2018 Training Camp Thread - Day 14* (8/14/18)

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Amendola was the leading receiver in the post season. The Patriots are likely not in the Super Bowl without him, a game in which he also made major contributions. We are talking about a reliable player well within Brady's circle of trust.

He is better than any receiver on this team not named Edelman or Hogan. We should have ponied up just a little to keep him.

Instead we are paper thin at WR and Edelman is returning from an ACL after missing four games.

It will very likely bite us in the ass at some point if we have no reliable receiver other than Edelman and Hogan (which it seems that we don't).

Amendola may not be as valuable in Miami but he would be quite valuable here with Brady.

Also luuked talks about the money but when you are paying 5 mill for Dwayne Allen it is clear we could make room to keep a worthwhile player in Amendola.

I loved Amendola and he was certainly a big part of 2 Super Bowl titles and almost a 3rd, but you can't overpay players simply because they're in Brady's circle of trust. Amendola wasn't the only key player that left this team. What if our RBs were banged up right now? Should we have paid Lewis $5 million/year? What if Trent Brown and Wynn were struggling badly? Should we have made Solder the highest paid lineman ever?

 

[long distance]

 

[luuked]

Happy I stayed for the post-credits scene of this drama.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I've just decided the Dorsett isn't going to do a damn thing here. Maybe a play here and there but he won't have a significant role in this offense beyond what he did last year.

Someone sticky this and hold me accountable.

 

[BobDigital]

IDK why the team doesn't just sign Dez Bryant. It would be a 1 year thing but clearly he would be good here.

Dez would happily take 6M for 1 year to play with Brady and set himself up for that last contract. No reason not to at this point.

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Please, football gods give us a gem. Hard to believe the entire NFL whiffed on his coverage/sideline to sideline abilities but so far camp/preseason game 1 does not match his scouting reports.

I think people just looked at his size, mediocre test numbers, and his relative lack of production in the passing game, and made assumptions about what he could and couldn't do, instead of watching his movements and football IQ, and seeing if he had room for more development. He had 1 interception and only 7 career passes defended, with never more than 3 in a single season. That said, he had a very nice number of tackles for a loss and total tackles for his amount of games played. He clearly has a nose for the football.

Additionally, from what I've read, he wasn't 100% at pro day, and should be bigger and faster than he showed during that testing (reportedly he's 260 now, and he was able to get into the 4.6 range when healthy). Notice his 3-cone and 10/20 yard splits are still a good bit above average. He also looked pretty fluid on film, even if he wasn't a track star. Notice no one could run him down on his 76 yard INT return for a TD, either.








Oh, and anyone remember this guy, before the injuries? He made a number of plays in space despite running in molasses. Athletically, Bentley is his superior. Numbers don't always tell the full story. My guess is that Bentley is an ascending talent who will hold his own in coverage, even if he's never a specialist. I think he's a long term starter here.

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

IDK why the team doesn't just sign Dez Bryant. It would be a 1 year thing but clearly he would be good here.

Dez would happily take 6M for 1 year to play with Brady and set himself up for that last contract. No reason not to at this point.

At least he has natural talent.

 

[PatsFan2]

Dorsett got alot of quality reps this off season and Preseason. His ceiling is a poor man's Cooks I think Dorsett is faster than Hogan but Hogan is more route savvy.

 

[luuked]

IDK why the team doesn't just sign Dez Bryant. It would be a 1 year thing but clearly he would be good here.

Dez would happily take 6M for 1 year to play with Brady and set himself up for that last contract. No reason not to at this point.

Because all evidence points to him being a one trick pony who has declined athletically and has never in his career shown any signs of nuanced route running ?

I didn't think I get to use the tweet within a day but does this sound like something that Dez Bryant would fit in ?



Not saying it is impossible. Just that there is a lot of things that make me extremely skeptical.

 

[maineman209]

I've just decided the Dorsett isn't going to do a damn thing here. Maybe a play here and there but he won't have a significant role in this offense beyond what he did last year.

Someone sticky this and hold me accountable.

Eww!

 

[PatsFan2]

At least he has natural talent.

