BlueThunder
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments..In a lot of seasons - probably most seasons - three to five pass catchers end up with 65%-75% of Brady's targets for the season (usually including one TE and one RB) , with another 10-12 players sharing what ever is left.
Every so often, though, there's a season that harkens back to the young Brady's response to be asked who his favorite receiver was: "The open one." In those seasons, it ended up being 6-8 players accounting for 65%-75% of Brady's targets. I have a feeling that 2018 could end up being one of those seasons.
If Gordon and Gronk deserve double teams, that HAS to be bad for opposing Defenses......something has to give
It’s going to force a lot of 6 defensive back looks
And then, here comes Sony "Boombox" Michel.
I'm not sure where you are going.
And then, here comes Sony "Boombox" Michel.
I agree in theory, but to my untrained eye, our problem in the running game so far hasn't been because the DB's are free to play in the box. I feel like our OL isn't winning the battles against the other team's big uglies, and holes just aren't forming. Extra attention paid to our receivers might help us break a big one when a hole DOES open, but we'll need to improve the run blocking in general if we're going to take advantage of that on a consistent basis.
This is startling. Credit to PIT...for a change.
Considering neither were drafted in the past 10 drafts, I’d venture a bold guess and say zero yards.Yikes! how many of those Yards came form Deion Branch and David Givens many many many many many ok moons ago??
Considering neither were drafted in the past 10 drafts, I’d venture a bold guess and say zero yards.
Patterson also caught one for 18 yds.
Seriously, though. He doesn't run in tidy little strides out of which he can turn on a dime, he gallops. I imagine this is part of the reason he doesn't make the quick cuts necessary to get open. They'll probably need to find plays to use his speed while he works on his gait because straight line speed and exaggerated change of direction are not what successful WR need.
Well, I've never seen a more "exaggerated change of direction" than Edelman's jump cuts, and he seems pretty successful to me.
It seems to me that what helps make any WR "successful" - or any player at whatever nominal positional designation, for that matter - is how willing his coaches are to optimize what he offers, as opposed to trying to force him into some rigid, narrow, idealized positional template. WRs come in all kinds of different shapes and sizes with all sorts of different physical abilities and skill sets, or, I should say, portions of a very broad set of the skills that "a legitimate WR should have".
To me, Patterson appears to have decent straight line speed - maybe not quite as fast as his timed forty, but still fast. He also seems to have very good explosiveness. He doesn't appear to be anywhere near as naturally agile as a guy like Edelman, nor any kind of "master of footwork", but he does appear to have some fairly well-developed moves/avoidance techniques which, combined with his burst and size, enable him to run through or around many tackle attempts. He's gotten a lot of YAC that way - and return yards - over the course of his career. These combined traits also make him a good blocker and enable him to get sufficient separation on some types of routes.
Patterson seems to have good vision for the incoming pass and very good hands up to a certain depth of throw. What I mean by that is - he seems to be a very reliable pass-catcher on short routes, and on some intermediate depth routes, that put him in a position to be (mostly) facing the QB - crossers, slants, curls, comebacks, etc. However, he doesn't appear to be able to "see the ball" well enough to consistently make the body adjustments to reel in over-the-shoulder/back shoulder throws where he has his back turned while the ball is in the air. But then, he's highly unlikely to be required to run those routes very often (Edelman isn't, either). In the past, he's shown that he can catch some contested balls and some that are not quite on target (he can adjust some).
Patterson doesn't appear to understand all of the reads and route-options off the stem for every type of route (and certainly never will, at this stage in his career), but he does appear to understand those things very well for some routes - certainly enough to be useful now - and there's still at least some chance that he may improve a bit.
I think that Patterson is a good WR - for more than just "gadget plays" - and can be a successful role player if used properly. While his physical abilities and skills don't fit neatly into any of the three WR categories that most fans think of most often - deep threat, intermediate-range possession receiver, slot guy - it doesn't mean that he's NOT a legitimate WR. Not to me at least.
How many opportunities Patterson gets in order to be deemed "successful" by the fans this season depends partly on how things work out for each of the many, many other viable passing targets on the roster - individually, and as a group - and partly on what vulnerabilities in opposing defenses that McD and Brady choose to attack each week. He could end the season with 18 catches on 24 tgts for 160 yards and no TDs. He could end up going 32 for 48 for ~300 yards and a TD or two.
I favor "Betamax", but yeah.And then, here comes Sony "Boombox" Michel.
Patterson has "crazy legs"...aka...his legs move in all different directions when he runs. And as we saw on that stumbling screen, he doesn't always have control over his feet.Speaking of WR's I still can't figure out why Patterson can't get separation beyond the LOS??
Patterson has "crazy legs"...aka...his legs move in all different directions when he runs. And as we saw on that stumbling screen, he doesn't always have control over his feet.
Will never be a disciplined route runner.
The Pats, like his former team , understand this and use him accordingly.
NE has kept it simple. Hand offs, screens, returns.
With the ball, he and his crazy legs can make tacklers miss