Patriots activate WR N'Keal Harry off IR

Ring 6 said:

We will see

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In a 1 WR set, why would you expect Harry to be the WR?
In a 2 WR set, why would you expect Harry to beat out Edelman or Sanu?
In a 3 WR set, why would Harry be taking lots of snaps from Edelman or Sanu?

It makes no sense to be putting Sanu on the bench in favor of Harry for much more than the occasional breather, because Sanu is more of an inside route runner, not an outside player. Meyers is a more appropriate replacement for Sanu than is Harry. If there's a top 3 WR who's snaps are likely to get significantly impacted by Harry, it's Dorsett, just as it was Dorsett who was impacted by Gordon's arrival last year. What last year was

Edelman
Hogan
Gordon
w/subs


Will likely now be

Edelman
Sanu
Dorsett/Harry
w/subs

because that's what makes sense, even if Harry is getting a decent number of reps.

I hear you. After the break, the PHI game will be critical, then DAL and then HOU.

BobDigital said:

I'm not saying they should force the ball to Harry, but give him some looks, particularly after the bye. If he doesn't get many looks this game that's fine. Beating Baltimore at this point is just too important. It give the Patriots a 3 game lead on nearly everyone in the AFC with just 7 games left to play.

That being said, seeing what Harry can do and getting him on the same page with Brady is bigger than 1 game. It is about getting this offense as good as it can get for the playoffs. Harry and Sanu are 2 guys who can help take this offense to a level we haven't seen yet this year IF they can get it going with Brady. To do that you need in game experience together not just practice.

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Deus Irae said:

In a 1 WR set, why would you expect Harry to be the WR?
In a 2 WR set, why would you expect Harry to beat out Edelman or Sanu?
In a 3 WR set, why would Harry be taking lots of snaps from Edelman or Sanu?

It makes no sense to be putting Sanu on the bench in favor of Harry for much more than the occasional breather, because Sanu is more of an inside route runner, not an outside player. Meyers is a more appropriate replacement for Sanu than is Harry. If there's a top 3 WR who's snaps are likely to get significantly impacted by Harry, it's Dorsett, just as it was Dorsett who was impacted by Gordon's arrival last year. What last year was

Edelman
Hogan
Gordon
w/subs


Will likely now be

Edelman
Sanu
Dorsett/Harry
w/subs

because that's what makes sense, even if Harry is getting a decent number of reps.

Click to expand...

As I said, we will see. I disagree with your analysis. But by December we can watch games and see who is right.
Nevertheless I don’t think the bar to play ahead of sanu is that you have to be an all pro. Perhaps you think sanu is a lot better than I do. I don’t see him at or near all pro level.

So, the issue is the 3 WR set. Certainly, we shouldn't be sitting Edelman or Sanu for Harry.

The question, as you say, is Dorsett. I don't see Brady (or Josh) wanting to go to Harry instead of Dorsett.

I see Harry competing with Meyers for reps. And, if we are talking about the occasional rep in a game where the 4th WR is critical, I'd favor Meyers for now.
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BOTTOM LINE QUESTIONS
1) Should Dorsett be replaced on the field by Harry? What % of the 3 WR sets?
2) Should Harry get more reps than Meyers?
3) Should Harry replace Meyers on the active roster?
4) Should Harry replace Gunner on the active roster?

And, yes, if Harry is active, he will can a couple of plays during the game, regardless of the general strategy.

And yes, game plans dictate different plans for different teams.

Deus Irae said:

In a 1 WR set, why would you expect Harry to be the WR?
In a 2 WR set, why would you expect Harry to beat out Edelman or Sanu?
In a 3 WR set, why would Harry be taking lots of snaps from Edelman or Sanu?

It makes no sense to be putting Sanu on the bench in favor of Harry for much more than the occasional breather, because Sanu is more of an inside route runner, not an outside player. Meyers is a more appropriate replacement for Sanu than is Harry. If there's a top 3 WR who's snaps are likely to get significantly impacted by Harry, it's Dorsett, just as it was Dorsett who was impacted by Gordon's arrival last year. What last year was

Edelman
Hogan
Gordon
w/subs


Will likely now be

Edelman
Sanu
Dorsett/Harry
w/subs

because that's what makes sense, even if Harry is getting a decent number of reps.

Click to expand...

mgteich said:

After the break, the PHI game will be critical, then DAL and then HOU.

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https://imgflip.com/gif-maker

Ring 6 said:

We will see
I’ll just add that you may be the only person who thinks it takes an all pro to beat out Mohammad sanu and Philip dorsett.

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I didn't say that it would take an All-Pro to beat out Sanu and Dorsett.

mgteich said:

I hear you. After the break, the PHI game will be critical, then DAL and then HOU.

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Unsure what context you are responding to, but while any game is critical...the @PHI and DAL games are out of conference. If we had to go 2-2 over the next 4...I'd take losses @TheLinc and at home vs. the Cowpokes.

I agree.

I just don't think that any of our next five games is unimportant enough so that we would choose a sub-optimal game plan so that Harry can get be active more, get more reps, and develop.

Belichick uses the first 3-5 games to do such things, Bill's extended pre-season.

Hyped said:

Unsure what context you are responding to, but while any game is critical...the @PHI and DAL games are out of conference. If we had to go 2-2 over the next 4...I'd take losses @TheLinc and at home vs. the Cowpokes.

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Mack Herron said:

I think Brady is calibrating expectations, and with good reason.

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Given that Harry hasn't, you know actually been in a game yet.
Keeps pressure off the kid.

Must be some sort of contagion,
my hopes are way to high for a rookie.
*
Brady not throwing to people...
As a possible data point, number of different receivers?
I would bet Brady still leads in that. Must own it by a mile, career.
Who lists that as a stat?

