I know most people don't think WR is a big need, but this is a show me league and I haven't seen much from Taylor Price or Brandon Tate. Tate has had enough time to show something, but he hasn't. Price is a project and probably needs another year. Edelman is a tease, he looks amazing at times, but just didn't produce last year for some reason. Deion Branch is a decent WR who isn't durable and getting old for a WR. Welker is a slot WR, while he keeps the chains moving, we need is a Stud WR on the outside.
Outside of AJ Green and Julio Jones, I think Little is the best WR in the draft. I've seen him projected as late as the 5th round, but I think he will go earlier then that. Anyone on board with this or am I crazy?
Depends on what you consider a "big need".
I agree that Price is a cipher at this point, but I'd question the claims that "Tate has had enough time" and that he hasn't shown anything. Last year was effectively Tate's rookie season after nearly two years out of football due to injury. Yes, I'm aware that he was active for three weeks (two games) in 2009, but he was legally barred from even practicing with the team other than that, so it seems pretty harsh to consider 2010 his second year.
In any case, I believe that Tate was drafted primarily as a KR and only secondarily as a WR, which corresponds to what he did in college. In 2010, he was the best KR we've had during the BB Era, posting stats that rivaled what Hester posted as a KR in HIS rookie season, though that's not entirely a fair comparison since Hester's forte is returning punts more than kicks.
Tate didn't see a lot of opportunities as a WR in 2010 (neither did Edelman), I think partly because we were in 2-TE sets a lot, which were unfortunately necessary for us to be able to run the ball (the source of a lot of our offensive problems in the two losses to the Jets, as well as in some of the close victories earlier in the season). This circumstance contributed to keeping both Tate and Edelman very low on the
pass-target depth chart behind Gronk, Hernandez, Welker, Moss/Branch and even Faulk/Woodhead, so Tate didn't see a lot of target opportunities to begin with, although, admittedly, this was also partly due to his route-running and separation skills still being under development (rookie). Even so, he posted an 18+ YPC and a catch rate (48%) that was equal to or better than that of Fitzgerald, DeSean Jackson, Brandon Lloyd, Michael Floyd and several other veteran WRs who carried a similar YPC in 2010. Given that accuracy on the long ball hasn't exactly been Brady's strong suit since returning from his injury, that doesn't seem too shabby for a rookie who is not primarily a WR.
Edelman's receiving skill set more or less duplicates Welker's, and he's certainly shown some significant raw talent as a slot receiver - in 2009, subbing for an injured Welker in a few games, and in the 2010 pre-season. Pretty good, ATC, for a guy who didn't play the position in college. Although Edelman didn't make much of his few WR opportunities in the 2010 regular season, OTOH he developed into the best PR the Pats have had since Troy Brown's heyday in 2002, posting stats that were second only to Hester's in 2010.
Anyway, back to the question of whether or not WR is a "big need", it kinda depends not only on how the coaches view the progress of Tate and Edelman (who are clearly contributing well enough, at least in other ways), but especially Price. But it also depends on how one views what's lacking in the passing game, which is, in turn, dependent on what's lacking in the running game. Both BGE and Woodhead seem significantly dependent on having extra blockers in the set (and, thus, fewer WRs) in order to consistently gain decent (or any) ground yards. This greatly constrained the effectiveness of play-action in 2010, making coverages easier for the opposing defense and making it more difficult for guys like Tate to get open in the first place. An RB who can consistently get good yardage without extra blockers would enhance play-action and allow for more frequent 3 and 4 WR sets while still requiring defenses to honor the run. At that point, perhaps Tate is all the deep threat that Brady can actually use, though it would be nice to have a second one to keep defenses guessing that much more, especially if such a new guy can run an extensive route tree that includes over the middle, underneath and, specifically intermediate sideline routes.
It's this last part that the passing game appeared to be lacking most (IMHO) in 2010 - the ability to stretch the field
horizontally. Welker, Edelman, Hernandez, Gronk and Woodhead are most consistently successful working between the numbers in the short and intermediate ranges. The only pass-catcher we had who was consistently successful working outside the numbers was Branch. As you correctly point out, he's aging and somewhat fragile. Setting aside shot-in-the-dark speculation as to what Price may be able to do in 2011, Hernandez, Tate and Edelman could expand their route tress as they develop and ameliorate this issue to a great extent. However, here again, a new guy who can run good routes, reliably get open and catch, especially on sideline patterns, could be a big help, even if he's not particularly a deep threat.
Now, I don't know very much about Greg Little, but I can say that, from what I've seen of them, Hankerson and Austin Pettis are pretty decent and "smart" route-runners with good hands who have both worked the sidelines pretty well (and Hankerson's speed makes him a deep threat as well). If we're going for another WR this draft, those would be my choices.
