Ocho Released

[Betterthanmost]

I told Chad, if you show up on Reiss' twitter feeder, you get cut. Next on the line is Branch.
This trend started with Bruh Bruh Bulter.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Good luck, Chad. I'm sure you tried hard (BB would have cut you mid-season if you didn't), but your lack of production was indeed a head-scratcher.

Regards,
Chris

 

[mayoclinic]

There are three types of thoughts about Ocho in here.

1) He couldn't learn the playbook,thus was not in sync and was not a factor,he was a workout warrior and a good teammate and would have proved himself had he been given another chance.

Others say

2) Is an attention whore who has too much going on outside of football to give full concentration to the sport (his minute by minute reporting of EVERYTHING he does each day posting it on twitter and trying to get to the front page of every sports paper in the USA)

3) Simply is not a very good NFL WR anymore and should retire before he really embarrasses himself and overshadows his achievements of his earlier years.


The fact that a scrub like Underwood apparently picked up the playbook faster than a 10 year veteran yet he was cut hours before the SB tells me the combo of #2 and #3 are the answers.

Those who choose to believe #1 think Ocho struggled to take over a year to learn the playbook which is what some are saying in here which to me is ridiculous,he is not dumb because if you think #1 you think this way.... He is just not very good,in fact he stinks anymore.

Michael David Smith of PFT on Ocho's inability to learn the playbook:

Chad Ochocinco’s inability to learn the offense a consistent problem | ProFootballTalk

Most interesting line:

According to Bengals.com, T.J. Houshmandzadeh used to have to tell Ochocinco where to line up.

Followed by:

After an Organized Team Activity last month, the Boston Globe reported that Deion Branch had to tell Ochocinco where to line up, and after that Ochocinco jumped offside.

After the Chad Jackson failure, it makes you wonder why the Pats would sign a veteran with problems learning playbooks and understand offensive schemes?

 

[Triumph]

He could have behaved like R Moss circa 2009 or like TO most of his career.

He didn't.

Not sure why you are angry because he wasn't bright enough to figure out this system, J Galloway and many others could not.

Did he cut in front of you in line at Starbucks or something?

First off, Galloway and Donald Hayes cost nothing. They didnt hog cap space either.

BB had the right idea to have a 3rd WR who could produce in case of injury to upper tier players. Sinko was that guy and was paid accordingly. The Pats could not put him on the field on their final drive in SB 46 because he did not know what to do.

 

[Triumph]

None of that is the reason that Johnson couldn't figure out the patterns. You've basically not made a decent argument this entire offseason, and this post of yours is in keeping with that record of failure.

Just more blather out of you, but something that needs to explained to you as usual.

When somebody pays you as much as Ocho received you should study day and night to earn that money. Extra hours post practice with Mallet or Hoyer. More film study. Whatever it takes if football is really number # 1 for you.

 

[rookBoston]

I love how the Ocho whores are spinning his perceived positives right to the bitter end.

"He tried hard" LOL

The Pats gave him 6 million dollars.

Too true. Elite money.

Which brings the discussion back to Welker who was incredibly productive, whose salary last year was what again...? $700k IIRC

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I'm sorry. I can't understand a word you're saying.

Hey are you Matt Damon?

 

[Deus Irae]

Just more blather out of you, but something that needs to explained to you as usual.

When somebody pays you as much as Ocho received you should study day and night to earn that money. Extra hours post practice with Mallet or Hoyer. More film study. Whatever it takes if football is really number # 1 for you.

Given that you have no idea how many hours per day Johnson studied, I'd suggest that your posts are increasing in their ridiculousness.

 

[Gumby]

There are three types of thoughts about Ocho in here.
.....
Those who choose to believe #1 think Ocho struggled to take over a year to learn the playbook which is what some are saying in here which to me is ridiculous,he is not dumb because if you think #1 you think this way.... He is just not very good,in fact he stinks anymore.

.

On the ESPN analysis of this, Tedy had a really good point.

He said that 'it isnt just learning the playbook. It is that the pats are a game plan team and they change the playbook each week. So you not only have to know the base playbook but remember what the current week's variations are.

Further he said Ocho is still capable of running routes; but that he was thinking too much in NE because he was unsure. .....'

So he was tentative in what he was doing and that made him bad. And I think that lends credence to that your #1 is really the one and only reason he didn't work out.

 

[ausbacker]

Just more blather out of you, but something that needs to explained to you as usual.

When somebody pays you as much as Ocho received you should study day and night to earn that money. Extra hours post practice with Mallet or Hoyer. More film study. Whatever it takes if football is really number # 1 for you.

Out of curiosity do you know the specifics of Ocho's study plan and commitment to learning the Patriots playbook do you?

The simple reality is that Ocho's football IQ wasn't great enough to absorb the information and then to translate it to the football field. It's a shame because the physical skills are still there.

