Slow Your Roll on the Patriots WRs… There's a Long Way to Go

[50-yard-line]

6 is a lot.

I agree, but this year it wouldn't surprise me because they've got two rookies they need to protect, two older receivers who have gotten injured severely in the past, and Josh Gordon, who could disappear any week.

If they go with 5, then 2 of Edelman, Gordon, Thomas, Harris, and Dorsett get cut. Do you see two cuts there?

 

[Deus Irae]

Well Josh Gordon is a complete monster and the way Harry caught that preseason pass over two men and tossed them aside like rag dolls....


Size strength aggressiveness hands body control....those two check off the boxes...

Josh Gordon was going to come back at some point. And Harry not being able to get clear of lesser defenders should be a concern, yet people are ignoring that part of him making contested catches.

As for checking off boxes, let's make sure that we don't have Harry getting equated with Gordon, in any way, at this point.

 

[Family]

Of course we don't have the best WR's in the league

Who really has said this?

It's a good group considering we lost everyone from end of last year except Edelman & Dorsett. What more can you want?

The writer really says nothing.

 

[oldrover]

Gordon is a proven beast

Yes, but for how long... he could be a 2019 difference maker... or... kind of...




...a mirage.

 

[maust]

Come on, man. I dealt with people here talking crazy **** all yesterday...

Look at you up there on that cross for all of us...it's positively inspirational

 

[captain stone]

If they go with 5, then 2 of Edelman, Gordon, Thomas, Harris, and Dorsett get cut. Do you see two cuts there?

Yep: Donkey Thomas & Moe Harris.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Josh Gordon was going to come back at some point. And Harry not being able to get clear of lesser defenders should be a concern, yet people are ignoring that part of him making contested catches.

As for checking off boxes, let's make sure that we don't have Harry getting equated with Gordon, in any way, at this point.

Separation with Harry is irrelevant with the size of his hands, how big and strong he is, and his great body control...anything thrown his direction he’s going to snag. He’s a beast

And no he’s not josh Gordon. Josh Gordon has game changing speed to go along with his other qualities, he’s a top 5-10 WR in the nfl when he plays

 

[Kontradiction]

Separation with Harry is irrelevant with the size of his hands, how big and strong he is, and his great body control...anything thrown his direction he’s going to snag. He’s a beast

And no he’s not josh Gordon. Josh Gordon has game changing speed to go along with his other qualities, he’s a top 5-10 WR in the nfl when he plays

The problem is that if he's not getting separation, he's going to be a magnet for OPI calls.

 

[Doctor DDS]

Hard not to feel much better now than 2 weeks ago. I expected both Gordon and Thomas back mid season and had no idea about what Meyers would look like once Pre Season games started.

Receiving core should be anywhere from average to a real team strength. Gordon, Thomas and Meyers are all unknowns at this point but have a lot of upside. As long as the Pats have Edelman and solid RB's they should be able to move the ball and be a top 5 scoring team.

 

[Ring 6]

I agree, but this year it wouldn't surprise me because they've got two rookies they need to protect, two older receivers who have gotten injured severely in the past, and Josh Gordon, who could disappear any week.

If they go with 5, then 2 of Edelman, Gordon, Thomas, Harris, and Dorsett get cut. Do you see two cuts there?

If you have Edelman Gordon Thomas Harry Meyers
You don’t need Dorsett and Harris.

 

[203Pat]

Separation with Harry is irrelevant with the size of his hands, how big and strong he is, and his great body control...anything thrown his direction he’s going to snag. He’s a beast

And no he’s not josh Gordon. Josh Gordon has game changing speed to go along with his other qualities, he’s a top 5-10 WR in the nfl when he plays

Separation is the single most important skill a receiver needs to develop, it is far from irrelevant. Making two catches against Lions backups is nice but at the same time they were heavily contested catches and separation was a knock on him coming out. That being said it is still very, very, very early in his career. The more time he gets in the offense the better timing he gets with Brady and the better he runs routes which will help get him open.

 

[maust]

Separation is the single most important skill a receiver needs to develop, it is far from irrelevant. Making two catches against Lions backups is nice but at the same time they were heavily contested catches and separation was a knock on him coming out. That being said it is still very, very, very early in his career. The more time he gets in the offense the better timing he gets with Brady and the better he runs routes which will help get him open.

Amen, there's more to separation than just speed and hand work.