Deus Irae said:

I didn't say that it would take an All-Pro to beat out Sanu and Dorsett.

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You said this

Deus Irae said:

If Harry is getting more snaps than Sanu, the Patriots either have an All-Pro for a 1st round draft pick, or Sanu is a complete bust.

There's no way in hell Harry should be ahead of Edelman/Sanu/Dorsett in snaps. He should be battling it out with Meyers for the WR4 spot.

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mgteich said:

So, the issue is the 3 WR set. Certainly, we shouldn't be sitting Edelman or Sanu for Harry.

The question, as you say, is Dorsett. I don't see Brady (or Josh) wanting to go to Harry instead of Dorsett.

I see Harry competing with Meyers for reps. And, if we are talking about the occasional rep in a game where the 4th WR is critical, I'd favor Meyers for now.
======
BOTTOM LINE QUESTIONS
1) Should Dorsett be replaced on the field by Harry? What % of the 3 WR sets?
2) Should Harry get more reps than Meyers?
3) Should Harry replace Meyers on the active roster?
4) Should Harry replace Gunner on the active roster?

And, yes, if Harry is active, he will can a couple of plays during the game, regardless of the general strategy.

And yes, game plans dictate different plans for different teams.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I think a lot of people here are ignoring both league and, more importantly, Patriots history with rookie WRs.

Malcolm Mitchell played in 48% of the snaps on a team that had a banged up Gronk who only played 8 games, and an Amendola who missed 4 games and was being used sparingly in order to get him through the season. Even with all that, Malcolm came in behind Bennett, Edelman and Hogan, in terms of snaps. Branch, considered by most to have had the best rookie WR season of the BB era, was still WR3, well behind Brown and Patten. The other rookie WRs to have significant impact, in terms of high target and catch numbers, were put in that position out of necessity, not choice, in 2013.

So, to expect Harry to just shoot up to the WR2 is to expect the unusual league-wide, and the unprecedented in the BB-Patriots era.

Deus Irae said:

Yeah, I think a lot of people here are ignoring both league and, more importantly, Patriots history with rookie WRs.

Malcolm Mitchell played in 48% of the snaps on a team that had a banged up Gronk who only played 8 games, and an Amendola who missed 4 games and was being used sparingly in order to get him through the season. Even with all that, Malcolm came in behind Bennett, Edelman and Hogan, in terms of snaps. Branch, considered by most to have had the best rookie WR season of the BB era, was still WR3, well behind Brown and Patten. The other rookie WRs to have significant impact, in terms of high target and catch numbers, were put in that position out of necessity, not choice, in 2013.

So, to expect Harry to just shoot up to the WR2 is to expect the unusual league-wide, and the unprecedented in the BB-Patriots era.

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Mitchell played over 80% of the snaps in his last 6 games of the season
48% isn’t really a fair number considering he missed 2 games and was a 5th round pick who played around 30-35% early in the year.

maust1013 said:

The resemblance to someone we used to know is...uncanny.

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From what I’ve read here, not at all.

Deus Irae said:

In a 1 WR set, why would you expect Harry to be the WR?
In a 2 WR set, why would you expect Harry to beat out Edelman or Sanu?
In a 3 WR set, why would Harry be taking lots of snaps from Edelman or Sanu?

It makes no sense to be putting Sanu on the bench in favor of Harry for much more than the occasional breather, because Sanu is more of an inside route runner, not an outside player. Meyers is a more appropriate replacement for Sanu than is Harry. If there's a top 3 WR who's snaps are likely to get significantly impacted by Harry, it's Dorsett, just as it was Dorsett who was impacted by Gordon's arrival last year. What last year was

Edelman
Hogan
Gordon
w/subs


Will likely now be

Edelman
Sanu
Dorsett/Harry
w/subs

because that's what makes sense, even if Harry is getting a decent number of reps.

Click to expand...

Supposedly, Harry is fast.

BTW - we need the RUN game to do well, eat up the clock and help the play-action passing game....

Harry will get his chances. He is the only wide receiver we really have who plays the X role.

Sanu will allow edelman to play outside more as he and edelman play similar positions.

mgteich said:

I hear you. After the break, the PHI game will be critical, then DAL and then HOU.

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I agree in general. I add say after this week (assuming a win) there are only 3 games that are really critical. Houston, KC and the Bills.

If they win those 3 that pretty much locks up the AFC nearly by itself. Even if they drop both the PHI and DAL games it won't matter much. They worst they could end up is 13-3 with every possible tie breaker.

I'm assuming even sleeping walking through both games they find a way to beat one of the Bengals or Dolphins. The only team they wouldn't have a tie breaker on would be the Colts and they sure as hell aren't going 13-3 or 14-2.

zipster9 said:

Supposedly, Harry is fast.

BTW - we need the RUN game to do well, eat up the clock and help the play-action passing game....

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I wouldn't expect much from the run game, and we don't need to run well to win. The key to winning is not beating ourselves and not allowing the Ravens and Jackson to run too well. It's that simple.

Just a note from Belichick's Friday press conference:

I had a hunch when Harry was drafted that, at least at first, he might be used in something of a Cordarrelle Patterson role -- handling the ball on sweeps, reverses, receiver screens, and acting as a returner. There's no doubt from his college highlights that he is very dynamic and powerful with the ball in his hands.

Someone said that was nonsense -- if so, why hadn't he been doing it in pre-season. Well, the fact that he only lasted two snaps in the pre-season means it's not that much of a guide. Anyway, it's just a guess, but I couldn't help noticing those words from BB. We'll see tomorrow night.