WR Battle, who makes it ?

[captain stone]

Nice idea to pass the time in May, but this thread is at least 3+ months too early...

Way too early to discuss anything reasonably...

No doubt, and it's for that reason that I use the term Depth Chart for posts about roster projections. So when one player is injured/cut/traded, the next one moves up, and so on...

 

[ctpatsfan77]

It’s even possible that Patterson gets the STOP designation like Slater, thus opening up another spot on the WR chart. If that’s the case, we could see a guy like Dorsett or Britt (or even both) sneak onto the roster.

Then again, it may be just as likely that they keep 4 “real” receivers, which is sometimes the case, particularly with a guy like Patterson as a ST only player who has potential to play more WR snaps, and a guy like Berrios/McCarron as a practice squader. This would likely be the way to go and would ring true even more if Matthews makes it, because he’s got RZ potential with his size and offers good versatility in where he can line up and produce in case of injury to another player. Of course, this scenario is basically just keeping 5 WRs with the idea that Patterson won’t be contributing much on offense, and that Matthews’ versatility earns him a spot.

Not likely at a $3M salary, unless he plays on all teams, which he didn't do in OAK.

 

[50-yard-line]

Barring injuries, I'd guess Edelman, Hogan, Mitchell, Matthews, and Patterson.

Berrios to PS if they can slide him through.

I'd love to see Dorsett finally become something. Same with Britt - he has the talent to get in the top four (I'm counting Patterson as KR+).

But really, who knows? I've read some things about Riley McCarron that tell me not to sleep on this guy. Dorsett just took a restructure to help the team...that attitude's got to help his chances.

Should be a fun camp - and I expect any of these guys cut by the Pats to catch on somewhere else.

 

[PatsFan2]

Who makes it?? That's still in question but I can tell who won't make sense of our Playbook Cordarrelle Patterson...you can bet the house of that he struggled in lesser Offenses.

 

[PatsFan2]

Cordarrelle Patterson is the Cyruss Jones or WR's their only hope of making it is on their Kick and punt return abilities alone. If both shines is that role I can't see BB keeping two Kick Returners when one will suffice.

 

[maineman209]

So, we should praise Dorsett for getting targeted approx. once per game after the bye week during a time when Edelman, Hogan, and Mitchell (top 3 wide receivers heading into the summer) were all sidelined with injuries? That sounds like quite the stretch. It’s the Michael Floyd argument all over again. There were no other real options at the position, so the player saw more snaps and yet even then, hardly saw many targets.

If we’re being honest, Dorsett has been quite underwhelming throughout most of his career, and certainly didn’t do much while he was here in 2017. That’s pretty much a fact, or so I thought. One would think they’d have utilized his speed on screens, shallow crossers, Jet sweeps, etc a lot more. He was most likely out there due to designed schemes and positional personnel, especially since he was basically a decoy. Much like the legend of Michael Floyd, good for him for doing his job and throwing some blocks downfield like all of the other New England WRs not named Brandin Cooks. I’m not sure that changes the idea that he really didn’t do too much in a full season of playing WR, though.

If he and Britt rise to the top of a crowded WR grouping that basically has 3/5 spots filled (one of Mitchell or Matthews), then all the better. In the meantime, most of the expectations are likely to be lower with both of them. I’m hoping that you’re right and that Dorsett will master more of the playbook with a full offseason, but having Edelman, Hogan, and either Mitchell/Matthews all healthy and ahead of him on the depth chart is going to mean that he has his work cut out for him, and barring injury, he’ll have the usual 20-25 catch production that we see from a WR4. And in this scenario, one of Mitchell/Matthews doesn’t make the team, which is no sure thing since Mitchell has more knowledge of our system and Matthews has actually produced in the NFL, has excellent size at 6’3”, and can play both inside/outside.

Belichick went out and traded for Cordarrelle Patterson for a reason, and he actually plays an important role on special teams. Britt may be cheap camp competition to help the CBs learn against bigger/physical guys, and he may be something of injury insurance which is obviously important, but where do you see a washed up Britt fitting in the depth chart, here? I’m not sure why it would be a controversial statement to suggest that Britt and Dorsett are probably on the outside looking in, but injuries often seem to solve these battles, which is why it’s much too early to even have some of these discussions. In the meantime, we seem to view the battles a bit differently on this one, so perhaps you’re right and one or both make the squad.

Where the F**K did I even suggest that anyone "praise" the guy?

WTF??!! Is there no middle ground anymore?? I mean, here we goddamn go again! People are completely dismissive of a player, and I merely point out that there were some positives (just giving the guy his due), and immediately I'm "praising" the guy.

