(They say) This Hypothetical Earl Thomas-Patriots Trade Makes Ton Of Sense

[Brick27]

Actually agree with you Cousin.
Why the love for Reid? Benched in SF. They won't even make his an offer. Plus do we need a SJW to an already tense locker room? No way even if he played for "0".
BB picked up Rodney even when he had Malloy because of the intensity he brought. I can't see why this is not different.
I can't see the Seahawks letting him go for Shaq even up. He is a mediocre pass blocker at best.
The natural trade is still Stoner Harmon and? Harmon replaces the hole if they trade Wilson. The Hawks are shaky at TE. Niklas might make Dwayne Allen redundant. Maybe they bite on Dorsett (I like the kid but.......).
Malcomb Brown makes sense. The Pats will not pay him $7mm.
Browns and Harmon in a good old fashioned professional Sports trade.

Wilson is a young star player who upgrades the defense immediately.

BB has an opportunity. Let's see if he sees it.
DW Toys

Which Wilson are we talking here?

 

[supafly]

Which Wilson are we talking here?

 

[Kontradiction]

I agree with what you're saying. I played high school football and had morons for coaches yet claimed they worked with John Madden. We ran the worst offense of all time. 3 backs, 1 TE and 1 WR. Defenses could easily take out the WR and it was sack city. We had to throw to who the play was designed for or we'd get chewed out. It was idiotic. I would think NFL offenses have a play that is designed for a particular player to get open but the QB progressions could change based on the defense at the LOS (showing blitz, in certain coverage). For this play and situation, White was wide open at the snap and Brady would probably agree he should've just taken the yards, 1st down and stopped the clock.

Nice find. The one thing I notice about a lot of NFL offenses is how contested they are. I'm not a huge fan of players running into the same area as others as it allows defenses to clog the area or passes being tipped by the wrong WR. Just look before the snap of the ball how close the Eagles defenders are hanging around the LOS. There's no way Brady could've thought Gronk was going to clear that quick.

Surprised coaches don't spread their players out more which will put some defenders (LB's, S's) in no man's land and the secondary into a man to man defense.

What? The Patriots “spread their players out” more than most teams in the league. The QB only has a finite amount of time to find a receiver. They can’t all run 9-routes.

 

[Froob]

Why are we paying a premium for Thomas when we have McCourty, Harmon and Chung? Is Harmon leaving if we get Thomas...? Chung plays kind of a unique role and McCourty obviously isn’t going anywhere.

 

[Off The Grid]

01 ~ We all realize that Earl Thomas is a CenterFielder (Free Safety, to you Earthlings), not a RoverBack (Strong Safety, to you Earthlings), right?

02 ~ And we all realize that we've already got a CenterFielder with a fat Salary...right?

03 ~ And whatever becomes of my man Shaq Mason in a year, the worst case scenario is that he's already worth a late 3rd Rounder to us, unless 2018 is a bad year.

04 ~ More'n likely, though, 2018 will prove to be his best year, yet...And some putz thinks that we should trade an exceptional Offensive Guard, entering his prime, for an extra CenterFielder with a bloated salary?? Stupidest idea that I've ever heard.

Whats your point ?

Evidently, he has no point. But, then: you'nd I already knew that.

 

[Off The Grid]

01 ~ We all realize that Earl Thomas is a CenterFielder (Free Safety, to you Earthlings), not a RoverBack (Strong Safety, to you Earthlings), right?

02 ~ And we all realize that we've already got a CenterFielder with a fat Salary...right?

03 ~ And whatever becomes of my man Shaq Mason in a year, the worst case scenario is that he's already worth a late 3rd Rounder to us, unless 2018 is a bad year.

04 ~ More'n likely, though, 2018 will prove to be his best year, yet...And some putz thinks that we should trade an exceptional Offensive Guard, entering his prime, for an extra CenterFielder with a bloated salary?? Stupidest idea that I've ever heard.

05 - Positional value for safeties is way down. Vaccaro, Boston, and Reid can't even get a sniff. Positional value for OL is way up.

Excellent point. I admire McCourty as much as anyone, but the year that we signed'm to that fat, bloated contract, I, in my Mock OffSeason/BackDraft...did not.

True Story. You can look't up.

There is a Salary Cap...and CenterFielder is not my top priority.

 

[Brick27]

I could be on board for that. But maybe ideally on defense would want a Wilson with a bit of an edge to em

 

[TheRainMaker]

What? The Patriots “spread their players out” more than most teams in the league. The QB only has a finite amount of time to find a receiver. They can’t all run 9-routes.

I never said run "9 routes". I'm just saying I've seen a lot of plays from all teams that ask for players to be in the same area which makes it a lot easier for defenses to stop it. With that play in particular, Gronk breaking to the outside still Hogan near by with a safety on top and LB underneath (intentionally acounting for White but drops back near Gronk) that could tip it or pick him off. I'm just saying the spacing is poor between the players and because of that White should've been the read. And I'm not saying that in hindsight as White was open from the snap.

