Will our WRs make plays out of the slot? + Will Brady be able to adapt and master the vertical game?

[supafly]

I dont know. Having Brady throw multiple backshoulder passes to him where the first succeeded pretty well is a pretty good sign. If they were not on the same page he'd not even look his way. I dont think Brady feels any pressure to accommodate anyone no matter how much his acquisition cost.

I think they have a long way to go in continuing to develop chemistry, but it was a decent enough start. I'm not sure what anyone would expect after one game, but perhaps we see it a bit differently.

I think the back shoulder stuff took Lloyd awhile, and I'm sure they'll want to hit Cooks on more crossing routes where he can take advantage of speed mismatches. Hopefully, he's here for a long time.

 

[supafly]

The challenge is getting the timing down. Brady is throwing them before they turn - and with the defender often in their back pocket being on the same page is huge. The come backer Brady threw to Hogan in OT still amazes me in its precision and confidence. Ball had to be at the exact spot at the exact time. That is the "trust" Brady talks about and unfortunately will likely take a while to develop with the current group.

Yes, this is what I was referring to when I stated that continued chemistry and trust will need to be developed as the season wears on. The timing is going to take a couple of months before they can read/react on the same page.

 

[IllegalContact]

I give them a free pass because it is the first week of the season but quite honestly there were many ways how to use the middle of the field. Why were there no horizontal crossing routes to Cooks ? I get that he has definitely not a frame that would hold up playing in the slot / high traffic areas but we could have made him cross horizontally a few times. Similarly, where were the RBs ? If Amendola goes out and we can't run any 4 WR sets anymore why not change up completely and have a couple pony sets ready ?

Again it is the first week so I am not sure how much is practice to the point where Josh feels comfortable calling it in a game but there are ways to use the middle without Edelman.

I don't think that's what they got cooks for and would not be the best use of his talents

Use the RB's for short middle as well as Allen

Use amendola and when he gets back Mitchell for the sidelines and stretch the field with gronk cooks and dorsett

Even with Edelman the falcons were effective in taking away the middle.....it's a copycat league

Find another way, the talent is there

 

[supafly]

Why were there no horizontal crossing routes to Cooks ? I get that he has definitely not a frame that would hold up playing in the slot / high traffic areas but we could have made him cross horizontally a few times.

They connected on one, and it was successful as Cooks showed his blazing speed in an effective manner. I believe it was approx. a 15-20 yard gain. There was a crossing route, a long bomb, and a somewhat shorter throw (can't remember the route). Cooks flashed his speed on all 3.

All in all, he was targeted 7x and he lined up in the slot 20.1% of his reps, so I'm sure we'll be seeing more in the coming weeks.

 

[supafly]

I don't think that's what they got cooks for and would not be the best use of his talents

Belichick has mentioned in the past how effective those routes were when Mike Wallace ran them, so I imagine that we'll be seeing them in some manner on a fairly consistent basis.

They hooked up on one last Thursday night, where Cooks just blazed right past him for some YACs. They ended up lining Cooks up in the slot about 1/5 reps, and I think that could increase to at least 1/4. I don't think we want him getting lit up and having to fight for tough yards like Edelman or Amendola, but you bet they'll be getting creative to take advantage of that speed.

 

[IllegalContact]

Belichick has mentioned in the past how effective those routes were when Mike Wallace ran them, so I imagine that we'll be seeing them in some manner on a fairly consistent basis.

They hooked up on one last Thursday night, where Cooks just blazed right past him for some YACs. They ended up lining Cooks up in the slot about 1/5 reps, and I think that could increase to at least 1/4. I don't think we want him getting lit up and having to fight for tough yards like Edelman or Amendola, but you bet they'll be getting creative to take advantage of that speed.

short routes in the middle ala edelman takes advantage of quickness and precision vs speed.....it takes a certain type of player to do what welker and edelman did/does and cooks ain't that guy....I'd rather have them experiment with dorsett if they wish to put someone in harms way

 

[PatsFan2]

Well BB kept TE:Jacob Hollister for a reason we should see all three TE's dressed. We need the TE's to take pressure off our now thin WR position. I see alot of Two TE's sets this keeps Hogan and Cooks in their proper outside positions. Also we would have a Single RB every time for a run or pass threat. That's the kind of Offense I see going forward until DA returns.

 

[maineman209]

short routes in the middle ala edelman takes advantage of quickness and precision vs speed.....it takes a certain type of player to do what welker and edelman did/does and cooks ain't that guy....I'd rather have them experiment with dorsett if they wish to put someone in harms way

IDK ...

3.92 ss/6.62 3-cone = Edelman
4.11 ss/6.70 3-cone = Dorsett
3.81 ss/6.76 3-cone = Cooks
4.09 ss/7.09 3-cone = Welker

IIRC, Cooks wasn't completely limited in where he lined up with the Saints' offense, and he was capable of running a number of different route trees. While I don't at all think that Cooks will be THE guy to "replace" Edelman in the slot, I think he's likely to be a significant part of the "committee" that contributes there

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

Well BB kept TE:Jacob Hollister for a reason we should see all three TE's dressed. We need the TE's to take pressure off our now thin WR position. I see alot of Two TE's sets this keeps Hogan and Cooks in their proper outside positions. Also we would have a Single RB every time for a run or pass threat. That's the kind of Offense I see going forward until DA returns.

