Hollins As A Special Teamer

[signbabybrady]

of course it would
Hollins was signed before WIlliams and Chism were drafted/signed and before Diggs signed.
it is becoming apparent those 3, plus Pop are ahead of Hollins.
if the team keeps 7 wr's, I assume Hollins is safe. if they keep 6 wr's, it will come down to Bourne, Hollins and Baker (Polk injured)

Chism has not moved ahead of Hollins maybe after Friday he gets a chance this week but we haven't seen it yet.

Also while Williams spot on the roster might be safer he hasn't actually passed Hollins yet either.

Right now Pop and Diggs are 1 and 2. And Boutte and Hollins seem to be sharing WR3 (just a guess based on history but seems like they like Hollins size and blocking and Boutte is the better receiver).

I think Chism and Baker have made strides but thus far it does not seem as though they've passed anyone.

We obviously can't know Vrabel's and McD's opinion on the future upside of each player but my thinking is the loser of the Boutte/Hollins battle then also has to deal with potentially losing out to a lesser player with a higher ceiling. Or they just risk it and put that player on the practice squad to keep the better on the 53 (a lot of factors go into this decision).

 

[Triumph]

You brought it up… now you don’t want to discuss it. Fine.

I already said “if” Baker continues this upward trajectory.

What upward trajectory would that be?

He had 0 receptions vs Washington.

 

[Wozzy]

What upward trajectory would that be?

He had 0 receptions vs Washington.

You been following practice?

Did you see how many open throws Josh Dobbs missed?

I’m not dying on the Javon Baker hill, I also have eyes and no agenda other than I want the team to be as good as they can be.

 

[TommyD4207]

@Steve102 I'm now walking barefoot like MAck Hollins. He's now my cult hero.

 

[Triumph]

Diggs-Pop-Boutte-Williams-Hollins-Baker-Chism = 7, with Hollins/Baker also playing ST's and Chism as backup punt returner. It's possible they need to try sneaking Baker onto the PS, but he's the only one with a chance of making it through waivers.

Polk & Bourne will be gone. Can't see parting with 3rd rounder Williams, or $4m Hollins, or rising star Chism.

Chism really has shown more in 3 weeks than Polk and Baker have in a year.

Its past time to face the music that the Pats made a stupid mistake in trading out of their 2024 2nd round pick. NE should have just taken Mconky and rolled on. Then for 2025 you would have had Diggs, Pop, Mconky, Williams, Chism, # 6.

I'm really glad that the Pats didn't monkey around with trading down this past draft. By indications NE hit on 1st and 2nd picks and possibly the 3rd which we will hopefully see when Maye comes out of his coma.

 

[Triumph]

You been following practice?

Did you see how many open throws Josh Dobbs missed?

I’m not dying on the Javon Baker hill, I also have eyes and no agenda other than I want the team to be as good as they can be.

Oh, practice.

Maybe he will catch a pass this Saturday? Its possible.

 

[signbabybrady]

Chism really has shown more in 3 weeks than Polk and Baker have in a year.

Its past time to face the music that the Pats made a stupid mistake in trading out of their 2024 2nd round pick. NE should have just taken Mconky and rolled on. Then for 2025 you would have had Diggs, Pop, Mconky, Williams, Chism, # 6.

I'm really glad that the Pats didn't monkey around with trading down this past draft. By indications NE hit on 1st and 2nd picks and possibly the 3rd which we will hopefully see when Maye comes out of his coma.

This is not a logical way to think this thru. Ladd being better than Polk and Baker has zero bearing on who is better Polk, Baker, Hollins, or Chism. And to me even bringing it up reveals a bias in your thought process.

 

[Wozzy]

Oh, practice.

Maybe he will catch a pass this Saturday? Its possible.

Pretend like you have been following and are actually a fan of this team… even if you aren’t. Also take your Zoloft… NE’s defense is much better than Washington’s.

 

[Ring 6]

So? What does one team's personnel decision have to do with the Patriots?

Who said we are cutting someone of value to keep Hollins? We aren't there yet.

We have 53 players that belong in the NFL besides Hollins, but more importantly we have young players who MAY have a future who should take up the roster spot. Hollins looks to be inactive if he makes the team, so why wouldn’t you give that spot to a younger guy with upside?
What does Hollins give us in that role that’s important?

 

[Triumph]

This is not a logical way to think this thru. Ladd being better than Polk and Baker has zero bearing on who is better Polk, Baker, Hollins, or Chism. And to me even bringing it up reveals a bias in your thought process.

Not really.

The Pats committed a mistake and its time to admit it and move on. Its like buying a car that's a Lemon. You don't want to believe it and will point to every good thing about the piece of junk. Time is running out for Baker and Polk.

As we have seen with other Pats Busts, keeping them on the team is fruitless. They don't turn it around and improve. Boutte has shown more reason to keep around.

 

[RobertWeathers]

We have 53 players that belong in the NFL besides Hollins, but more importantly we have young players who MAY have a future who should take up the roster spot.

That's speculative. We've only had 3 weeks of practices and one preseason game. Nothing is confirmed.