Move on.

 

[patsfan13]

First off, Galloway and Donald Hayes cost nothing. They didnt hog cap space either.

BB had the right idea to have a 3rd WR who could produce in case of injury to upper tier players. Sinko was that guy and was paid accordingly. The Pats could not put him on the field on their final drive in SB 46 because he did not know what to do.

BB and management made a mistake and over paid him. That isn't Johnson's fault.

Did you expect Johnson to say pay me vet minimum cause I'm a moron?

Please. Go away and buy a clue.


Everyone knows he never got the O was it due to an inability to comphrend or was it not caring?


IMO everything you hear our of Foxboro said the guy worked hard. Whatever bug is up your butt is your problem.

He wasn't going to make this roster this year so releasing him isn't a big deal.

 

[Triumph]

BB and management made a mistake and over paid him. That isn't Johnson's fault.
Did you expect Johnson to say pay me vet minimum cause I'm a moron?

Please. Go away and buy a clue.

Get a clue yourself. Seriously.

Youre commending Ocho for not complaining about sitting on the bench when he didn know the offense? Too funny.

Once again, what could he say?

 

[Ring 6]

Get a clue yourself. Seriously.

Youre commending Ocho for not complaining about sitting on the bench when he didn know the offense? Too funny.

Once again, what could he say?

No he's not. He is saying it isn't 85s fault that the Patriots paid him 6 million.
He isn't commending him at all.

 

[Ring 6]

It wasn't me. I thought they should have cut him last season when the "can't understand the playbook" talk started. This is professional football. It seems to me like grasping the playbook for your position is a minimum requirement.

The surprise in this is that BB couldn't get a draft pick for the guy.

Cincinnati dumped Ocho, TO and Carson Palmer and then made the playoffs with Brandon Tate as a op-tier return man willing to adapat his career to fit the needs of his employer. TO and Ocho are presently out of football and Palmer missed the playoffs. These big personality divas who put their interest in money or self promotion ahead of their teams are not a pathway to success.

I wish Ocho luck and I hope the Pats brain trust learns from the Haynesworth/Ochocinco free agency debacle.

I don't think there is anything to learn, other than some transactions work out and some don't, but they already knew that.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I don't think there is anything to learn, other than some transactions work out and some don't, but they already knew that.

:yeahthat:

I mean, we've got to talk about something until September and all, but it's a business. Sometimes you come up with Diet Coke, it's a huge hit, and "Tab" becomes a distant memory. Sometimes you come up with New Coke, forcing you to re-introduce Coca Cola Classic. Coca Cola still makes a lot of money. We still win a lot of games. They take their best shot. Very smart people worked very hard on marketing, formulating, product-testing, packaging, and otherwise ensuring the success of New Coke too.

Apple shouldn't have rolled out the Newton either. But they saw really early that you didn't want to be caught dead making what we called a computer back then in a decade or two. You know your general plan, you take your best shot at pieces that fit... if you fail, next time you "fail better." Sometimes you hit the home run and you get Randy Moss or Corey Dillon. Sometimes you try to plug in Joey Galloway or Chad Ochocinco.

Andy said it better in one sentence. I just have too much time on my hands on a Sunday morning.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Faulting Chad personally (and I don't consider referring to him as Stinko anything more than comic relief commentary based on a play on his name in light of his performance as oppsed to attacking him as some sort of anti christ as some still persist in doing) is silly because if someone offered any of us $6M to do something we might not be able to do but thought we could and were willing to try we'd jump at it too.

Gred Bedard said it best in his Sunday Notes column. Although I'm only willing to not fault the team if they have once and for all learned from their mistake. This year's WR hires seem to indicate they have. Although it ought to make them just a tad more flexible when it comes to deciding when or if they really have to move on from Welker...

3. Don’t fault the Patriots for taking a chance on Chad Ochocinco. Physically, he can still be dangerous, though not as a field stretcher. They just relied too much on film in their evaluation and not enough on finding out exactly how he processes information. Lesson learned.

Rap had some parting thoughts in his Sunday piece as well.

5. The Patriots cut WR Chad Ochocinco this week, setting free a failed experiment that costs two mid-round picks, nearly $6 million and endless time. Simply, it didn’t work. Coach Bill Belichick had wanted to trade for Ochocinco earlier in his career, and maybe that would’ve worked. But I doubt it. He simply couldn’t learn the offense. Or, he chose not to. What’s weird is that Ochocinco was a good teammate. He wasn’t a circus. He was just a bad player. The talk is that he’ll catch on, but I have a hard time seeing him be productive. It didn’t look like he still has his legs, even watching him in camp last year. In the season, it was worse. And he drops a ton of balls. Having to learn a new offense so fast, I would be shocked if he returns to form next year. He’s definitely entertaining (and he’s still the only player who essentially forced me to go to lunch with him after his first practice). He has charisma. But despite what he says, he doesn’t want the criticism. He isn’t comfortable with the challenge of possibly failing. And in New England, he was in a constant, private stew. May be tough for him to fight out of that with another team.

