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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Keller clearly is either not recovered or he is not the same player he was prior to the injury, otherwise he would not be a UFA on July 20th. I think fans need to hang up the Dustin Keller as a Patriots dream because it appears it is not going to happen.
I am one of those who would like to see a legitimate receiving threat behind Gronk.
I tend to agree, it was brutal one of the worst knee injuries I have seen in 25 years as a fan.Unfortunately I believe that was a career ending injury.
Really, the only roster mistake this offseason was having garbage* behind Gronkowski, as we had a whole year after the Prisoner release to solve the problem.
Hopefully it won't be a problem, as our primary offense will be 3 WR-1TE. If Gronk gets hurt though, here we go again with a TE3 trying to play TE1.
Hooman isn't garbage, but he is what he is at this point. The remaining camp TEs are below JAG level.
I'll be surprised if either is cut, I expect 6 WR + Slater. With the TE situation it couldn't be more clear we'll be more WR based this year.Barring the signing of someone else's cut or a trade (both of which are still possible), right now we're going into camp with an open ended (if somewhat uninteresting) battle going on. Right now we have the following as "locks" IMO:
RB: Ridley, Vereen, White
TE: Gronk, Hooman
WR: Edelman, Amendola, Dobson, Lafell (not going to count Slater as a WR for the purposes of this exercise).
You have to figure we'll keep a fifth real WR (Thompkins or Boyce), which means we have the following players battling it out, not just to prove they're better than the competition at their position, but also that their position itself is worth the roster spot:
Thompkins/Boyce (6th WR)
I'll be surprised if either is cut, I expect 6 WR + Slater. With the TE situation it couldn't be more clear we'll be more WR based this year.
I would not call him garbage, when he has the opportunity he is actually solid, and he is actually very good after the catch. In 2 seasons, he has been targeted 26 times resulting in 17 catches, 65.3% catch ratio, 245 yards, 11 first downs, 1 touchdown and he has dropped just one pass. I do not think he is ever going to lead TEs in catches but with more opportunity he could catches 20-25 footballs. That would be solid given his role in the offense, and it would make teams respect him in coverage.As a receiver, Hooman is garbage. He's a just slightly above average blocker, though.
I would not call him garbage, when he has the opportunity he is actually solid, and he is actually very good after the catch. In 2 seasons, he has been targeted 26 times resulting in 17 catches, 65.3% catch ratio, 245 yards, 11 first downs, 1 touchdown and he has dropped just one pass. I do not think he is ever going to lead TEs in catches but with more opportunity he could catches 20-25 footballs. That would be solid given his role in the offense, and it would make teams respect him in coverage.
I agree, Develin could be more involved this season, last year they threw to him 4 times, and he caught all 4 passes, for 62 yards, 34 of those yards came after the catch so he not easy to bring to the ground.I think one possible solution to the "2nd TE" scenario that many are missing is the use of James Devlin in an "H Back role. At the end of last year the team started to give Devlin looks out of the back field as well as down field. Perhaps this off season, Devlin has worked on his receiving skills to elevated them another notch.
You see lack of involvement in the passing game as a receiver as = garbage, but it is not, he is not a garbage receiver, he is just not a top target in our offense. When he is targeted he does what is expected of him.His role on offense is as the TE1 if/when Gronk goes down. As a TE2 if the Patriots deploy a 2TE set. In any case, the defense doesn't need to account for him at all. That he was only targeted 26 times in two seasons in spite of the various injuries to Hernandez and Gronk, coupled with the fact that he was the de facto TE2 last year after Hernandez got popped, does not exactly inspire me with confidence. As a matter of fact, the mere possibility of him on the field as the TE1 is probably the only thing that can get me to start praying again on a regular basis. An upgrade can definitely be made there. Whether that's through Keller, Finley, or someone already on the roster like Jones, is up for debate. That Hooman is a garbage receiver is not.
You see lack of involvement in the passing game as a receiver as = garbage, but it is not, he is not a garbage receiver, he is just not a top target in our offense. When he is targeted he does what is expected of him.
I agree, Develin could be more involved this season, last year they threw to him 4 times, and he caught all 4 passes, for 62 yards, 34 of those yards came after the catch so he not easy to bring to the ground.
To be fair, though, I remember for at least one of those catches with a lot of YAC there was nobody covering him or even nearby.