primetime
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Jun 15, 2005
- Messages
- 13,627
- Reaction score
- 15,375
Did Mohammed Sanu suddenly fall off a cliff? Because he's always been a solid NFL wide receiver. Period.
His last 3 seasons plus his 2019 time with Atl, for example:
2016: 81 targets, 59 receptions, 72.8%, 653 yds, 11.1 ypc
2017: 96 targets, 67 receptions, 69.8%, 703 yds, 10.5 ypc
2018: 94 targets, 66 receptions, 70.2%, 838 yds, 12.7 ypc
2019: 42 targets, 33 receptions, 78.6%, 313 yds, 9.5 ypc
TOTAL: 313 targets, 225 receptions, 71.9%, 2507 yds, 11.1 ypc
Then with NE: 47 targets, 26 receptions, 55.3%, 207 yds, 8.0 ypc
There was NO reason whatsoever to think that Sanu was anything but a solid solid NFL wide receiver. Not a game-breaker. Not the next Randy Moss. Not anything truly special, but absolutely, 100% a solid NFL WR.
Then he comes to NE and his performance completely falls off a cliff. What are the possible explanations for this?
1. He truly hit the wall in his career, and it just so happened to coincide with the exact moment he arrived in New England.
2. NE's system is so complex that even though he'd been successful in two different systems, with two very different quarterbacks, that he simply could not pick up NE's system.
3. He got hurt and his physical ailments negatively affected his performance.
4. The QB throwing him the ball was not as good as the QB throwing him the ball previously.
What are you guys going to say is the answer, because Sanu was absolutely a good wide receiver in the NFL prior to arriving in New England.
#2-4, with the caveat that the Patriots system isn't more complex, it's just heavily reliant on being in sync with Brady and he was forced to learn on the fly. And yes Ryan's better than Brady at this point.
Everyone acknowledges that any receiver acquired midseason faces long odds to learn the offense and then it happens, with a nagging injury to boot, and the fans turn into ravening madmen declaring that the player sucks and must have always sucked.
Hell, fans were declaring Danny Amendola a bust and disappointment after his first season here and calling for him to be cut.
Sanu's been a reliable NFL WR with several teams and he was signed to a team-friendly deal. Cutting him for getting hurt and failing to make an impact is insane. It's not like there's a plethora of better WR talent free for the signing, and what's there is going to be a lot more expensive.