Someone explain to me why Matt Slater is not used more often at WR?

[mgteich]

We cannot have all-pros at every position. We cannot spend our resources at every position. That is reality.

Sure, I agree that I would like to have one of the top receivers in the league instead of Branch (or instead of one of the others). We would be better with such an upgrade. We would also be better with upgrades at many positions (certainly center).

Are we are really whining that Belichick didn't spend enough resources on the OFFENSE in the past couple of years? The draft has been almost all offense, and Belichick has done well. Free agency has been used more for the defense. I guess we are upset because we think that we could have gotten an all-pro instead of Ocho. There is no evidence that that could have happened.
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You say that we are weaker when a team can take Welker and Gronkowski out of the game. Well, first, that is a fine defense indeed. However, we do still have Hernandez and our running back on the field to catch passes. We are one of the top 1-3 passing offenses. Do you disagree?

And you seem to have little faith in our running game. It isn't great, but it is solid and we need to use it more. Green-Ellis and Woodhead did very well last year. Belichick brought in their backups in Ridley and Vereen (and we still have Faulk). This year, we will have fresh legs for the playoffs.
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BOTTOM LINE
I'm fine with seeing what we have from our 3rd rounder. For the future, we ALL agree that we will need to bring in receivers in free agency and in the draft. BUT, I don't think that we will end up with a better set of receivers than now, or that Brady needs a better set than now to consistently give us on of the top 3 passing offenses in the nfl.

While I agree that the WR situation is fine in many areas, it is also lacking in many areas too. As we have seen, when teams double Welker and can limit Gronkowski's effectiveness, we are a very different offense.

I agree that you have a good point in stating that the passing/WR game is pretty damn successful on many levels. However, it is the threat of repeating the scenario stated above that worries many of us.

If you have not seen many limitations with the offense in the past 5-6 games, you are watching another team. Many of the times they are fine, but having a better possession WR and/or downfield threat would have opened things up vs some of the stronger man coverage schemes and defenses.

In other words, versatility (being able to have success with bread and butter timing routes underneath AND having some semblance of a downfield game) would pay off much better vs certain schemes and defenses, possibly when it really matters.

Some think that if you'd trade in a guy like Branch (who is limited) for another mid-level target who can run timing routes AND do a better job vertically of beating man coverage, we'd have a much more limitless offense in many regards.

Your point of targeting the first 4 options is fine, but in that case, some of us would like to improve those first 4 options and move a guy like Branch down the list...which would make the position stronger altogether.

Forget about the A.Hernandez debate (WR/TE). It doesn't matter to me, but it is my opinion that eventually teams will successfully find a way to double Welker and limit Gronkowski, as we have seen to some extent. That may leave us without another deep playoff run. I like Hernandez, as a TE...or a TE/WR hybrid. But some of us think that we could use someone that is going to fully take advantage of Brady's potential in a more vertical fashion, if and when that proves necessary.

It is a very reasonable point, and I am not being negative or pessimistic at all. I am very thankful for what we have, but often wonder if it will take us to where we 'should' be, with one of the greatest QB's of all-time, and a very potent offense.