If we had 5 WRs who did what Pop and Boutte did last year i'd agree with you. But we don't.

Hollins looks to be inactive if he makes the team, so why wouldn’t you give that spot to a younger guy with upside?
What does Hollins give us in that role that’s important?

Not sure about the inactive designation. Hes a proven WR4/5 and special teams player. He knows the offense, is a big target in the RZ, and is an effective run blocker at the WR position. Everyone not named Boutte, Pop, and Diggs at WR are unproven at the NFL level at the WR position.

 

[Triumph]

Pretend like you have been following and are actually a fan of this team… even if you aren’t. Also take your Zoloft… NE’s defense is much better than Washington’s.

Then why didnt Baker catch at least 1 pass vs Washington?

Minnesota supposedly has a good defense this season.

Will that be your next new excuse why Baker got skunked?

 

[Triumph]

Pretend like you have been following and are actually a fan of this team… even if you aren’t. Also take your Zoloft… NE’s defense is much better than Washington’s.

Hows that upward trajectory look?

Not too good.

 

[mgteich]

I think Chism and Baker have made strides but thus far it does not seem as though they've passed anyone.

Who do they have to pass to be the #6 WR? Polk? Of course, we could keep only 5.

We all (perhaps almost all) presume that Bourne will be traded or waived.
That leaves Diggs, Douglas, Boutte, Hollins, Williams, as our top 5.

 

[PatsFan2]

Diggs-Pop-Boutte-Williams-Hollins-Baker-Chism = 7, with Hollins/Baker also playing ST's and Chism as backup punt returner. It's possible they need to try sneaking Baker onto the PS, but he's the only one with a chance of making it through waivers.

Polk & Bourne will be gone. Can't see parting with 3rd rounder Williams, or $4m Hollins, or rising star Chism.

Not so quick on Bourne I'm not conceding anything top Baker.

 

[mgteich]

Hollins looks to be inactive if he makes the team

I agree that If Vrabel believes that, then Hollins won't make the team.

Since the team is run by Vrabel and not by you, I would expect Hollins to be active in every game that he is healthy enough to play, except perhaps for Game 17.

 

[Wozzy]

Then why didnt Baker catch at least 1 pass vs Washington?

Neither did Kyle Williams, Hooper or Hollins… cut them all.

Meanwhile John Jiles nearly led us in receiving in a preseason game = lock

Serious question here… did the first two offensive units pass games look good?

The answer is no…

Minnesota supposedly has a good defense this season.

They did last season… should again. Washington not so much…

Will that be your next new excuse why Baker got skunked?

You haven’t been paying attention… you're also a clinically challenged negative nancy.

I don’t care about Baker one way or another, but positive feedback from the media doesn’t cease to exist just because you have an agenda.

 

[signbabybrady]

Who do they have to pass to be the #6 WR? Polk? Of course, we could keep only 5.

We all (perhaps almost all) presume that Bourne will be traded or waived.
That leaves Diggs, Douglas, Boutte, Hollins, Williams, as our top 5.

I've always considered 5 WR to be the norm. The PS rules make it so you can play with the numbers at any position a little more than in the past but I still tend to talk about the roster under the more old school numbers.

 

[mgteich]

I've always considered 5 WR to be the norm. The PS rules make it so you can play with the numbers at any position a little more than in the past but I still tend to talk about the roster under the more old school numbers.

fair enough

 

[signbabybrady]

Not really.

The Pats committed a mistake and its time to admit it and move on. Its like buying a car that's a Lemon. You don't want to believe it and will point to every good thing about the piece of junk. Time is running out for Baker and Polk.

As we have seen with other Pats Busts, keeping them on the team is fruitless. They don't turn it around and improve. Boutte has shown more reason to keep around.

Your car example isn't exactly the best. It's a little too binary.

Use your last sentence as an example because Boutte's rookie year was equally as forgettable as Polk or Baker but he's improved/ing.

Again I'm not using the Ladd mistake to anyway determine who is better here Hollins, Chism, Polk, or Baker. There is very much the possibility one or both won't be worth a second or fourth round pick but still be better than an aging vet or a UDFA and Ladd has zero impact on that other than it seems to have created a bias in your mind.

Now I have my own opinion on how the pecking order stands right now and even still there's a lot of factors we still just don't know. Classroom ethics, injury severity for Polk, and countless other things.

Bottom line is we can do our best to surmise based on practice reps and things like that as to what the opinion of Vrabel and Josh is on the pecking order but we still don't know what they think as far if they think a player has reached their ceiling or not and just how high they think each could go and how much they would weigh that against their actual achieved skill level.

Personally I don't see the ceiling as being high enough for most of these receivers not to just take the ones that look best now. You can go back and look at my skepticism over Hollins at times this off-season but currently I think he probably makes it and I'll take the risk one or 2 of the younger guys make it to our practice squad.

I see Williams as our Developmental guy. Diggs, Pop, and Boutte as our top 3 and Hollins as our best GameDay active backup for a lot various useful GameDay skills that the kids just aren't better than him at yet. But the margins are very thin and we'll see how this week goes.