Does anybody even understand that WRs aren't the ONLY passing targets on the field - or understand that this is BY DESIGN?? Even while Hogan was injured, Dorsett still had Cooks, Amendola, GRONK, Burkhead, White and Lewis ahead of him on the passing target depth chart. Or do folks think that BB has been "collecting RBs who can catch" just for the f**k of it? The #4 WR has rarely been higher than the #7 or #8 passing target in any season. Go look it up.

Really, the only reason expectations for Britt and Dorsett are now in the toilet is that they failed to meet ridiculously high expectations last season. Again - NO MIDDLE GROUND. No sense of perspective. Only one extreme or the other. It's like partisanship has infected every goddamn subject anymore.

You're hoping that I'm right(?) "and that Dorsett will master more of the playbook with a full offseason"??!! I never said that Dorsett WILL master more of the playbook at all. I made no prediction whatsoever, so I can't be "right" OR WRONG. I merely made/make the suggestion that, before we give these guys a big THUMBS DOWN, perhaps - just maybe - we should allow them an opportunity to experience at least ONE full off-season of Pats coaches' instruction - an experience they've yet to have.

To me, that seems like a sane and reasonable approach. But I don't know, perhaps I am the one who's batsh*t crazy.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: I don't make predictions. If you think I have made a hard-and-fast prediction in a comment, you've almost certainly read it incorrectly. Please re-read my comment before replying - and please, please, please refrain from responding as if I said something that I didn't.

 

[Hyped]

My take:

a.) Slater is a WR. Shut up....I don't care....I count him as a WR that happens to be our #1 gunner.

b.) We only can keep 6 WR's. Any more than 6, we are cutting a real good player elsewhere for a #7 WR who will not even see a pass thrown his way all season.

c.) The ABSOLUTE LOCKS (assuming health) are: Edelman, Hogan, and Slater.

d.) That leaves us with 3 slots for:

- Malcolm Mitchell (3rd year. Coming off injury)
- Philip Dorsett (Speed, deep threat)
- Kenny Britt (Big body)
- Jordan Matthews (Slot guy)
- Riley McCarron (2nd year UDFA)
- Braxton Berrios (rookie, 7th round)
- Cody Hollister (year 2, never played in a NFL game)
- Cordarrelle Patterson (best KOR in the NFL, #4 WR most of career)
- Chris Lacy (UDFA)

e.) We can probably rule out Chris Lacy (UDFA) and Cody Hollister.

f.) That leaves 3 spots for 7 players. My guess is that the coaching staff wants 3 different types of receivers. My pick is: Jordan Matthews (slot), Malcom Mitchell (most talented of remaining guys), and Cordarrelle Patterson (KOR with weakened NFL KOR rules...remember people can't run before the kicker kicks off).

Julian Edelman #1
Chris Hogan #2
Malcolm Mitchell #2/#3
Jordan Matthews #3
Cordarrelle Patterson #4 (KOR)
Matthew Slater #6 (Gunner)

g.) Hopefully, we can retain Berrios, McCarron, and Hollister on the practice squad. And possibly trade Dorsett/Britt for a late round pick or a player that fills another need....

 

[WaterfallJumper]

We can probably rule out Chris Lacy (UDFA)

Yes, we definitely can, since he's with the Lions now.

 

[jah]

Cordarrelle Patterson is the Cyruss Jones or WR's there only hope of making it is on their Kick and punt return abilities alone. If both shines is that role I can't see BB keeping two Kick Returners when one will suffice.

I don't even know where to start with this post.

 

[supafly]

Where the F**K did I even suggest that anyone "praise" the guy?

WTF??!! Is there no middle ground anymore?? I mean, here we goddamn go again! People are completely dismissive of a player, and I merely point out that there were some positives (just giving the guy his due), and immediately I'm "praising" the guy.

Does anybody even understand that WRs aren't the ONLY passing targets on the field - or understand that this is BY DESIGN?? Even while Hogan was injured, Dorsett still had Cooks, Amendola, GRONK, Burkhead, White and Lewis ahead of him on the passing target depth chart. Or do folks think that BB has been "collecting RBs who can catch" just for the f**k of it? The #4 WR has rarely been higher than the #7 or #8 passing target in any season. Go look it up.

Really, the only reason expectations for Britt and Dorsett are now in the toilet is that they failed to meet ridiculously high expectations last season. Again - NO MIDDLE GROUND. No sense of perspective. Only one extreme or the other. It's like partisanship has infected every goddamn subject anymore.

You're hoping that I'm right(?) "and that Dorsett will master more of the playbook with a full offseason"??!! I never said that Dorsett WILL master more of the playbook at all. I made no prediction whatsoever, so I can't be "right" OR WRONG. I merely made/make the suggestion that, before we give these guys a big THUMBS DOWN, perhaps - just maybe - we should allow them an opportunity to experience at least ONE full off-season of Pats coaches' instruction - an experience they've yet to have.

