Antonio Brown

maust1013 said:

then an (unsourced) inaccurate one was posted

Click to expand...

I am waiting for you to point it out

AndyJohnson said:

Brady’s throw was almost perfect.

Click to expand...

That incompletion happened RIGHT in front of me. I can still see it.

Welker and Edelman are quite different players, probably because Welker is so unique.

Welker had the best acceleration I’ve seen, and as you recall early in his career he seemed to have superhuman burst as a punt returner. His top end speed wasn’t exceptional, but he was really quick to reach it. He used to just burst off the line like he already had a running start. It allowed him to often get wide open extremely fast, and often with a large degree of separation from defenders. He also used that acceleration immediately after the catch to gain huge YAC amounts. He was also so small it made him more difficult to cover.

I don’t know if Welker had better hands than Edelman. I actually would guess it’s Edelman based on my memory of the two. Welker was often so wide open that it makes sense his catch rate is much higher. However he had a noticeably small wingspan, and IIRC smaller hands too; Welker would often use his body to help corral passes and was able to get away with it because of the spacing. Brady used to also throw really low to Welker a lot, and he was great at catching balls close to the ground, bringing the ball in quickly to his chest.

Edelman is a lot bigger than Welker, especially in the lower body and just a lot stronger, and he has a much larger catch radius. You could think of him as a “more heavy version” almost like with a metal suit on. As such he doesn’t have the acceleration, but he’s harder to tackle, and more notably, he is a lot better with contested passes.

I think that “clutch play” is largely a facade in sports, but in this case you’d be really ignoring/not appreciating Edelman’s greatness if you can’t just acknowledge that Edelman is the guy you want in the waning moments of a Super Bowl if you could have either one. It isn’t so much a knock on Welker as an appreciation of JE. Belichick has said time and again he believes some players perform better in pressure situations than others.

AndyJohnson said:

It was thrown to the right spot and hit him in both hands.

Click to expand...

Yeah, but he had to stretch out for it. It was an extremely catchable ball tho

cscirpoli said:

It's not, people are just saying who they prefer, I prefer JE over WW because of his clutch performances. They happen to pick those two because the roles they played overlap a fair amount

Click to expand...

And nobody cares who likes who more. Not the point

Redman443 said:

Gordon has Moss's role. Edelman is the ultimate slot receiver and has better hands than welker did.

Click to expand...

Edelman is not a slot receiver. He does damage from all over the place.

Welker was the ultimate slot receiver.

cscirpoli said:

But you can, twice to the giants

Click to expand...

Which two are you referring two against the Giants?

Bruins29 said:

And nobody cares who likes who more. Not the point

Click to expand...

Well yes, that's what this is, who was better is more who people liked more. It's a popularity contest, not some kind of stats fest where you can compare them. They played different roles on different teams.

Patjew said:

Super witty.

I don’t understand why it’s so hard for people to understand that they were/are both great players, playing different roles.

Click to expand...

This.
We ran a different offense when teller was here. The offense ran through him, meaning his route was most often the key and most often the one that was either the focus of the play call to be the primary target or to draw coverage from the primary target.
Basically it worked overall but was easier to game plan against and limit the offense in big games with good defenses.
Edelman never replaced welker, no one did. The offense and the roles changed

Edelman would not have been as good as welker in welkers role. Welker wouldnt have been as good as Edelman in Edelman’s role.

TheRainMaker said:

He got knocked out early during the Eagles game on his first catch. I bash Cooks on here but this isn’t fair to put blame on him for that.

Click to expand...

???

He essentially knocked himself out by behaving like an absolute dumbass in the middle of the field. You'd expect ridiculous awareness like that from a depth player and not a WR1.

AndyJohnson said:

Edelman would not have been as good as welker in welkers role. Welker wouldnt have been as good as Edelman in Edelman’s role.

Click to expand...

Bingo.

cscirpoli said:

He can't hold onto a contested catch to save his life. That's why they shipped him out

Click to expand...

I agree he plays small.

Bruins29 said:

What did I make up?

Click to expand...

That's the problem with prevaricating, you can't keep track of your own BS. For the second time it has been bolded for you in the quote below

Bruins29 said:

Patriots Wide Receivers with the highest catch % since 2001:

1. Phillip Dorsett 73.3%
2. Wes Welker 72.9%
3. Danny Amendola 70.3%
4. Troy Brown 66.7%
5. Julian Edelman 66.3%

Click to expand...

luuked said:

???

He essentially knocked himself out by behaving like an absolute dumbass in the middle of the field. You'd expect ridiculous awareness like that from a depth player and not a WR1.

Click to expand...

I agree that was very dumb of him and couldn’t believe what he was doing.

Patjew said:

That incompletion happened RIGHT in front of me. I can still see it.

Click to expand...

Thankfully you have the memories from 6 championships to blot it out.
Can you imagine that, the helmet catch and the strip sack if we didn’t have 6?

cscirpoli said:

Well yes, that's what this is, who was better is more who people liked more. It's a popularity contest, not some kind of stats fest where you can compare them. They played different roles on different teams.

Click to expand...

Then start a thread about it. And I like JE more. And I have compared him to Brown. But that was not what was being discussed until a bunch of JE homers came in and took a hissy fit about who had better hands.

Its like one thing is said about JE not being better at something and you guys go off like 4 year olds.

NOOOOOO I like JULES BETTER!!!!!!!

Another point not made, Welker stepped it up big time vs the Jags and Chargers while Moss was a near no show. Season ends at 17-0 without Welker playing outta his mind vs the Chargers.

cscirpoli said:

Yeah, but he had to stretch out for it. It was an extremely catchable ball tho

Click to expand...

And what was the underneath defense if it was thrown lower?

XLIX said:

I just don't see how you can punish the guy in a just world.

Click to expand...

"Goodell" and "just" are two mutually-exclusive words.

Bruins29 said:

Then start a thread about it. And I like JE more. And I have compared him to Brown. But that was not what was being discussed until a bunch of JE homers came in and took a hissy fit about who had better hands.

Its like one thing is said about JE not being better at something and you guys go off like 4 year olds.

NOOOOOO I like JULES BETTER!!!!!!!

Click to expand...

You're mad that people said they like JE better? Seems like a thing to not get that worked up about.