Gaffney Signed!!

[in 12 we trust]

Yes ! #10 is back !

 

[patfanken]

I'm late to this thread and have only read the last few pages, so pardon me if any of this is redundant. A couple of thoughts.

1. On the surface the Gaffney signing make little sense given that we are already over staffed at the WR position, especially in the over 30 category. HOWEVER.....it does serve two possible needs. First the survival of the fittest competition can't help but produce the deepest and most talented WR corps of the BB era. The 5 guys (plus Slater) who remain in September will already be battle tested, regardless of who they are.

Secondly, by the time the 3rd preseaon game comes around, and teams are nicked up, there will surely be a couple of teams willing to give us a 5th or 6th for one of our pro-proven extras, and we can start to replace those missing draft slots we have now for 2013.

2. On the RB discussion: ASmith played a key role in those first 2 superbowls, however talent and role wise, he was a lot more like BJGE, than Corey Dillon. Smith never averaged 4 ypc for the Pats but, like Benny, he rarely lost yds, got what was there, and did a good job in SY and GL situations. Dillon was a true bell cow RB.

3. Personally I pretty happy with our RB situation. We have 2 guys who have the talent to be 3 down RBs, and a 3rd who is a proven 3rd down back. That is a great start. Add a vet RB and/or FB combination to that mix and we should be in good shape.

Of course I know neither Ridley or Vareen have "proven" they can be consistently effective over the course of a long season and 200 odd carries. But that's going to be the situation at a number of positions. All we can demand is that the team get talented players, and we have that at RB. I certainly like our situation better than the Jets

4. Too much name calling going on here lately. We are having legitimate discussions turn into personal pissing contests. Disagreements are what makes it interesting, but when it turns personal, its not only ugly, its bad reading. for the rest of us. JMHO.

 

[Kontradiction]

I wonder if Tom had a say in this? Getting guys on his wavelength that he trusts to run the same option routes he sees is the key and speed up top to create depredation underneath

Branch really hit the wall last year, we all love him but he has no speed or separation now. He got by on his smarts and connection with Brady but he was catching what, 1 or 2 passes a game? My bet is we go Lloyd and Gaffney outside, Wes in the slot, Stallworth as no 4 and Gonzo as no 5 if he stays healthy. Edelman, Branch and Ocho to be cut

Anytime we go 5 wide, both TE's should be on the field. That's too huge of a match-up nightmare to not take advantage of.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Oh, yes I can.

Dillon never had less than a 1100 yard season until he was injured in 2003. He always ran hard. Smith had 2 injury plagued seasons before joining the Pats. Only 3 starts in 2000. The former 1st round pick had only been in the NFL 4 seasons. There was past history of NFL success to look at in both instances.



In terms of the run only, the Pats have Woodhead who will wear down because he cannot take the pounding. When he gets beat up and tired, Woodhead has fumbled - see 2010 post season game. There was only 1. They have Ridley who has shown promise, but has also shown concern enough for Belichick to bench him.

The bottom line is that the Pats running game is a mystery heading into the 2012 season. And, weve seen what happens when the NE run game is mediocre and doesnt scare anyone.

So, to be clear, an injury-plagued RB coming off of the worst season of his career is "money in the bank", whereas a stable of young, talented, still-improving backs is... something less than that?

Errr.... okay, champ.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I'm late to this thread and have only read the last few pages, so pardon me if any of this is redundant. A couple of thoughts.

1. On the surface the Gaffney signing make little sense given that we are already over staffed at the WR position, especially in the over 30 category. HOWEVER.....it does serve two possible needs. First the survival of the fittest competition can't help but produce the deepest and most talented WR corps of the BB era. The 5 guys (plus Slater) who remain in September will already be battle tested, regardless of who they are.

Secondly, by the time the 3rd preseaon game comes around, and teams are nicked up, there will surely be a couple of teams willing to give us a 5th or 6th for one of our pro-proven extras, and we can start to replace those missing draft slots we have now for 2013.

2. On the RB discussion: ASmith played a key role in those first 2 superbowls, however talent and role wise, he was a lot more like BJGE, than Corey Dillon. Smith never averaged 4 ypc for the Pats but, like Benny, he rarely lost yds, got what was there, and did a good job in SY and GL situations. Dillon was a true bell cow RB.

3. Personally I pretty happy with our RB situation. We have 2 guys who have the talent to be 3 down RBs, and a 3rd who is a proven 3rd down back. That is a great start. Add a vet RB and/or FB combination to that mix and we should be in good shape.

Of course I know neither Ridley or Vareen have "proven" they can be consistently effective over the course of a long season and 200 odd carries. But that's going to be the situation at a number of positions. All we can demand is that the team get talented players, and we have that at RB. I certainly like our situation better than the Jets

4. Too much name calling going on here lately. We are having legitimate discussions turn into personal pissing contests. Disagreements are what makes it interesting, but when it turns personal, its not only ugly, its bad reading. for the rest of us. JMHO.

