Regular season surprises

[jah]

This was originally going to be a Brandon Spikes discussion thread, but then I decided to pose the following question instead: Which Patriots players have exceeded your expectations in the regular season? Which ones have been disappointments?

Personally, I don't feel that my opinions are valid enough to put a list out there myself, but I'd love to see what others on here have to say. All I know is that Butler has been a mess this season (although he looked crappy in the preseason as well). Perhaps Spikes hasn't exactly been the DROY some here expected him to be, either. I didn't expect him to do much, though. I think he's doing fine, especially with the re-emergence of Mayo.

 

[ALP]

it looks to me like spikes has one final rung to climb b4 his DROY campaign can take off

hernandez and gronk have done very well

i have to put mccourty out there....very nice job by him, very surprising, i just hope its not b/c the corner on his other side is horrible

 

[Nunchucks]

Terrance Wheatly is back and is gonna surprise

 

[BigMike]

Wheatley will surprise if he can stay healthy....even in college he was an injury magnet.

 

[Gwedd]

I also think that Wheatley will fo well, and better than most think.

Gronk & Hernandez and McCourty have all exceeded my expectations. i was thinking that we might have to lean on Crumpler a lot until the new TE's caught on, but from day 1 they've been better than I hoped.

 

[Ron Sellers]

Welker, just by the fact that he is on the field and not on PUP.

Connolly; I feared he would be a major liability when Mankins held out and then Kaczur needed surgery.

McCourty; didn't expect the rookie to be playing this well thrust into the role of the top CB after Bodden's injury.

Hernandez, Gronkowski, Tate, Chung, BJGE and Woodhead have been playing better than what would have been realistically expected prior to the start of training camp so far.

 

[Patspsycho]

Spikes is the playmaker we know he is, but he has a long way to go.

 

[BradyMossWelker]

I honestly was expecting more from Gronk. Maybe I'm just spoiled with Hernandez.

 

[jsull87]

Surprises Good: Hernandez: Great Production
BJGE: Didn't think he'd wrestle the starters mantle let alone be

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successful
Chung: Having a great year i just thought he'd be solid
Brace: because i honestly had 0 expectations from him
O'Connel: Has been very solid
Welker: Honestly i still can't believe he is even out there

Surprises Bad: Butler: I really thought this would be his time to shine
Merriweather: I just thought he would be playing at a higher level
Edelman: Thought he would be breaking out


About the same as expected: Spikes: thought he'd start and share time with guyton and thats happening.
McCourty: Suprised he's starting but i think alot of that is due to injury and poor play around him. But his play has been solid.
Mesko: I thought he would be doing better but he is still doing fine so he's and even.
Gronk: He has the TD's but i thought he would have had more catches... but i mean really i had him on a pedestal.

 

[Jared]

I honestly was expecting more from Gronk. Maybe I'm just spoiled with Hernandez.

2 TDs in 6 receptions? Only one other player on the team has more receiving TDs (Welker).

He is an excellent red zone target and an adequate blocker. Not bad for a rookie.

 

[jaychamp]

2 TDs in 6 receptions? Only one other player on the team has more receiving TDs (Welker).

He is an excellent red zone target and an adequate blocker. Not bad for a rookie.

Only adequate? I think he's been far more than adequate

Brady has a lot of targets so I'm not really disappointed w/the number of receptions. How many times has he been targeted? Seems every time he's been thrown to it was a completion, I could be wrong though.

 

[CheeseMonkeys]

It's hard to get the ball to Gronk when you have Welker, Moss, Hernandez and Tate to throw the ball to. Gronk has been good as a reciever when needed and a great blocker.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Edelman: Thought he would be breaking out

Given how few snaps he's gotten, I'm guessing he was still not quite 100% (see the 2009 Colts game, for example, where he only had five snaps).

 

[jsull87]

Given how few snaps he's gotten, I'm guessing he was still not quite 100% (see the 2009 Colts game, for example, where he only had five snaps).

Yeah i think that and the other sets we have been completing. He also had his best days when Welker wasn't in the lineup