Patriots claim TE Jake Ballard

[Ring 6]

Aaron Hernandez Highlights - YouTube

The game winner vs. the Cowboys he beat their #1 CB Jenkins split wide,

And a great use of a TE on the 8 yard line.

Chargers TD he was in the slot,

Covered by Bob Sanders

and other plays he's out wide.

He lines up like receiving TEs do. I don't know why this is so confusing.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Don't underestimate AH abilities. He can get open and his speed is deceiving. He jukes and spins, does what ever he can and his YAC are WR like. He's a gifted athlete we saw what he can do when comin out of backfield. He's versatile and I can see a Gronk/Ballard/AH formation doin damage especially in'da Red Zone. Ballard is a good pick up if it all works out.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

A QUESTION ABOUT BALLARD
I don't have the patience to look through the 169 posts on so many topics. Perhaps this has bene answered

QUESTION
If we put Ballard on the PUP list, as seems likey, will we able to place him on IR after 8 weeks without him having to pass through waivers?

Waivers aren't required to go from PUP to IR. Waivers aren't required to place a player on IR during the regular season.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Yes. He isn't being cut so he directly goes to the IR. I believe the rules are (for players on PuP) that you either activate them or IR them. There is no waivers for them.

You can also cut them with an injury settlement

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Was Tom ROFLin really upset at the Patriots or just pissed off that he made an absurd mistake

 

[Ring 6]

Don't underestimate AH abilities. He can get open and his speed is deceiving. He jukes and spins, does what ever he can and his YAC are WR like. He's a gifted athlete we saw what he can do when comin out of backfield. He's versatile and I can see a Gronk/Ballard/AH formation doin damage especially in'da Red Zone. Ballard is a good pick up if it all works out.

I'm not underestimating him at all, just defining his skillset. His skillset for what he does is excellent. Like most players his skillset for a position he doesn't play isn't so great.
Logan Mankins is one of the few best Gs in the NFL. He has tremendous G skills and some of them overlap to the skills required at LT. He has measurables, and could play there in a pinch without embarrassing himself, and in fact would be an outstanding run blocker at LT. But he isn't a LT. Saying that is not underestimating or diminishing him.

 

[Avenger]

I'm not underestimating him at all, just defining his skillset. His skillset for what he does is excellent. Like most players his skillset for a position he doesn't play isn't so great.
Logan Mankins is one of the few best Gs in the NFL. He has tremendous G skills and some of them overlap to the skills required at LT. He has measurables, and could play there in a pinch without embarrassing himself, and in fact would be an outstanding run blocker at LT. But he isn't a LT. Saying that is not underestimating or diminishing him.

Logan Mankins was the Left Tackle for Fresno State.

 

[Ring 6]

Logan Mankins was the Left Tackle for Fresno State.

Right, thats why he is a perfect example, because he isn't a LT in the NFL. He played there in an emergency last year too, but he isn't a LT.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

Was Tom ROFLin really upset at the Patriots or just pissed off that he made an absurd mistake

Sounded like he was pissed at the GM, he caught himself before he said too much.

 

[eom]

Well, that would make the Giants' bizarre attempt to send him to IR via waivers in June even stranger!

the whole thing's kind of strange.
people are calling the giants stupid, but reports are that the pats were the only team to put in a claim, although it only takes one team.

anyway, he's here now, so who cares.
I'll admit to feeling a little bad for the guy --- but just a little.

 

[ausbacker]

the whole thing's kind of strange.
people are calling the giants stupid, but reports are that the pats were the only team to put in a claim, although it only takes one team.

anyway, he's here now, so who cares.
I'll admit to feeling a little bad for the guy --- but just a little.

I don't feel bad one bit. If Ballard contributes to the Patriots winning a Superbowl it'll be an even greater move.

 

[Deus Irae]

the whole thing's kind of strange.
people are calling the giants stupid, but reports are that the pats were the only team to put in a claim, although it only takes one team.

anyway, he's here now, so who cares.
I'll admit to feeling a little bad for the guy --- but just a little.

There's no need to feel bad for the guy. He's going to get paid half a million dollars plus to rehab for a year, and he's going from last year's Super Bowl Champion to this year's Super Bowl Champion.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Right, thats why he is a perfect example, because he isn't a LT in the NFL. He played there in an emergency last year too, but he isn't a LT.

Exactly- it's pretty common, in New England and elsewhere, for the bulk of your non-center OL to have played LT in college. LT is typically where you stick your best, most athletic linemen, and most pros (especially the good ones) were the best and most athletic linemen on their college teams. It's similar to how a ton of NFL safeties are college cornerbacks, but have to switch positions in the pros because they don't have the athleticism to handle NFL WRs on the edge.

I see Hernandez in much the same light: he's an athletic freak at tight end... or a slow WR whose top skill would be outweighing cornerbacks by 40 pounds or so. I'll keep him at tight end, where his speed creates huge mismatches, any day. The fact that he could play WR at all--even pretty poorly--just highlights how much of a mismatch he is at TE.

 

[mayoclinic]

I'm not underestimating him at all, just defining his skillset. His skillset for what he does is excellent. Like most players his skillset for a position he doesn't play isn't so great.
Logan Mankins is one of the few best Gs in the NFL. He has tremendous G skills and some of them overlap to the skills required at LT. He has measurables, and could play there in a pinch without embarrassing himself, and in fact would be an outstanding run blocker at LT. But he isn't a LT. Saying that is not underestimating or diminishing him.

I see Hernandez in much the same light: he's an athletic freak at tight end... or a slow WR whose top skill would be outweighing cornerbacks by 40 pounds or so. I'll keep him at tight end, where his speed creates huge mismatches, any day. The fact that he could play WR at all--even pretty poorly--just highlights how much of a mismatch he is at TE.

I tend to agree with these posts. Hernandez is a unique player, and I think I appreciate his skill set as much as most people. But to call him a "WR" - or suggest moving him permanently to that position - just because he lines up a WR a fair amount of the time would be to diminish his value. He's most valuable when he can be moved all over the field to create mismatches and to make it harder for teams to scheme against him.

 

[ThatllMoveTheChains!!!]

I tend to agree with these posts. Hernandez is a unique player, and I think I appreciate his skill set as much as most people. But to call him a "WR" - or suggest moving him permanently to that position - just because he lines up a WR a fair amount of the time would be to diminish his value. He's most valuable when he can be moved all over the field to create mismatches and to make it harder for teams to scheme against him.

Perfectly said.

 

[Sivy]

There's no need to feel bad for the guy. He's going to get paid half a million dollars plus to rehab for a year, and he's going from last year's Super Bowl Champion to this year's Super Bowl Champion.

.......nice

 

[OhExaulted1]

Hernandez=young Tony Gonzalez.

 

[patsfan13]

Ah is as much an H Back as a TE.

BTW Ballard could be traded for a draft pick, easy way to buy a draft pick.

 

[Nehalem]

I don't feel bad one bit. If Ballard contributes to the Patriots winning a Superbowl it'll be an even greater move.

And if he contributes to the Patriots winning a SuperBowl over the Giants it will be the best move

 

[Ring 6]

Ah is as much an H Back as a TE.

BTW Ballard could be traded for a draft pick, easy way to buy a draft pick.

HBack is probably the best label.