Can Amendola be relied upon to play the slot?

[cstjohn17]

Dobson is a nice complimentary outside presence, if Amendola can play the slot then the Patriots can focus on finding a suitable bookend for Dobson. Maybe Thomkins, Boyce, a veteran FA or a draft pick).

If Amendola can't be trusted to play the slot (and stay healthy) then I would push slot WR as a higher need.

 

[PatsFan2]

The question should be can Armendola catch more than 0 passes in his next Patriot game?

 

[RayClay]

I hadn't really thought of it. It's about time someone started a thread about Amendola.

 

[borg]

Package DA and Mallet for 5 #1s and the Raiderettes

 

[signbabybrady]

I really think Amendola deserves a hell of a lot more respect from this board than he gets. The guy just played the season on a torn groin and put up decent numbers.

Obviously his health is a concern but what can be done now or should be done now? He is one of our WR moving forward and I consider that to be a good thing. The young kids offer the depth. All the position needs is one more vet and that comes down to Jules or someone else. Lets please leave all the DA talk for the summer and season as he isnt going anywhere and means nothing to FAency discussion.

 

[BradyManny]

Yes, as long as his groin heals.

Secondly, not to diminish the talents of Welker or Edelman, who are obviously skilled players who would succeed anywhere, but if there is one position on this team whose production I think is almost guaranteed due to the QB and the system, its the slot receiver position.

I'd be comfortable with Amendola backed up by Moe in the slot next year. If we re-sign Edelman, its because he and Amendola are both position versatile.

 

[ripatsfan91]

Don't get your hopes up about drafting a receiver either this year.

 

[RayClay]

Obviously, any position could lose the atarter due to injury, most it would be hard to fill with a reasonable replacement (that could learn and do a decent job).

Brady, Wilfork, Gronk, Chandler Jones would be pretty hard in the short or long run.

Slot receiver? Edelman, Collie, Moe, Boyce and that's without looking outside the organization.

Emanuel sanders, if we go after him, Davone Bess if we could get him for nothing and fix his brain. Lots of possibilities that might be available for nothing or very low picks, as all ours for years have been.

It's not that big a deal. DB Wheatley had some condition with his wrists that made him "injury probe" but most players get a number of unrelated injuries during their careers, sometimes in bunches. This is the situation for Gronk (except his back) and Amendola (broken collarbone, dislocated elbow and groin tear couldn't be a more random set of injuries.

No one knows who will get injured. Last year, the injury prone one was Edelman, and that's an "injury prone" one (foot bones can be chronic problems.

Summarize: No crystal ball (we will have injuries) slot is an easier position to replace cheaply than most (many small quick receivers, often low picks or UDFA).

 

[varjao]

Ah, an Amendola thread this week, it was about time.

 

[Kontradiction]

Don't get your hopes up about drafting a receiver either this year.

They supposedly just had a long meeting with Marqise Lee so I wouldn't be so sure about that.

As for Amendola? The answer is clearly to trade him and trade him now.

 

[voluntarysaftey]

I really think Amendola deserves a hell of a lot more respect from this board than he gets. The guy just played the season on a torn groin and put up decent numbers.

If this is true, which I think it might be (has the team or him actually come out and said it was?) -- then the follow up question is: Why didn't we just sit him the first 10 weeks of the season, let it fully heal so that he was in top shape for the playoffs. That -- even if it meant not having a first round bye -- would've given us a much better chance to get to the super bowl or atleast be competitive in the conference game than letting him play hobbled the entire year.

 

[Snake Eyes]

Can Amendola be relied upon to play the slot?

Yes, and he can also be trusted to quickly get injured while doing so.

 

[RayClay]

If this is true, which I think it might be (has the team or him actually come out and said it was?) -- then the follow up question is: Why didn't we just sit him the first 10 weeks of the season, let it fully heal so that he was in top shape for the playoffs. That -- even if it meant not having a first round bye -- would've given us a much better chance to get to the super bowl or atleast be competitive in the conference game than letting him play hobbled the entire year.