 

[turkeyneck]

The Patriots look like they may have the #1 best group of blocking WRs in the whole league.

This is what I'm excited to see unfold. BB has a stable of mini-TEs to flood the field with to complement a very nice RB cadre.

 

[50-yard-line]

This site is a pretty good example of the "we" Koolaid crew. Hell, this WR situation is an example. A few weeks ago, it was understood that the Patriots had one of the worst WR groups in the NFL, but it might be better if things broke right. Now, we're getting absolutely insane posts like



and nothing has really changed other than Gordon getting off his suspension.

A lot has changed. A couple of weeks ago, it was unclear if Gordon would be reinstated at all - in fact, the way BB and Brady were talking, there was lots of speculation that the Pats were never going to see him on the field again.

A couple of weeks ago, it looked like Demarius Thomas would start on Pup.

A couple of weeks ago, it looked like Dorsett would be the number 2 receiver on the team. Will he even make the team now?

A couple of weeks ago, we really didn't know if Meyers was NFL capable. Seems pretty obvious that he's not going to suck. He gets separation, uses his body well, and catches everything thrown his way - even comes back on a bad throw to break up an interception.

A couple of weeks ago, N'Keal Harry was a hope and a dream and nothing more (for me, it was either him or AJ Brown in the first, by the way - anyone know how Brown's been doing?). Now we've seen him use his body against good NFL competition to make the tough catches. Not sure what you're talking about on separation - both of his catches were sideline back-shoulder throws where he was never more than 5 yards from the sideline. not sure those throws are designed expecting any separation. I feel pretty good with him as a #4 and Meyers as a #5. Don't you?

A couple of weeks ago, Mo Harris and Dontrelle Inman were camp bodies. Inman is out, but Harris looks like he can play in this system - and he probably won't even make the team.

The emergence of Meyers and the return of Gordon alone make this year's WRs stronger than last years, IMO. I'll take JE a year recovered from the ACL/Gordon's 2nd year in the system/Dorsett/Meyers over Edelman/Gordon/Hogan/Dorsett last year.

Add in the likelihood that Thomas can still play a strong WR3 ( the guy has over 1600 yards in his last 2 seasons, after all), and there's plenty of reasons to be way more optimistic now than two weeks ago.

Still a lot of ifs, but so far, a lot of things seem to be breaking good.

 

[Joey007]

If you have Edelman Gordon Thomas Harry Meyers
You don’t need Dorsett and Harris.

Other than Meyers, all four of the others have had a history of injuries or suspension.

Some insurance would be a good idea.

 

[captain stone]

If you have Edelman Gordon Thomas Harry Meyers
You don’t need Dorsett and Harris.

Agree about Moe Harris...disagree about Dorsett; I think he's safe for Week 1.

 

[Deus Irae]

Separation with Harry is irrelevant with the size of his hands, how big and strong he is, and his great body contro

That's an absurd take.

 

[Deus Irae]

A lot has changed.

No, it hasn't. I mentioned what's changed. You're confusing "**** 50 yard line thought then and **** 50 yard line thinks now" with actual change. We already knew that Thomas would come back at some point. We knew that when he came back, it would remain to be seen how he was able to play. We already knew that Gordon would come back at some point. We already knew that Edelman would be healthy again at some point. We knew that Meyers was doing well in training camp. Etc...

Nothing has changed, and the group is the same. Well, if you want to toss in Inman getting axed, we can note that as a change, but most of us knew that was coming, eventually, so that's not much of a change.

 

[BTTA]

Some posters enjoy the team assembly process as an exercise in optimism and "what might be." For example, having 7 WR's in camp who could turn in to an extraordinary group is something to derive pleasure from, now.

Other posters enjoy the team assembly process as an analytical one. The emotional "up" of a well assembled team needs to be proven. They don't want to get excited about something and then get let down later.

This is just a diversity issue. These orientations are both hard wired into us temperamentally, and conditioned through life experience. Nobody's wrong here. We need both. The health of this forum is in part determined by how well it is servicing everybody's needs in this regard.

What's not, to me, OK, is for posters on either side to try and regulate how the other side chooses to experience being a Pats fan, to assert to others that they shouldn't enjoy being a fan the way they choose to do so. In this case, the article crosses that line a bit.

 

[mgteich]

6 is a lot.

I agree. For me, the open question is whether we want to carry 6 WR's and 2 TE's or 5 WR's and 3 TE's. Also, we could make one choice now, and another when Watson come back.