Ben Watson as our #2?

[Pats726]

What's wrong with having Ben Watson replace Givens as the #2 receiver? With Givens having left for the Titans I kinda like this idea. Could you imagine this guy on a crackback situation?......He's bigger and faster then Givens was and he knows the system by now. Just thought of this and curious as to what you guys think.

This might be the 2nd or 3rd thread of this nature..and it's the same answer...Watosn is nOT a WR..someone asked Paul Perillo of PFW about this and he just doesn't have all the tools needed to be one. He has speed..but route running and other assets that a wideout needs are lacking.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

And BTW, Faulk would be a much better WR than Watson.

--------------------------------------------------------
YES! Faulk would fit right in with the WRs and has very good hands.

Both Faulk and Pass have been considered for a move to WR in years past.

Both Watson and Graham lined up at wideout at different times, but they usually drew a Safety or coverage LB as the opposing team scrambled to rearrange themselves...funnny that putting the TE wide had defenses guessing. Against the Jags, Watson lined up wide right, he then barralled down the line to pancake the DE who wasn't looking behind him...there are sneaky and nasty reasons for BB to have the TEs out wide, none of them are because the TEs ran 3.6 sec 3-cone drills or 4.0 sec short shuttles like the WRs and CBs consistently do.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Part of the reason your TEs get open is because defenders have to worry about up to 3+ other legitimate WR threats on the field. Ben Coates did it (I think) with defenders also keying on Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson and Troy Brown in his prime, not to mention Curtis Martin as a RB option.

As good as Branch is, he's not going to demand the equivilent coverage of all of the above

I understand that no one's suggesting Watson change position - just noting that a TE can have WR like production.

My point is that in order to achieve that production, one must have a well balanced offense with multiple legitimate WR and receiving threats.

Currently, the Patriots, having just one legitimate WR, do not have that and still need a legitimate #2 WR if we hope to keep defenses honest enough for Watson to do what we expect he can.

In answer to my own question, when Ben Coates had his top seasons he always had some decent WRs and other major offensive threats around him.

1994 - Michael Timpson (74) Leroy Thompson (65) Vincent Brisby (58) Kevin Turner (52) Ray Crittenden (28)

1995 - Brisby (66) Dave Megget (52) Curtis Martin (30 catches - and 1500 yds rushing!) - Sam Gash (26)

1996 - Terry Glenn (90) Shawn Jefferson (50) Martin (46) Megget (36) Gash (33) Troy (21) (Brisby was injured I think)

So can a TE step in and grab #2 WR like numbers? Yes.

But the evidence suggests that one needs a lot of help around you to keep defenses honest.

1995 stands out as a year where we really only had one legitimate WR threat and depended on the excellent pass catching skills of Dave Megget, Curtis Martin and even Sam Gash to round out the receving offense.

Are we expecting Dillon and Faulk to combine for 80+ catches this year? Frankly I'm just hoping they do their jobs in the running game to keep Defenses honest in that respect, rather than keying on our currently limited receiving corps.

But Ben Coates did have 84 catches that year - so technically it can be done. But what was our record in 1995?

6-10

 

[italian pat patriot]

Ben is a tremendous weapon at TE and i think we should use him more (like Gonzo was used @ KC).

we will be fine also at WR when it will counts (so: not necessary on march...).

be patient...we will be competitive also next season...

Caldwell was in Foxboro...he was coming from a nice season with the Bolts

 

[IcyPatriot]

All the Patriots have to do is slot him in a 3 TE set.

I'm expecting Belichick to go after a great blocking TE later in the draft...if he does that would be great news for Watson.

 

[big mike]

I agree with this. I've said this before. I'm not really looking at Watson being a #2 WR but a #2 Option. With the years Ben Coates had here, he may not even be a #2 Option IF Watson can get open consistently.

IMO, the true value of guys like Ben Watson is that defenses don't know what to expect. Generally a LB (or sometimes S) covers a TE when they go out for a pass. If it's a running play, Watson and Graham are both strong enough, and good enough blockers to handle pretty much any LB or S (and Graham can handle quite a few DEs too). If Watson goes out for a pass, he can outrun probably almost every LB in the league. While he's fast, and may be able to outrun many CBs, most would probably be able to stay with him. True, he's tall enough that throwing the pass high could still result in a completion, but relying on that is somewhat risky, and really puts the receiver in a more vulnerable position to be injured.

IMO, the Pats are better off using Graham and Watson as TEs - especially in two TE sets, where the defense won't know which one of them (if either, or possibly both) will go out for a pass. That can be much more difficult for a defense to handle than lining a guy like Watson up as a WR.

If we end up being weak at WR this year, I'd just like to see us run more two TE two RB sets. Graham, Watson, Faulk, and Pass are all good receivers.

Consider a 1 WR formation with Graham and Watson on opposite sides of the line, and Pass and Faulk or Dillon in the backfield. They could run nicely out of that formation, and do some nice play action passing to Branch or either of the TEs or either of the RBs out of the backfield. And a formation like that could end up dictating some fairly favorable matchups, as the LBs try to cover two TEs and two RBs (a safety or two would definitely need to come in to cover one of them, which could help open up deep passes).

If they have two CBs on the field, you can also tell right from the start whether they're playing man-2-man or zone (if zone, a CB will line up on the side of the field with no WR, if man-2-man, he'd likely line up near one of the TEs). If they're playing man-2-man, that can really open the door to sweeps to the outside where there's no CB. As long as the TE on that side can block the OLB over there (or have I been playing Madden too much? ).

 

[JoeSixPat]

All the Patriots have to do is slot him in a 3 TE set.

I'm expecting Belichick to go after a great blocking TE later in the draft...if he does that would be great news for Watson.

We'll get another TE - if only to replace Fauria (I guess there'll be no debate on going for veteran experience or youth and upside this year for a third TE!)

Though I think it will be the best quality TE available - whether that's a blocker or pass catcher.

Let's also not forget that Watson, while he has great speed, doesn't have the great hands that Ben Coates did.

I'll cut him some slack because last year was his first real season but I seem to recall quite a few dropped passes that could have been big - or a big catch that he made to "make up" for a previous drop, etc...

He's not in Ben Coates territory yet - though we all hope he could be.