Felger on the Trade; Passing Camp and No Branch

[Willie55]

Last year the Pats held Branch out of the pre-season games to prevent him from getting injured. This may be the same line of thinking.

 

[PatsFan37]

Good honest reply PF37.

I still believe if Jackson shows up and Branch can't stay healthy there will be
some questions if Branch wants big money.

Last season showed me when he goes over the middle he gets whiplash of the
eyeballs, not totally focused on the ball. In traffic he gets nervous.

Just what I saw every so often, I could be all wet and seeing things.????

I agree there are questions that he doesn't deserve top-tier receiver money. Some receivers, like TO, succeed on teams like the Eagles where there's no other decent receiver and no credible running game. He is, however, a #1 for many teams.

I disagree that he's soft. He dropped a ball last year after being absolutely crunched, lifted up, folded in half, and bounced on his head. Some announcers (Felger, I believe), sitting in their soft leather chairs, made noise about that. Think about the Saints game last year when he made the catch, got absolutely hammered, jumped up and signalled the first down. No way is he soft.

To the contrary, if he takes too many hits he'll get injured. I suspect his recent turtling after catches is the result of coaching.

 

[dryheat44]

The priority here has to be Branch IMHO......Graham has proven to be a great blocker and an inconsistent receiver overall (although did start out with 5 catches in each of his first five games (was that last year)......but with bringing in Dave Thomas and having a little depth at TE.....I see him going.....not Branch who is, and has been our #1 receiver overall......I see Branch and Samuel sticking.....One man's opinion though.....and I appreciate yours..........

And I appreciate yours. My thinking is that Belichick wants to run a 2 TE base offense. This requires uber-athletic tight ends. Neither Mills nor Thomas qualifies. These guys are hard to find, which is why they all go in the first round.

Graham, in particular, has proven to be invaluable in the passing game. He helps Brady not to get killed. Without Graham's chipping/doubling ability, Brady would have probably taken 25% more hits last year. It only takes one to knock him out for the season.

Now there are tight ends floating around the league, and in college, who are good blockers. Carswell's made a career in Denver, and the Vikings had a good one who's name escapes me. However, the defense knows that they don't have to cover these guys. They can't do that with Graham.

With Graham on the field, 100% of the Patriots playbook is in play. He could be there to run block, pass block, or run a route, and he excells at all three.

He'll never be a huge fantasy player, but his on-field contributions are undeniable, and it'll be very hard to replace them. Plus he'll be more affordable than Branch, which brings me to Branch...

I like Deion. He's a legit #1 who excells in this offense. But he's replaceable. Just this season, we could have gone after Owens, Walker, Lelie, Stallworth, Koren Robinson, Burleson, Driver, Randle-El, Lloyd, Bryant, Givens, Finneran, Keyshawn, and those are just the free agents and guys that were being shopped. Some of these guys have other issues, some might not be as good as Branch, some are expensive, but the point is Branch is a lot easier to replace, through free agency, trade, and the draft, in our offense than Graham. The most talented WR we've had in recent years is Terry Glenn, probably by a healthy margin. I don't think we miss him.

In fact, I'll go so far as to say that WR is the most replaceable position on our team.