Amendola To Practice With Brady Out West

[DaBruinz]

Yep. I have just accepted the fact that there are quite a few ******s in the Patriots fanbase, and they are the ones calling him a choker etc...


Amendola should be a really good player for NE but I just don't get the claims he will be better. To actually be better he will have to put up absurd numbers and while i can see 100 catches and 1100 yards i just don't see him or anyone else catching 140 balls for 1,600 yards etc... I also don't get the claims that he is m ore explosive when his YPC and YAC aren't as good as Welker's. i think most of it is wishful thinking. i hope he pujts up 100/1000 with a ton of first downs, that will be good enough for me.

The problem is that Amendola didn't have the help in St. Louis that Welker had here in New England. First with Moss, then with Moss, Gronk, Ahern, then with Lloyd, Gronk, Ahern. Yes, Amendola has Steven Jackson, but that's it.

Amendola was misused by the Rams. During his first two years, he was hardly ever in motion and he was running short routes (those under 10 yards). Welker was regularly running routes in the 15 yard range and then added even longer routes as his stay in New England increased.

Amendola has more speed and slightly less quickness than Welker. We should see him used in the longer routes (up to 15 yards) more here in New England than he was in St. Louis. And, with Gronk, AHern, Ridley, Vereen, and whomever else they add, there shouldn't be as much focus by the defense on Amendola, which will help him as well.

You say that Amendola's YPC and YAC aren't as good as Welkers. Ok. But Amendola has increased his YPC each year. The other thing is that Amendola's YAC isn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be. Welker gets 1 YAC per 1.91 Yards of receiving. Amendola gets 1 YAC per 2.01 Yard yards of receiving. Another way to look at it is that Amendola averages 4.37 YAC while Welker gets 5.8 YAC. It should be noted, though, that Welker only got 4.75 YAC while with Miami.


You can compare the stats here:
Welker:
Wes Welker - Stats, Bio – New England Patriots – NFL Football – SI.com

Amendola:
Danny Amendola - Stats, Bio – St. Louis Rams – NFL Football – SI.com

One thing I like about SI is that, under the splits, they give a good breakdown of the targets and the reasons why passes weren't caught.

Amendola only had 1 drop and 7 passes defensed in 101 targets.. Welker had 10 drops and 5 passes defensed on 175 targets.

 

[mgteich]

A) Clearly Amendola is better than Welker. After all, Welker plays for another team. If Amendola were signed by Denver and we still had Welker, there would be absolutely no question with regard to who had the better receiver.

B) That being said, we will be fine with Amendola as our slot receiver. He is a capable receiver. He just won't be Brady's go-to receiver. Brady will throw to the open man as always, but he will need a new safety valve that he can always count on.

C) Given that Amendola is part of our wide receiver group, the rest is in absolute shambles. We have no #1 or #2 outside receiver. We have two players competing for the spot that Branch held last year. Branch was a failure, so he is a very low bar to compare Jones and Jenkins against. We'll bring in more JAG's to compete with these two and Ebert for a backup roster spot.

D) As of April 1, we need at least 2 more receivers. They could be Lloyd and Edelman. We could draft two receivers (or get Sanders). Or we could effect a combination of the two. This is not a huge agenda for a team on April 1st.

 

[Ring 6]

A) Clearly Amendola is better than Welker. After all, Welker plays for another team. If Amendola were signed by Denver and we still had Welker, there would be absolutely no question with regard to who had the better receiver.

No one worth having a discussion with is saying that.

B) That being said, we will be fine with Amendola as our slot receiver. He is a capable receiver. He just won't be Brady's go-to receiver. Brady will throw to the open man as always, but he will need a new safety valve that he can always count on.

If he gets open, he will be the go to guy. As far as a 'safety value' that comes from play design, so it doesn't have to be one guy.

C) Given that Amendola is part of our wide receiver group, the rest is in absolute shambles. We have no #1 or #2 outside receiver. We have two players competing for the spot that Branch held last year. Branch was a failure, so he is a very low bar to compare Jones and Jenkins against. We'll bring in more JAG's to compete with these two and Ebert for a backup roster spot.

