Excellent point. Plus Branch has performed consistently well on the biggest of big stages. Boldin and Fitzgerald are unknown quantities, and Drew Bennett? My chief memory of him is dropping that 4th down pass from McNair in '03 to preserve the Pats win over the Titans in the divisional playoffs. Players of Branch' qualities are extremely rare, and we should all hope everything works out. Many players have had better statistics than Branch during the regular season, and I wonder if fantasy football has prejudiced the jury pool against Branch with the public. But I would rather have Branch than Chad Johnson, who spazzed out with his team in the lead against the Steelers in the playoffs and punched his coach in the locker room at halftime; Randy Moss, T.O., Terry Glenn and Plaxico for character reasons; Marvin Harrison, Amani Toomer, Joe Horn, Joey Galloway and Rod Smith for age; Andre Johnson, Darrell Jackson, Chris Chambers, Antonio Bryant, Lavernues Coles and Jerry Porter for inconsistency; Roy Williams and Michael Clayton for youth and inconsistency. Ruling those out, in my book, here are the rest:
Players I would want on the Pats more than Branch
Steve Smith
Larry Fitzgerald
Hines Ward
Tory Holt
Players in Branch's league:
Donald Driver
Reggie Wayne
Anquan Boldin
Houshmanzadeh
Santana Moss
Fantasy stats do not a football player make. Since the Pats have little chance of acquiring any of the 9 receivers above while Brady is in his prime, IMO they must somehow bring Deion back in the fold. Obviously they chose to play hardball with Deion. They thought they were looking weak after the Seymour contract, and decided to make an example of Deion. IMO, they should have played hardball with the next player up for a contract, after Deion. Sometimes its alright to appear weak temporarily in order to win in the end. Deion should be taken care of. The next guy could have been made an example of. Just an opinion.