Agreed. I was being a sarcastic a*shole lol. At the time I wanted Berrios over Gunner since I thought he would offer more as a receiver and was a comparable kick returner. Obviously we didn't go that way and I would guess if Bill had it to do over he would have kept Berrios over Gunner.
If BB knew what he knows now maybe he holds Berrios another season on the practice squad or otherwise... but he didn't. Berrios didn't become a good player until year three and a great special teams player until year four. We can pretend he was good early on but he wasn't.
And the competition didn't involve Gunner initially, it was between Berrios and Riley McCarron in 2018. Berrios and McCarron were clones athletically, both guys were were really fast slot guys but fumble machines in camp and preseason, they dropped passes, they dropped punts and kicks. McCarron cleaned up his act up by the end of preseason and made the regular season roster... week one he goes out and fumbles a return. Career over. Cut. Berrios had already been put on the IR (Foxboro flu) at that point.
The next offseason Berrios was the same unreliable player in camp and preseason a couple/too many times, even if he showed flashes... so they cut him. Gunner was a good football player, regardless of position as a rookie. Gunner played relatively mistake free, played offense, defense and special teams. He caught the ball, made good blocks and tackles, he made smart decisions. He was a good football player.
Gunner came along in 2019, Berrios goes to the Jets in 2019, works on his game and improves over three seasons there. He becomes serviceable in year three, then really good in year four. He's a free agent, we should sign him now... bring him back like they re-signed Chung after he went to Philly and learned how to defend the pass. But Berrios wasn't the player then that he is now in year four, and there's not a lot of patience for 6th round picks on a championship contender. He should thank the Pats for the big diamond encrusted ring he received in 2018.
Gunner is a better punt returner and Berrios is a better kick returner. Berrios may keep improving and surpass Gunner as a punt returner, but as of now he's blah and he's an okay but improving slot receiver on a bad offense. The kickoff is getting phased out and if some player proves to be good at it, teams won't kick to them... it's a dying art. You can't roster everybody. But if BB could do it all over again, he probably would have held onto both.
The blocking for the 2021 Patriots on special teams was really poor. The offensive line blocking only improved because they were experienced vets across the board, former Scar guys. But the execution for the entire team was really bad at the bookends of the season. If Gunner didn't repeat his explosive punt return numbers it's largely due to that. I don't get the Gunner hate. He makes tackles and returns the ball for positive yardage. He played the 7th most special teams snaps on the team and made as many tackles as Slater.
And yes N'Keal should transition to TE... but for some other team.