I think the difference between healing 4-6 weeks and being able to cut 100% like a receiver was more than a couple months. They needed receivers and he still made some plays. He's got the whole off season to rest and rehabilitate now.

 

[Sicilian]

If this is true, which I think it might be (has the team or him actually come out and said it was?) -- then the follow up question is: Why didn't we just sit him the first 10 weeks of the season, let it fully heal so that he was in top shape for the playoffs. That -- even if it meant not having a first round bye -- would've given us a much better chance to get to the super bowl or atleast be competitive in the conference game than letting him play hobbled the entire year.

I think if Vereen hadn't gotten hurt in the same game, they might have done just that. But as it was, they were down two reliable pass catching options, one of which COULD play if he had to, they other needed the in-season IR designation.

Brady admitted at one point later in the season that the margin for error for them was narrower than it has been in recent years. It's easy for us to take for granted a division title and playoff run, but I think they were thinking more practically. They had to MAKE the playoffs first, before worrying about whether Amendola was healthy for them.

 

[RayClay]

I also wouldn't be surprised if they pick a receiver in the middle rounds. It's supposed to be a deep class.

 

[signbabybrady]

If this is true, which I think it might be (has the team or him actually come out and said it was?)

No the team nor the player did not confirm but it is widely excepted as truth.

then the follow up question is: Why didn't we just sit him the first 10 weeks of the season, let it fully heal

That should be clearly obvious to anyone who watched last year we were so thin at WR and TE we could not afford to sit someone who could play. especially for the first 10 weeks when we were without Gronk and the rooks had seen one game. We didnt even really know what Jules was going to give yet. And the postion continued to be a revolving door between playing and the tub all year.

 

[Brady6]

My biggest concern with Amendola is that if the groin was as big an issue as many suggested and he opted not to have offseason surgery is this going to be something that becomes a problem in 2014 once he starts playing on it again. Also the injury is described as so severe by so many posters in here it causes me to be concerned that he could have long term mobility restrictions as a result of the injury. Ras-I Dowling suffered an injury in his rookie season to his hip, which is in that same region of the body, and he never regained full mobility especially laterally. Dowling underwent surgery, he was 5-6 years younger, and he was superior in talent and athletic ability and yet he still was not able to overcome the permanent damage suffered. For NFL players losing 1% of your talent or athletic ability can be the difference between being a good player and being out of the league.

If he was healthy, I think he could provide us with 80 receptions, 850 yards, and 3 touchdowns, which is solid production from the slot. I would like to see us move away from the using the slot as our primary weapon in 2014 anyway which is why right now I may be inclined to let Edelman walk, or release Amendola if they feel Edelman is now the superior player. I would not retain both of them, and not even just because of the economics of them, the reason I would not retain them both is they would both command reps and both command targets, of the 159 combined receptions Edelman and Amendola made in 2013-14 only 30 of them were made 11+ yards down the field. You can have one player playing 10 yards or less up field on a consistent basis, having two of them and then the tight ends working in that same range as well is not going to work.

 

[Brady6]

I also wouldn't be surprised if they pick a receiver in the middle rounds. It's supposed to be a deep class.

Jeff Janis :rocker:

 

[Deus Irae]

Thank goodness we finally have a thread about Amendola...



Amendola's the only slot receiver currently on the roster so, unless the Bengals let Andrew Hawkins go to free agency, we'd best hope D.A. can be at least somewhat reliable.

 

[MassPats38]

My biggest concern with Amendola is that if the groin was as big an issue as many suggested and he opted not to have offseason surgery is this going to be something that becomes a problem in 2014 once he starts playing on it again. Also the injury is described as so severe by so many posters in here it causes me to be concerned that he could have long term mobility restrictions as a result of the injury.

Assuming that was the injury, 4 - 12 weeks offers a complete recovery. The problem with injuries to Amendola is similar to Gronk - not one recurring problem, but rather a series of very different injuries. I would be more concerned of a different injury off the menu next year than I would a return to or effects of this injury.

Accepting that injury was the real deal, this year I believe was more playing at a reduced capability without adequate time to heal and hoping things did not get worse and require IR. Not ideal recovery by any means.