Well, thats not true, Amendola is the #1 outside receiver, just as Welker was last year. When you play 2 TEs and 2 WRs you don't actually have a WR in the slot. We use 2 WRs, and the 3rd plays sparingly unless there is an injury.
I have no issue with Jones, Jenkins and/or whoever beats them out as 3/4.
We just need someone in Lloyds place. They the offense gets adjusted to not run through Welker's position but be more varied.
I say if it isn't broke don't fix it, but letting Welker walk means they need to make changes. It will be better in some ways, worse in others, and the net result is yet to be seen, but since the bar is very high, expect a step backward overall.

D) As of April 1, we need at least 2 more receivers. They could be Lloyd and Edelman. We could draft two receivers (or get Sanders). Or we could effect a combination of the two. This is not a huge agenda for a team on April 1st.

We need 1 plus competition for 3/4 and the extra roster spot that would be a #5 which may or may not get filled.

 

[Ivan]

The problem is that Amendola didn't have the help in St. Louis that Welker had here in New England. First with Moss, then with Moss, Gronk, Ahern, then with Lloyd, Gronk, Ahern. Yes, Amendola has Steven Jackson, but that's it.

Amendola was misused by the Rams. During his first two years, he was hardly ever in motion and he was running short routes (those under 10 yards). Welker was regularly running routes in the 15 yard range and then added even longer routes as his stay in New England increased.

Amendola has more speed and slightly less quickness than Welker. We should see him used in the longer routes (up to 15 yards) more here in New England than he was in St. Louis. And, with Gronk, AHern, Ridley, Vereen, and whomever else they add, there shouldn't be as much focus by the defense on Amendola, which will help him as well.

You say that Amendola's YPC and YAC aren't as good as Welkers. Ok. But Amendola has increased his YPC each year. The other thing is that Amendola's YAC isn't nearly as bad as you make it out to be. Welker gets 1 YAC per 1.91 Yards of receiving. Amendola gets 1 YAC per 2.01 Yard yards of receiving. Another way to look at it is that Amendola averages 4.37 YAC while Welker gets 5.8 YAC. It should be noted, though, that Welker only got 4.75 YAC while with Miami.


You can compare the stats here:
Welker:
Wes Welker - Stats, Bio – New England Patriots – NFL Football – SI.com

Amendola:
Danny Amendola - Stats, Bio – St. Louis Rams – NFL Football – SI.com

One thing I like about SI is that, under the splits, they give a good breakdown of the targets and the reasons why passes weren't caught.

Amendola only had 1 drop and 7 passes defensed in 101 targets.. Welker had 10 drops and 5 passes defensed on 175 targets.

Great breakdown and a good argument. I like Amendola and think he's going to play really well with Brady and for the Patriots, and I expect all of his numbers to go up, I just think that some of the expectations being floated for him here are over the top. If he simply comes close to Welker's production then he has been a huge success, topping it would be exceptional. The most important thing imo is first downs, that's where Welker's production for the Patriots mattered the most, as any time Brady was under pressure or needed a big first down he was the one to convert. If Amendola is among the league leaders in first downs then you can bet everything else will fall into place for him and he will have had a great season.

 

[supafly]

Great breakdown and a good argument. I like Amendola and think he's going to play really well with Brady and for the Patriots, and I expect all of his numbers to go up, I just think that some of the expectations being floated for him here are over the top. If he simply comes close to Welker's production then he has been a huge success, topping it would be exceptional. The most important thing imo is first downs, that's where Welker's production for the Patriots mattered the most, as any time Brady was under pressure or needed a big first down he was the one to convert. If Amendola is among the league leaders in first downs then you can bet everything else will fall into place for him and he will have had a great season.

Nice post, Ivan.

I wouldn't expect there to be many who see Amendola as breaking Welker's production in terms of a 125 catch season etc. I think anything from 80-100 catches is reasonable to expect though, assuming health.