To me, that seems like a sane and reasonable approach. But I don't know, perhaps I am the one who's batsh*t crazy.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: I don't make predictions. If you think I have made a hard-and-fast prediction in a comment, you've almost certainly read it incorrectly. Please re-read my comment before replying - and please, please, please refrain from responding as if I said something that I didn't.

Holy sh!t man. I think you need to re-read my response again, and also consider switching to some decaf. Nothing I said was unreasonable, and I also made sure to include the idea that you may be the one who ends up being right, so I don’t believe that I took a holier than thou position. I didn’t realize that by suggesting that you could be correct, it would lead to a bunch of bold print about how you don’t make predictions. No reason to take offense.

The bottom line is that Dorsett was quite underwhelming, and that’s why there’s a lot of comments in the thread about why he may be left out. As you mention, maybe that changes with a full offseason, but with the improvement in talent ahead of him, he may have his work cut out for him. In the meantime, sorry if you didn’t like the choice of wording about him “doing nothing,” but it wasn’t really meant to be taken literally. He just never seemed to fit in and get looks, but as you’ve mentioned, (but definitely not predicted ) maybe that changes with a full offseason.

 

[supafly]

Not likely at a $3M salary, unless he plays on all teams, which he didn't do in OAK.

Agreed. I was trying to be polite to those who were suggesting Britt/Dorsett by thinking of some other possibilities aside from injuries, but you’re right that his 3.25m dollar salary would almost certainly prevent that. I think Patterson has a good chance of sticking around.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Cordarrelle Patterson is the Cyruss Jones or WR's there only hope of making it is on their Kick and punt return abilities alone. If both shines is that role I can't see BB keeping two Kick Returners when one will suffice.

I doubt that Josh will be able to turn Patterson into a pure receiver, but I'll be surprised if Patterson doesn't carve out a valuable niche on offense.

 

[maineman209]

I also made sure to include the idea that you may be the one who ends up being right

"Right"? About what?

 

[supafly]

"Right"? About what?

About the fact that Dorsett may benefit from extended practice time and a better knowledge of the playbook, and that we shouldn’t give up on him just yet.

Is that not what was suggested? I thought there was some strong insinuation there judging by your stats on targets, receptions, playing time, and comments about his downfield blocking.

 

[Ochmed Jones]

Will Mitchell make it off the trainer’s table?

Is he the next crable?

Where is the speed in this group? Who is a downfield target that can open up the intermediate zones?

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

It seems that Malcolm Mitchell was not at practice today and that’s not a good sign. Has he still not been cleared to play?

 

[supafly]

It seems that Malcolm Mitchell was not at practice today and that’s not a good sign. Has he still not been cleared to play?

He was there on Monday, although he did have a heavily taped knee.

The legend of Malcolm Mitchell has grown significantly due to his 6 catches in the SB; otherwise, a lot of people may be comparing him to an injured Kenbrell Thompkins. He was showing some promise as a rookie, but he’ll need to stay healthy AND have a good TC to make it in my opinion. Luckily, we have some depth.

 

[Joker]

It's all YOUR fault, Supa...now just admit it and we can move on to more important issues(like my love life...or lack thereof)

 

[supafly]

Will Mitchell make it off the trainer’s table?

Is he the next crable?

Where is the speed in this group? Who is a downfield target that can open up the intermediate zones?

Is exceptional straight line speed normally something that is found in the WR room in Foxborough? It seems that in most years, a much heavier focus is placed on shifty moves off the line, route running, timing, pre-snap shifts and audibles meant to take advantage of mismatches, and having good chemistry with Brady.

That said, Dorsett has some speed. Maybe he can take over some of the responsibilities that Cooks had. Although none of them have great speed, creativity certainly has helped to get Edelman, Hogan, and Gronk down the field in some of those intermediate routes that you’re speaking of. Matthews can contribute, as well. The team is hardly reliant on a WR needing to have straight line speed like Cooks had in 2017.

 

[supafly]

No doubt, and it's for that reason that I use the term Depth Chart for posts about roster projections. So when one player is injured/cut/traded, the next one moves up, and so on...

I gotcha, I just think that the situation becomes muddled once we get past WR1 and WR2, that’s all. In other words, I’m not sure how we can reasonably place the others in any order.

It’s kind of like the RB depth chart. Does White go ahead of Burkhead? Does Michel start the season as the RB1, or does he earn a bigger role as the season progresses with a guy like Hill, Gilleslee, or even Burkhead seeing reps as the hypothetical “RB1?”

I think there’s much more gray area to these two positions than most, if not all others. Luckily for us, I think there’s some pretty good competition at both WR and RB.