Patriots Daily News Thread Patriots Tuesday 12/12/23

[captain stone]

Stink, Stank & Stunk.

 

[captain stone]

More on Pickens:

He's frustrated because his QBs suck.

 

[PatsFan2]

Let’s see how Zappe plays the rest of the season before making declarations.

He’s playing to potentially start in 2024, he needs to earn it now.

Play hard, play smart, finish strong.

Some will laugh but Broncos and Bills are playing for their Playoffs lives if Zappe plays spoiler...one would have to wonder Hmmmm.

 

[PatsFan2]

It's been a crazy NFL year it seems like everybody is in the mix except us. How the hell did that Steelers Tem win 7 games?? They are terrible on Offense.

 

[PatsFan2]

More on Pickens:

I would Trade a Second for him. Then again would he want to come to another pitiful QB situation?? Oh nevermind.

 

[captain stone]

Former Patriots draft pick who switched sports signs with pro rugby team

A former under-the-radar draft pick has made the jump from professional football to professional rugby.

www.masslive.com

#FireTheGroceryShopper

#AndAlGroh'sKidToo

 

[captain stone]

Dude sucks, Sophie.

 

[captain stone]

What's sort of interesting was the fact the Steelers supposedly wanted Thornton, which played a role in New England taking him. Have to wonder, given their history, how that might have turned out by comparison given their success developing skill players.

The Steelers did NOT want Thornton ahead of Pickens. That was merely a ruse to get Billy to bite.
No-one in their right mind would take Pickens ahead of him.

 

[Ian]

The Steelers did NOT want Thornton ahead of Pickens. That was merely a ruse to get Billy to bite.
No-one in their right mind would take Pickens ahead of him.

That was the report out of Pittsburgh after the draft, not New England. And they were apparently upset about it, if IIRC. I think that's the reason why some of us here were excited about it, given their history at that position.

 

[Boston Boxer]

unless Bill gets fired right after the last game, then he is trading out of that spot. too bad because i really like Caleb Williams and think with the right OC, he can be just what we need at QB

 

[Wozzy]

Following BB's lead, I'm not sure I'm even ready to declare Zappe over Mac this week as the starter quite yet.

Mac's toast.

 

[Wozzy]

Some will laugh but Broncos and Bills are playing for their Playoffs lives if Zappe plays spoiler...one would have to wonder Hmmmm.

I want to see Zappe play well, win or lose.

We'll see how he plays from here out, hopefully he gets some WR's back healthy.

 

[Wozzy]

The Steelers did NOT want Thornton ahead of Pickens. That was merely a ruse to get Billy to bite.
No-one in their right mind would take Pickens ahead of him.

Thornton magically looked good with a new QB Thursday night, he converted some third downs.

Get that guy more quality targets and reps, keep him healthy and running vertical routes... not screens.

Pickens looked like crap, like any WR would with no QB to throw him the ball.

 

[jdlboot14]

It will be great to see Pop back.
And, after TT has fared, I'd like to see Boutte get more looks - at least over Reagor who doesn't seem any different.

 

[Wozzy]

It will be great to see Pop back.
And, after TT has fared, I'd like to see Boutte get more looks - at least over Reagor who doesn't seem any different.

Reagor should revert back to the practice squad or be cut altogether.

Talk about a first round bust... and by the Eagles no less, genius team builders.

 

[Ian]

Thornton magically looked good with a new QB Thursday night, he converted some third downs.

Thornton didn't fare too well on third down Thursday night:

All of his catches came on first down:


You can view any game on here and mess around with it, unclick QBs, games, etc:

2023 Advanced New England Patriots Stats | Sortable 3rd Down, Red Zone Passing and Rushing Patriots Stats.

The Best Patriots Stats Source with sortable 2023 3rd Down, Red Zone Passing and Rushing Stats for this season.

www.patsfans.com

Get that guy more quality targets and reps, keep him healthy and running vertical routes... not screens.

I think hitting him short and letting him run seems to be a good option, along with letting him run sweeps. He hasn't had too much luck on vertical routes yet for some reason...which is strange.

Agree with you on the screens, though ... albeit, Zappe seems like he's been better at those than Mac. Ball isn't thrown on a big loop and guys have been able to accellerate quicker.

 

[VrabelJr]

He's frustrated because his QBs suck.

Good thing we didn't draft him then.

 

[VrabelJr]

The Steelers did NOT want Thornton ahead of Pickens. That was merely a ruse to get Billy to bite.
No-one in their right mind would take Pickens ahead of him.

Bill has been at this a while. He doesn't care what other teams are doing on draft day unless he moves up.

Pickens was injured most of his final year in college and barely put up more yards in his entire college career than Thornton did in a single season. It wasn't obvious that Pickens would be good and it still isn't a sure thing that he is good. He very well could have hit his ceiling.

 

[Ross12]

It will be great to see Pop back.
And, after TT has fared, I'd like to see Boutte get more looks - at least over Reagor who doesn't seem any different.

Pop back on the field for Zappe will be huge. I agree they should also swap Reagor out for Boutte.

Pop-Juju-Thornton-Parker-Boutte might be OK. Plus Henry, Gesicki and Pharaoh Brown. Zeke's looked good. Need to mix in Hasty or Harris to keep Zeke fresh. But overall it's not a horrific group, interested to see how Zappe does with that group assuming all can stay healthy, against KC/Denver/Buffalo/NYJ. KC is fighting for the 1 seed, Denver and Buffalo are fighting for their playoff lives and NYJ may have an outside shot at the 7th seed in the final week so all 4 teams should be playing hard.

 

[Jim Beankie]

Mac's toast.

C'mon - one more start I swear it'll be different this time! He won't even tap, kick, or throw at nuts!