Has it been confirmed Amendola isn't at practice today?

 

[IllegalContact]

IDK ...

3.92 ss/6.62 3-cone = Edelman
4.11 ss/6.70 3-cone = Dorsett
3.81 ss/6.76 3-cone = Cooks
4.09 ss/7.09 3-cone = Welker

IIRC, Cooks wasn't completely limited in where he lined up with the Saints' offense, and he was capable of running a number of different route trees. While I don't at all think that Cooks will be THE guy to "replace" Edelman in the slot, I think he's likely to be a significant part of the "committee" that contributes there

well, then.....they are going to need more WR's and pretty soon....it is just as much about taking the beating as it is to make those routes that edelman made......amendola lasted one week, bring on the next victim

3 cone times have nothing to do with the ability to survive a hit

 

[PatsFan2]

The thing with all three Healthy WR's is that they all excell on the outsides. Dorsett hasn't really arrived yet but if he ever does he could be a poor mans Cooks or if he's above average he'd be like a Hogan...I could live with either scenario regarding Dorsett. That said I don't see any of them as slot WR's taking over for Edelman this year or next...that's not their skill sets.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

The thing with all three Healthy WR's is that they all excell on the outsides. Dorsett hasn't really arrived yet but if he ever does he could be a poor mans Cooks or if he's above average he'd be like a Hogan...I could live with either scenario regarding Dorsett. That said I don't see any of them as slot WR's taking over for Edelman this year or next...that's not their skill sets.

My initial OP ^

 

[maineman209]

3 cone times have nothing to do with the ability to survive a hit

While this is true, I don't think the Pats can really afford to completely forego using WRs on Edelman's routes besides Dorsett (who we don't even know can run those routes in the Pats offense productively).

 

[IllegalContact]

While this is true, I don't think the Pats can really afford to completely forego using WRs on Edelman's routes besides Dorsett (who we don't even know can run those routes in the Pats offense productively).

nobodies going to run them the way edelman ran them.......so there's that

they need to match up the throws brady can make with the routes the players are best at......and cooks is best at getting behind defenders.......trying to run edelman routes are a waste of his god given talents

the pats are in huge trouble if they are limited to trying to run plays as if edelman was here.....brady is going to have to put some time into getting the ball to the guy rather than the other way around

 

[maineman209]

they need to match up the throws brady can make with the routes the players are best at......and cooks is best at getting behind defenders.......trying to run edelman routes are a waste of his god given talents

The only problem I see with Cooks being limited to running the routes he's been best at (up to this point) is that he'll become predictable to opponents.

The other thing is that the Saints did use Cooks out of the slot a bit, according to Payton, though not as frequently as the Pats used him Thursday, apparently.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

I'm probably the most skeptical poster on this forum in regards to that happening. You can clearly see the lack of chemistry that Brady has with Cooks still

In Cooks' first game with Brady, he puts up a 3 catches for 88 yards stat line including a 54 yard reception and drawing two huge DPIs that gave patriots first and goal and you say there is no chemistry?


....tough crowd

 

[captain stone]

I want to see more - many more - formations with 2-Back, even 3-Back sets.

I also want to see more bunch formations, and somebody in motion before every single snap.

The days of 5-wide, empty-backfield, no-motion formations this season should be Over.

 

[supafly]

In Cooks' first game with Brady, he puts up a 3 catches for 88 yards stat line including a 54 yard reception and drawing two huge DPIs that gave patriots first and goal and you say there is no chemistry?


....tough crowd

Obviously, you didn't read my comments (or some in the media) who pointed out that it's going to take awhile to get the read/react timing stuff down, so I'm not going to bother trying to explain it to you yet again.

And none of the examples that you provided scream "good chemistry" in our quick strike timing system. They are simply examples of Cooks' speed.

 

[supafly]

they need to match up the throws brady can make with the routes the players are best at......and cooks is best at getting behind defenders.......

So, your idea as to how to best utilize Cooks is to simply have him run go routes, where Brady can throw him long bombs?

Have you seen the way that other NFL receivers with speed have been deployed over the last, say, 30 years or so? Jerry Rice averaged 14.8 ypc. They didn't hit him with long bomb go routes all the time. They took advantage of his speed mismatches in all kinds of formations. That's what people here are talking about with Cooks. You saw some good examples of the sideline throw at the sticks, the back shoulder throw that Lloyd used to master, and the Mike Wallace-type crossing route that went for a nice gain. None of those were plays where Brandin Cooks got "behind the defenders."

That doesn't mean that they shouldn't be giving him a couple of deep shots every game, of course.

 

[NG Pats Fan]

Obviously, you didn't read my comments (or some in the media) who pointed out that it's going to take awhile to get the read/react timing stuff down, so I'm not going to bother trying to explain it to you yet again.

And none of the examples that you provided scream "good chemistry" in our quick strike timing system. They are simply examples of Cooks' speed.

So brady connecting on deep balls to cooks isn't chemistry? It only counts if the passes is thrown under 15 yards?