Re: 1- it makes perfect sense to me, since Gaffney's instantly our #3 WR. Unlike Ochocinco, we know that he knows the system, and unlike Branch he's still capably of performing consistently. Branch, at this stage in his career, is a 5'9" receiver who can't get separation with any consistency. I like the guy, but the writing's on the wall. You need to get more out of your flanker, and with Lloyd on the field, we will.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Except every single team will be staring at the Pats cuts. It only takes one team to pick up a player from the PS, and at some point one of them will guess BB knows more than they do.

How is it that, two weeks ago, everyone was screaming that Belichick can't draft WRs worth a damn, and now we have people worried that someone will claim our 7th round WR as a leap of faith, solely based on how awesome Belichick is? Does not compute.

 

[AzPatsFan]

No comment on your only carrying 4 WRs, but Edelman is also the Punt Returner.

I also think he isd going to b the third Free Safety as well... He was a college QB, understands the team concept, has both speed and quickness, has good hands for the INT, is a tough form tackler, with a defensive personality too. That is probably the most common conversion of running college QB to Safety...

 

[Triumph]

So, to be clear, an injury-plagued RB coming off of the worst season of his career is "money in the bank", whereas a stable of young, talented, still-improving backs is... something less than that?

Errr.... okay, champ.

Smith had proven what he could do in the NFL while in Buffalo. Obviously the Pats also thought they had something good or they would not have brought him here. Not every FA works out that arrives in Foxboro, but I would say that Smith did better than OK. He earned 2 championships rings and was dependable for 3 seasons.

Im all for hope and change, but Ridley and Vereen have proven hardly anything. Everyone hopes that Ridley can improve on 2011 just like I hoped that McCourty was going to be a HOF CB after his 2nd season.

I dont want to roll the RB dice again only to find out in the playoffs that its all on Bradys shoulders again.

OK, Champ.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I'll make it clearer then. Branch was our 4th option last year. With the addition of Lloyd, Branch becomes our 5th option. Is Gaffney going to be that much better than Branch as our 5th option? Even if he is slightly better than Branch, he will still only be our 5th option. Some people are overselling this signing which can be seen by some of the funny posts in this thread.

The Patriots just upgraded by signing a better player than they had previously, and one who is familiar with the offense. Who cares what # option he is to start the season? Tiquan Underwood was supposed to be our nonexistent option last year, and look at how much he ended up playing. If last year didn't prove to you that you can never have too many reliable WRs, then I guess nothing will.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Smith had proven what he could do in the NFL while in Buffalo. Obviously the Pats also thought they had something good or they would not have brought him here. Not every FA works out that arrives in Foxboro, but I would say that Smith did better than OK. He earned 2 championships rings and was dependable for 3 seasons.

Im all for hope and change, but Ridley and Vereen have proven hardly anything. Everyone hopes that Ridley can improve on 2011 just like I hoped that McCourty was going to be a HOF CB after his 2nd season.

I dont want to roll the RB dice again only to find out in the playoffs that its all on Bradys shoulders again.

OK, Champ.

So that means that you'll be really happy if we can lure Ricky Williams out of retirement, since he's proved that he *could* be really effective, back in the day.

 

[Deus Irae]

Smith had proven what he could do in the NFL while in Buffalo. Obviously the Pats also thought they had something good or they would not have brought him here. Not every FA works out that arrives in Foxboro, but I would say that Smith did better than OK. He earned 2 championships rings and was dependable for 3 seasons.

Im all for hope and change, but Ridley and Vereen have proven hardly anything. Everyone hopes that Ridley can improve on 2011 just like I hoped that McCourty was going to be a HOF CB after his 2nd season.

I dont want to roll the RB dice again only to find out in the playoffs that its all on Bradys shoulders again.

OK, Champ.

Maroney had proven that he'd passed Dillon, yet you seem to have missed that part, as well as Smith not getting it done in 2003.

 

[patchick]

Smith had proven what he could do in the NFL while in Buffalo.

You betcha, he sure had. In his career with Buffalo Antowain put up a whopping 3.8 career yards per carry. 3.8! While being only a modest factor as a receiver out of the backfield, and showing off speed that made BJGE look zippy.

I think the fact of the Lombardis has seriously clouded your memory of the player. The plain fact is that Shonn Greene has performed better for the Jets than Antowain Smith did for the Bills.

 

[shmessy]

Gonzalez, when healthy (big if, I know) is twice the receiver that Edelman is. He's a former first round draft pick and is the kind of value pick up that BBis known for. I think he sticks.

Have you seen the roster now? We HAVE receivers.

We need football players.

No one can do as many things as well as Edelman.

WR's
--------
Lloyd
Welker
Gaffney
Branch
Ocho

WR/STers
--------
Edelman
Slater

Practice Squad
------------
Ebert



******Gonzalez is training camp insurance if Welker holds out or someone gets injured. This is a real possibility - - look at the top-5 WR's. Not one is under 30.

 

[Off The Grid]

It's always amusing to watch somebody spit out an half-baked notion without evidently having given it a moment's consideration...and then spend the next several pages trying to defend the indefensible!!

 

[Off The Grid]

I, for one, not only think that Jabar Gaffney was an astonishingly clutch player ~ even the clutch ones miss one, as Wes Welker would have you know ~ but that he also fills an aching need that we still had, despite the amazing series of moves we'd made at Wide Receiver: Split End.