I don't know if he's physically done. Seems to be about a 50/50 split on that. The issue will be is he still athletic enough to get by freelancing. Miami's going to run a west coast system. But their schemes probably won't be too complicated because they have 2 potential backups as potential starters and a new install across the board. What west coast offenses do require is precision and timing. Freelancing won't work unless it's between a QB and WR with a long history. And even then, as Palmer can attest, the urge to point fingers when it doesn't sours even those relationships over time. The QB is throwing to a spot at a time... The reads aren't as involved as they were here and there won't be a ton of adjustments, but in the end the goal is the same.

And like Rap I do sense that his twitter in your face eff the critics blather belies a sensitive soul who doesn't handle criticism well behind the facade, and just shrugs it off mostly to convince everyone including himself it's no big deal. In the past when he's been productive he could trade off entertainment value over actual accomplishment even up. Not so sure that works anywhere once you aren't productive.

I think Bill thought the problem in Cincy was poor QBing and coaching. And there was that. But a great player will rise above it and often raise others up in the process. That was what Chad never did. The old adage applies, if you're not part of the solution you're probably part of the problem. Chad's a bright guy, not merely a class clown. But he's not football smart ergo his fun isn't harmless if the goal is to win it all.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I don't think there is anything to learn, other than some transactions work out and some don't, but they already knew that.

I would hope Belichick would disagree with you, there is always something to be learned if one is to avoid repeatedly making the same mistakes - one of his personal bugaboos.

 

[Ring 6]

I would hope Belichick would disagree with you, there is always something to be learned if one is to avoid repeatedly making the same mistakes - one of his personal bugaboos.

I'm not sure what 'learning' is supposed to take place in this case.
Of course you want to learn from mistakes, but the potential for this result was well known, possibly even expected.
They were players with good backgrounds who for various reasons were a risk in signing. Whatever was to be learned, was pretty well known at the time.
I can't believe that BB will change his opinion on taking a shot at a player with warts, just because some didn't work out, because he knew going in that was a good chance.
Really, there wasn't anything substantial lost.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'm not sure what 'learning' is supposed to take place in this case.
Of course you want to learn from mistakes, but the potential for this result was well known, possibly even expected.
They were players with good backgrounds who for various reasons were a risk in signing. Whatever was to be learned, was pretty well known at the time.
I can't believe that BB will change his opinion on taking a shot at a player with warts, just because some didn't work out, because he knew going in that was a good chance.
Really, there wasn't anything substantial lost.

I don't honestly think for a moment that Bill considered that Chad's football IQ was self limited... I think he though that while he may have gotten by on talent he was eminently coachable. Turns out he wasn't. Not that he wasn't willing to try, at least for this coach and QB, but he really lacks the capacity or discipline or instincts to grasp a complicated offense. Ergo he was at a total loss to execute within it in real time under pressure. I think he allowed his admiration for the athlete (coupled with his appreciation for the light hearted and seemingly harmless persona) cloud his judgement. He didn't do his homework because his instincts failed him. Always do your homework is the lesson to be learned. There were lots of folks who could have told him what it was like to work with Chad. It wouldn't have all been sour grapes, we know that for a fact now. Have to learn to read between the lines and not just discount what you hear because you like what you see. And two draft picks and $6M and a roster spot for a player who might yet have developed is a substantial enough loss that you wouldn't want to repeat it frequently.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Rap had some parting thoughts in his Sunday piece as well.

Quote:
5. The Patriots cut WR Chad Ochocinco this week, setting free a failed experiment that costs two mid-round picks, nearly $6 million and endless time. Simply, it didn’t work. Coach Bill Belichick had wanted to trade for Ochocinco earlier in his career, and maybe that would’ve worked. But I doubt it. He simply couldn’t learn the offense. Or, he chose not to. What’s weird is that Ochocinco was a good teammate. He wasn’t a circus. He was just a bad player. The talk is that he’ll catch on, but I have a hard time seeing him be productive. It didn’t look like he still has his legs, even watching him in camp last year. In the season, it was worse. And he drops a ton of balls. Having to learn a new offense so fast, I would be shocked if he returns to form next year. He’s definitely entertaining (and he’s still the only player who essentially forced me to go to lunch with him after his first practice). He has charisma. But despite what he says, he doesn’t want the criticism. He isn’t comfortable with the challenge of possibly failing. And in New England, he was in a constant, private stew. May be tough for him to fight out of that with another team.

Pretty good insights from Rap; thanks for sharing. Did Rapoport ever air this insight when he was covering the team last year? If so, I missed it.