 

[Kontradiction]

I never said run "9 routes". I'm just saying I've seen a lot of plays from all teams that ask for players to be in the same area which makes it a lot easier for defenses to stop it. With that play in particular, Gronk breaking to the outside still Hogan near by with a safety on top and LB underneath (intentionally acounting for White but drops back near Gronk) that could tip it or pick him off. I'm just saying the spacing is poor between the players and because of that White should've been the read. And I'm not saying that in hindsight as White was open from the snap.

There’s only so much field to go around and the spacing is fine. White was WIDE open and Amendola was also open underneath.

 

[Ring 6]

Andy, I’ve got to ask. Have you ever played football? Like ever? College? Indoor, arena? Anything? Your thought process of a QBs LOS cues, along with progression of a play is that of a high school offense. No disrespect intended here by any means but just trying to qualify your statements regarding play generation. New England’s offense, for a receiver is as complex as they get.

I played football many years, through college and have coached some. You?

I gave absolutely zero comment on LOS reads other than to say what the q.b sees pre and post snap has an impact on the progressions. Which of course is exactly correct.
No where did I say the offense was not complex or even imply it.
I said the QB in the pocket must read through his progressions and it’s ignorant to suggest that he give up on the primary route that the play call and coverage dictate to see if h has a checkdown.

If you honestly think that our complex pass offense involves Brady sitting back scanning all receivers with no progression you ha w no clue what you are talking about.

Everything I have said in this thread is completely accurate and either you don’t know what you are talking about or you struggle with comprehension.

 

[Ring 6]

I never said run "9 routes". I'm just saying I've seen a lot of plays from all teams that ask for players to be in the same area which makes it a lot easier for defenses to stop it. With that play in particular, Gronk breaking to the outside still Hogan near by with a safety on top and LB underneath (intentionally acounting for White but drops back near Gronk) that could tip it or pick him off. I'm just saying the spacing is poor between the players and because of that White should've been the read. And I'm not saying that in hindsight as White was open from the snap.

Some plays are designed to flood a zone. You use one receiver to influence a defender toward the edge of his zone then run another receiver into it.

 

[Chuck Walden]

Mason is a good to very good run blocking RG who has some weaknesses in pass protection. That said, I don’t think he had as many sacks pinned on him last year as most of us initially thought, either. I don’t know if he’s worth 11-12-13m dollars, though. Luckily, Belichick gets paid good money to make those decisions.

Oh yeah definitely not saying he's perfect, but he's really good. There aren't many guards better at run blocking, and he more than holds his own as a pass blocker. Sometimes the other team makes plays too. It's the Super Bowl, you're going up against the best team in the league. It happens

 

[TheRainMaker]

There’s only so much field to go around and the spacing is fine. White was WIDE open and Amendola was also open underneath.

That's why White should've been the read from the beginning. From the snap he was wide open as the LB took one step towards White then backed up towards Gronk. I agree Amendola looks open but I think he would've gotten blasted by a LB after he catches the ball. Don't think he would've gotten too far.

Some plays are designed to flood a zone. You use one receiver to influence a defender toward the edge of his zone then run another receiver into it.

So the play basically forced the LB to account for Gronk which allowed White to be wide open. He should've been the read.

 

[Ring 6]

That's why White should've been the read from the beginning. From the snap he was wide open as the LB took one step towards White then backed up towards Gronk. I agree Amendola looks open but I think he would've gotten blasted by a LB after he catches the ball. Don't think he would've gotten too far.

So the play basically forced the LB to account for Gronk which allowed White to be wide open. He should've been the read.

The comment about some plays flooding a zone was not about this play. It was about your comment that sometimes you see receivers in the same area.
On this play the primary target was Gronk. If we had all22 I’d imagine Gronk was coming open just as Brady get strip sacked.
If the play design and the read says Gronk is primary the qb sticks with Gronk until he throws or comes off him because he wasn’t open.

 

[TomPatriot]

Whats your point ?

Someone was arguing that Thomas was a "centerfielder." I took that to mean that he wasn't tough enough, so I posted a video where he nailed Gronk, a tough player 70 pounds heavier, and walked away like nothing happened. That's not a knock on Gronk, but just shows how tough a guy Earl Thomas is.

 

[TomPatriot]

This is a total misunderstanding of how it works. If the play call says Gronk is route 1, unless you have to escape pressure first, you aren’t even looking at white. You are seeing what the coverage is, by reading off of gronks route. You aren’t looking at white. If he is looking at white he isn’t executing the play call.

One very tiny moan in an otherwise excellent post: he's reading the coverage, not the route. The QB wants to ensure its the same coverage he anticipated at the snap. He knows the route and so should Gronk.

 

[Ring 6]

One very tiny moan in an otherwise excellent post: he's reading the coverage, not the route. The QB wants to ensure its the same coverage he anticipated at the snap. He knows the route and so should Gronk.

Yes but if reading the coverage says Gronk is primary target he had to let Gronk complete his route before checking down.

 

[supafly]

I could be on board for that. But maybe ideally on defense would want a Wilson with a bit of an edge to em

 

[Uptown]

Can we actually commence to talk about Earl Thomas now??

 

[Ring 6]

Can we actually commence to talk about Earl Thomas now??

If anyone wants to they can.
I think most of us see it as a waste of time.