he will beat out Hogan for targets. Also if we roll with 11 personnel guess who will be seeing mostly single coverage ? A hint it won't be Gronk, Cooks or Edelman..

Clonamery said:

I'm thinking Tom Brady will finally have that breakout year that the Pats have been carrying him for these past 15+ years. #overdue

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This guy...oh in '75, that is

Joey007 said:

White

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Not this guy-This one.

Just imagine if ALL the guys we listed on this thread had breakout years !!

Brady.

My bad

Tom Brady

BlueThunder said:

Just imagine if ALL the guys we listed on this thread had breakout years !!

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Wait...we are talking about football, not acne, right?!

Thelonious said:

I'm with you. He just looks so limber!

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That's what Gisele said.

BlueThunder said:

Just imagine if ALL the guys we listed on this thread had breakout years !!

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Then it's time to queue up my John Facenda impression:

"...and they are the greatest team in the long history of pro football..."

luuked said:

If he can make a year 2 jump, he will beat out Hogan for targets. Also if we roll with 11 personnel guess who will be seeing mostly single coverage ? A hint it won't be Gronk, Cooks or Edelman..

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Why wouldn't it be Edelman?

Hogan averaged a league leading(I believe) 17.9 yards a catch with 65.5% catch rate. Give him another year in the system; as well as the fact that Brady won't have to split reps in the offseason with JG, so he has more time to develop timing, and Hogan is himself arguably a legit breakout player.

And Brady could benefit from not having Edelman on the field as his binky. Brady spreading the ball out to Cooks, Hogan, Mitchell, Gronk, and 2015 Dion Lewis on the field at the same time sounds scary good.

Brick27 said:

We've seen the likes of Flowers and Cannon in recent years...so who do you all think (or hope) is next?

My HOPE is that Malcom Brown takes a big leap, and lives up to his 1st round selection by being a dominant player. He hasn't been bad, just would like to see him play at a high level more consistently.. especially because the Pats having a 1st round pick isn't exactly a thing that happens on a year-to-year basis.

Thuney and Roberts are two guys who come to mind as well.

Thuney had a fairly decent first year, and has received solid reviews from the coaching staff as far as potential. I don't know if he's the next Mankins like some have said, but he looks like someone who could become a dependable starter for years to come.

Roberts' play seemed to dip after having a good run earlier in the season. Outside of IOL depth, having another consistent ILB has been a concern. The second worst doomsday scenario for this 2017 team in my opinion (other than losing the GOAT) would be losing Hightower to injury for the year. Hopefully Roberts can show he's capable of handling a greater role.

Thoughts?

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I like it. Not sure why Malcom Brown need to have some sort of "breakout year" to be worthy of his 1st round status though.

Nehalem said:

Why wouldn't it be Edelman?

Hogan averaged a league leading(I believe) 17.9 yards a catch with 65.5% catch rate. Give him another year in the system; as well as the fact that Brady won't have to split reps in the offseason with JG, so he has more time to develop timing, and Hogan is himself arguably a legit breakout player.

And Brady could benefit from not having Edelman on the field as his binky. Brady spreading the ball out to Cooks, Hogan, Mitchell, Gronk, and 2015 Dion Lewis on the field at the same time sounds scary good.

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Because Edelman is the bread and butter of the intermediate game. If some team is insane enough to put single coverage on him consistently then let them do it. Works for me.

I'm not really sure that anyone on the Pats will have a "breakout year" , except in the sense of figuring things out and becoming more solid and consistent. In the sense of a payer significantly improving on his level of involvement and his previous season's stats, Van Noy had a "breakout year" in 2016 and I don't think very many fans really noticed. But that's fairly typical of Pats players given the schemes they're working in.

For example, here's the 2016 average catch depth (ACD), YAC, net ypc, (catch %) and tgts/game for the Pats' 2017 WRs and TEs. What does Mitchell need to do to have a "breakout season"? Do the Pats NEED Mitchell to have one?

Gronk - 12.3 ACD + 9.3 YAC = 21.6 ypc (65.8%) - 4.8
Hogan - 11.8 ACD + 6.8 YAC = 17.9 ypc (65.5%) - 3.9
Cooks - 10.2 ACD + 4.8 YAC = 15.0 ypc (66.7%) - 7.3
Allen - 8.2 ACD + 3.4 YAC = 11.6 ypc (67.3%) - 3.7
Mitchell - 7.4 ACD + 5.1 YAC = 12.5 ypc (66.7%) - 3.4
Edelman - 7.3 ACD + 4.0 YAC = 11.3 ypc (61.6%) - 9.9
Amendola - 7.1 ACD + 3.5 YAC = 10.6 ypc (79.3%) - 2.4
Bennett - 5.3 ACD + 7.4 YAC = 12.7 ypc (75.3%) - 4.6

Pats' RBs collectively accounted for 8.1 tgts per game, on average, in 2016.
Brady averaged 38 pass attempts per game in 2016

Nehalem said:

Why wouldn't it be Edelman?

Hogan averaged a league leading(I believe) 17.9 yards a catch with 65.5% catch rate. Give him another year in the system; as well as the fact that Brady won't have to split reps in the offseason with JG, so he has more time to develop timing, and Hogan is himself arguably a legit breakout player.

And Brady could benefit from not having Edelman on the field as his binky. Brady spreading the ball out to Cooks, Hogan, Mitchell, Gronk, and 2015 Dion Lewis on the field at the same time sounds scary good.

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I think they are going to try and take some wear and tear off of Edelman. He takes a serious beating. I think he will have fewer targets and receptions and a higher YPC and YAC.

I hope Flowers becomes an elite pass rusher for us

ArchAngel007 said:

I hope Flowers becomes an elite pass rusher for us

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It seems to me that Flowers is already almost as "elite" as it gets for Pats' pass-rushers. His 9.5 sacks last season (regular and post) are about the average peak players in the Pats' schemes. Chandler Jones was kind of an anomaly.

zoostation said:

With the addition of #17 Brandon Cook....... breakout player will be #19 Malcom Mitchell

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Unfortunately I doubt if it will be Mitchell for the exact reason you gave. With Cook on board Mitchell becomes the #4 WR on a team that features 2 TE's. That doesn't bode well for getting the number of targets that will create a "breakout" season.

In fact, given the number of targets the RB's and TE's get in this offense I sometimes wonder if ANY WR is going to put up big individual numbers

Thelonious said:

I'm with you. He just looks so limber!

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That's because Gisele is just coming into her sexual peak. She has been quoted as being a reason the Pats won the Super Bowl.

My choice would be for the IOL to make a jump. The more time TB has helps him use all his new toys, improve his longevity & helps out the new RB's.