I would go as far as Jeremy Maclin if he's not scooped up yet. He's put up good numbers in this league if his lastest injury is not career threatening.

 

[PP2]

Delete, and please don't "genius" me.

 

[AtomicDawg]

 

[Bruins29]

Yeah, it was a colossally stupid mistake to not pay the WR3/WR4 who needs to be on a snap count low end WR1 money. Jesus...

Agreed. I am the biggest DA fan here but you dont pay that to him (considering who is on the roster) and he deserved to make it from someone who thinks he is worth that amount i.e can play a reg shift 16 games.

Pats need to get younger and bigger hence JM, CP pickups. Not surprising Chris and Patsfan2 agreed with VictorPrime though. Talk about dumb.

Also, how is it a "colossally stupid" mistake? We havn't played one game yet.

And not sure I agree on the DA/Allen comparison. Two different skill sets regardless of money.

 

[patsinthesnow]

I think people just looked at his size, mediocre test numbers, and his relative lack of production in the passing game, and made assumptions about what he could and couldn't do, instead of watching his movements and football IQ, and seeing if he had room for more development. He had 1 interception and only 7 career passes defended, with never more than 3 in a single season. That said, he had a very nice number of tackles for a loss and total tackles for his amount of games played. He clearly has a nose for the football.

Additionally, from what I've read, he wasn't 100% at pro day, and should be bigger and faster than he showed during that testing (reportedly he's 260 now, and he was able to get into the 4.6 range when healthy). Notice his 3-cone and 10/20 yard splits are still a good bit above average. He also looked pretty fluid on film, even if he wasn't a track star. Notice no one could run him down on his 76 yard INT return for a TD, either.


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Oh, and anyone remember this guy, before the injuries? He made a number of plays in space despite running in molasses. Athletically, Bentley is his superior. Numbers don't always tell the full story. My guess is that Bentley is an ascending talent who will hold his own in coverage, even if he's never a specialist. I think he's a long term starter here.


View attachment 20991

Very useful & informative post. Excited to watch more of him.

 

[Deus Irae]

Last year is last year.

Amendola turns 33 on Nov. 2nd, and nothing lasts forever. Allen is a premier inline blocking TE who just turned 28. Not a valid trade-off.

True. Amendola was the much more valuable player.

 

[Bruins29]

It will very likely bite us in the ass at some point if we have no reliable receiver other than Edelman and Hogan (which it seems that we don't).

We will see. What I have seen "bite this team in the ass" is injuries and lack of depth. And DA gets injured hence the snap count.

DA has a 6 mil cap hit
Decker, Britt, Dorsett, Turner and Lucian combined are less than that.

Also, how do you pay DA 6 mil when you are paying Hogan 3 and JE 1.5?

Also, Patterson has been a solid 3 WR and is probably the second greatest return guy of all time. He dosent even need to be our 3 WR here and we have him for 3 million.

DA is strictly a role player now. And you can restructure Dwayne Allen this year. You could not do it again with DA

 

[jah]

True. Amendola was the much more valuable player.

Depends what month it is.

 

[Deus Irae]

We will see. What I have seen "bite this team in the ass" is injuries and lack of depth. And DA gets injured hence the snap count.

DA has a 6 mil cap hit
Decker, Britt, Dorsett, Turner and Lucian combined are less than that.

Also, how do you pay DA 6 mil when you are paying Hogan 3 and JE 1.5?

Also, Patterson has been a solid 3 WR and is probably the second greatest return guy of all time. He dosent even need to be our 3 WR here and we have him for 3 million.

DA is strictly a role player now. And you can restructure Dwayne Allen this year. You could not do it again with DA

They underpaid Amendola for years, forcing him to take pay cuts. When healthy, he's been a quality part of the offense. So all the "but money!" arguments are nonsense, because the pay bump could easily have been justified.

But not paying Amendola is only going to be an issue if the receivers don't get it done. As is almost always the case when a sports team moves on from a player, the real issue is who's brought in to replace him, because it's the impact of the replacement player that largely determines the value gained or lost by moving on from the now-former player.

 

[Deus Irae]

Depends what month it is.

Not at all.