The timing of those catches and the quality of those catches in terms of moving the chains will obviously be important.

 

[BadMoFo]

Here you go.

 

[Frezo]

What's that a pic of? His back yard? Where's the moat? (hope DA doesn't fall in)

 

[BadMoFo]

What's that a pic of? His back yard? Where's the moat? (hope DA doesn't fall in)

They're at USC's practice field.

 

[PrairiePat]

Wow, that field has a serious crown. Lots of overthrows on out patterns I'm guessing.

 

[Gumby]

Here you go.

nobody is saying who the other 3 guys are.

guy in the shorts looks like BB style; but he is too young i think (and i would doubt he would come to something like this anyway.)

dont look dressed to work out, must just be agents & chauffeurs

 

[JMC00]

This will get no mention in the grand scheme of the sports media which I am totally fine with. But had this been Manning and Welker, i'm sure they would be talking about how Manning is such a competitor that he is already out there four months before training camp getting a rapport with Welker.

Although I wouldn't put it past Manning and Elway to now scramble to get Welker in the same town as Manning so they can film Manning throwing the ball to him for the media to talk about it.

 

[tonyto3690]

Then I hope you don't mind if I in turn laugh at you if (more like when) Amendola duplicates Welker's success.

Sounds like a sigbet.

 

[Sciz]

SMY says that Hernandez is expected to be in the area to get some work with Brady too.

 

[supafly]

Sounds like a sigbet.

I see no reason to believe that Amendola shouldn't a very good chunk of Welker's production just from the way our offense operates and sheer number of targets alone. I would find 2/3rds of the production to be realistic, although some will feel differently.

Those who are stating that Amendola will outproduce Welker may be setting themselves up however, as topping 125 catches (approx.) will likely be quite difficult, as much as we all hope they're right.

 

[supafly]

nobody is saying who the other 3 guys are.

guy in the shorts looks like BB style; but he is too young i think (and i would doubt he would come to something like this anyway.)

dont look dressed to work out, must just be agents & chauffeurs

At least one or more of those guys could be related to USC, since it is their field. We saw much of the same with Manning when he worked out at Duke.

 

[Danger Zone]

nobody is saying who the other 3 guys are.

guy in the shorts looks like BB style; but he is too young i think (and i would doubt he would come to something like this anyway.)

dont look dressed to work out, must just be agents & chauffeurs

He's hard to see, but you can see where Brandon Lloyd fell down out of bounds after Brady pump-faked in his direction..

I kid, I kid. I'm still hoping we resign the guy. He appeared to be getting "it" towards the end of the season.

 

[ausbacker]

SMY says that Hernandez is expected to be in the area to get some work with Brady too.

I'd hope all of New England's pass catchers who are physically able to be there would be practising with Brady. Rapport is everything with your Quarterback.

 

[Tyler.Durden]

Man, all we have to do is keep the guys on the field. Gronk is so important to this offense. All the guys complement each other. The OL continues to give him good protection.

 

[hwc]

I see no reason to believe that Amendola shouldn't a very good chunk of Welker's production just from the way our offense operates and sheer number of targets alone. I would find 2/3rds of the production to be realistic, although some will feel differently.

Those who are stating that Amendola will outproduce Welker may be setting themselves up however, as topping 125 catches (approx.) will likely be quite difficult, as much as we all hope they're right.

I think the relevant question is not whether Amendola can surpass Welker's production over the last five years, but whether he can surpass Welker's production over the NEXT five years. That seems like a reasonable proposition that could be argued either way.

 

[Whorod]

I would hope Amendola can out-do Welker's averages in TD's and yards per catch. I would expect, and in fact hope, that he does not out-do Welker in catches and total yards receiving. I think Brady was at times too reliant on Welker, and I don't want Amendola to be used that extensively. I don't think he's durable enough, and I do think Gronk and AHern are good enough players to warrant the lions share of the targets.