Split End.

Slot End.

Flanker.

The value of having starting caliber Wide Outs at all 3 positions ~ and no less than 6 potential starters, all told!! ~ who are all proven to have the talent, the skill, the synchronicity with Tom Brady ~ or, in Lloyd's case, the System ~ and the mental Processing Speed to adjust to Defenses on the fly ~ and hit'm where they ain't!! ~ is colossal.

We haven't had that since 2008.

And we've never had this kind of Depth of Talent.

Not even in 2007.

And that was before we added Rob Gronkowski and Aaron The Navigator!!

If we can keep some modicum of Good Health going, we will eclipse the 2007 Offense.

 

[Clonamery]

It's always amusing to watch somebody spit out an half-baked notion without evidently having given it a moment's consideration...and then spend the next several pages trying to defend the indefensible!!

Ha ha. But he's getting so good at it.

 

[Deus Irae]

I, for one, not only think that Jabar Gaffney was an astonishingly clutch player ~ even the clutch ones miss one, as Wes Welker would have you know ~ but that he also fills an aching need that we still had, despite the amazing series of moves we'd made at Wide Receiver: Split End.

Split End.

Slot End.

Flanker.

The value of having starting caliber Wide Outs at all 3 positions ~ and no less than 6 potential starters, all told!! ~ who are all proven to have the talent, the skill, the synchronicity with Tom Brady ~ or, in Lloyd's case, the System ~ and the mental Processing Speed to adjust to Defenses on the fly ~ and hit'm where they ain't!! ~ is colossal.

We haven't had that since 2008.

And we've never had this kind of Depth of Talent.

Not even in 2007.

And that was before we added Rob Gronkowski and Aaron The Navigator!!

If we can keep some modicum of Good Health going, we will eclipse the 2007 Offense.

I don't know if they'll eclipse '07, but I like your general line of thinking. The only think missing is an elite blazer. The depth and overall quality of the entire receiving group should be excellent, and McDaniels should be able to come up with all sorts of ideas for how to use it.

 

[JMarr]

Have you seen the roster now? We HAVE receivers.

We need football players.

No one can do as many things as well as Edelman.

WR's
--------
Lloyd
Welker
Gaffney
Branch
Ocho

WR/STers
--------
Edelman
Slater

Practice Squad
------------
Ebert

******Gonzalez is training camp insurance if Welker holds out or someone gets injured. This is a real possibility - - look at the top-5 WR's. Not one is under 30.

Not 100% sure Edelman will make the roster, but I have to agree with this. I think BB might even use him as depth at RB.

As far as your list goes, I would just replace Branch with Stallworth. Stallworth probably still has more speed than any of them and I want a semblance of a burner/deep threat on the roster. Branch's time has come and gone (although I won't be upset if they keep Branch over Ocho).
Rightly or wrongly, ultimately it probably comes down to the guys whom Brady trusts.

Anyway, it's a good problem to have and I love the Gaffney signing.

 

[West Philly Patriot]

Not 100% sure Edelman will make the roster, but I have to agree with this. I think BB might even use him as depth at RB.

As far as your list goes, I would just replace Branch with Stallworth. Stallworth probably still has more speed than any of them and I want a semblance of a burner/deep threat on the roster. Branch's time has come and gone (although I won't be upset if they keep Branch over Ocho).
Rightly or wrongly, ultimately it probably comes down to the guys whom Brady trusts.

Anyway, it's a good problem to have and I love the Gaffney signing.

Holy adverb Batman! Just kidding

I agree although I think Branch makes the team(just a hunch) and stallworth/ocho are the two guys I'm watching for a training camp death match this august. I think Lloyd is your Deep guy, doesn't have elite deep speed but he can provide that.

I am happy Gaff is back as well, dude is so legit when the game is tight and the real men stand up and make plays. I hope all is well for him off the field also.

 

[BradyFTW!]

I, for one, not only think that Jabar Gaffney was an astonishingly clutch player ~ even the clutch ones miss one, as Wes Welker would have you know ~ but that he also fills an aching need that we still had, despite the amazing series of moves we'd made at Wide Receiver: Split End.

Split End.

Slot End.

Flanker.

The value of having starting caliber Wide Outs at all 3 positions ~ and no less than 6 potential starters, all told!! ~ who are all proven to have the talent, the skill, the synchronicity with Tom Brady ~ or, in Lloyd's case, the System ~ and the mental Processing Speed to adjust to Defenses on the fly ~ and hit'm where they ain't!! ~ is colossal.

We haven't had that since 2008.

And we've never had this kind of Depth of Talent.

Not even in 2007.

And that was before we added Rob Gronkowski and Aaron The Navigator!!

If we can keep some modicum of Good Health going, we will eclipse the 2007 Offense.

Gaffney is a more natural flanker--I believe that that's where he was lining up last year, with Santana Moss at split end--but like Ochocinco one of the benefits that he provides is that he can play split end effectively, as he did in 2007. It's an underrated attribute, but considering that Lloyd and Branch are strictly flankers, it's good to have a couple of players with that kind of flexibility.